CHAPTER XIII.

CHAPTER XIII.Religious Ceremonies of the Romans.The Romans were, as a people, remarkably attached to the religion they professed; and scrupulously attentive in discharging the rites and ceremonies which it enjoined.Their religion was Idolatry, in its grossest and widest acceptation. It acknowledged a few general truths, but greatly darkened these by fables and poetical fiction.All the inhabitants of the invisible world, to which the souls of people departed after death, were indiscriminatelycalledInferi.Elysiumwas that part of hell (apud Inferos,) in which the good spent a spiritual existence of unmingled enjoyment, andTartarus(pl. -ra) was the terrible prison-house of the damned.The worship of the gods consisted chiefly in prayers, vows, and sacrifices. No act of religious worship was performed without prayer; while praying, they stood usually with their heads covered, looking towards the east; a priest pronounced the words before them;—they frequently touched the altars or knees of the images of the gods; turning themselves round in a circle towards the right, sometimes putting their right hand to their mouth, and also prostrating themselves on the ground.They vowed temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. Sometimes they used to write their vows on paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and fasten them with wax to the knees of the images of the gods, that being supposed to be the seat of mercy.Lustrations were necessary to be made before entrance on any important religious duty, viz. before setting out to the temples, before the sacrifice, before initiation into the mysteries, and before solemn vows and prayers.Lustrations were also made after acts by which one might be polluted; as after murder, or after having assisted at a funeral.In sacrifices it was requisite that those who offered them, should come chaste and pure; that they should bathe themselves, be dressed in white robes, and crowned with the leaves of the tree which was thought most acceptable to the god whom they worshipped.Sacrifices were made of victims whole and sound (Integræ et sanæ.) But all victims were not indifferently offered to all gods.A white bull was an acceptable sacrifice to Jupiter; an ewe to Juno; black victims, bulls especially, to Pluto; a bull and a horse to Neptune; the horse to Mars; bullocks and lambs to Apollo, &c. Sheep and goats were offered to various deities.The victim was led to the altar with a loose rope, that it might not seem to be brought by force, which was reckoned a bad omen. After silence was proclaimed, a salted cake was sprinkled on the head of the beast, and frankincense and wine poured between his horns, the priest having first tasted the wine himself, and given it to be tasted bythose that stood next him, which was calledlibatio—the priest then plucked the highest hairs between the horns, and threw them into the fire—the victim was struck with an axe or mall, then stabbed with knives, and the blood being caught in goblets, was poured on the altar—it was then flayed and dissected; then the entrails were inspected by the aruspices, and if the signs were favorable, they were said to have offered up an acceptable sacrifice, or to have pacified the gods; if not, another victim was offered up, and sometimes several. The parts which fell to the gods were sprinkled with meal, wine, and frankincense, and burnt on the altar. When the sacrifice was finished, the priest, having washed his hands, and uttered certain prayers, again made a libation, and the people were dismissed.Human sacrifices were also offered among the Romans: persons guilty of certain crimes, as treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and the infernal gods, and therefore any one might slay them with impunity.Altars and temples afforded an asylum or place of refuge among the Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, chiefly to slaves from the cruelty of their masters, and to insolvent debtors and criminals, where it was considered impious to touch them; but sometimes they put fire and combustible materials around the place, that the person might appear to be forced away, not by men, but by a god: or shut up the temple and unroofed it, that he might perish in the open air.CHAPTER XIV.The Roman Year.Romulus divided the year into ten months; the first of which was called March from Mars, his supposed father; the 2d April, either from the Greek name of Venus, (Aφροδιτα) or because trees and flowers open their buds, during that month; the 3d, May, from Maia, the mother of Mercury; the 4th, June, from the goddess Juno; 5th, July, from Julius Cæsar; 6th, August, from Augustus Cæsar; the rest were called from their number, September, October, November, December.Numa added two months—January from Janus, and February because the people were then purified, (februabatur) by an expiatory sacrifice from the sin of the whole year: for this anciently was the last month in the year.Numa in imitation of the Greeks divided the year into twelve lunar months, according to the course of the moon, but as this mode of division did not correspond with the course of the sun, he ordained that an intercalary month should be added every other year.Julius Cæsar afterwards abolished this month, and with the assistance of Sosigĕnes, a skilful astronomer of Alexandria, in the year of Rome 707, arranged the year according to the course of the sun, commencing with the first of January, and assigned to each month the number of days which they still retain. This is the celebrated Julian or solar year which has been since maintained without any other alteration than that of the new style, introduced by pope Gregory, A. D. 1582, and adopted in England in 1752, when eleven days were dropped between the second and fourteenth of September.The months were divided into three parts,kalends,nonesandides. They commenced with thekalends; thenonesoccurred on the fifth, and theideson the thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and October, when they fell on the seventh and fifteenth.In marking the days of the month they went backwards: thus, January first was the first of thekalendsof January—December thirty-first waspridie kalendas, or the day next before thekalendsof January—the day before that, or the thirtieth of December,tertio kalendas Januarii, or the third day before thekalendsof January, and so on to the thirteenth, when came the ides of December.The day was either civil or natural; the civil day was from midnight to midnight; the natural day was from the rising to the setting of the sun.The use of clocks and watches was unknown to the Romans—nor was it till four hundred and forty-seven years after the building of the city, that the sun dial was introduced: about a century later, they first measured time by a water machine, which served by night, as well as by day.Their days were distinguished by the names offesti,profesti, andintercisi. Thefestiwere dedicated to religious worship, theprofestiwere allotted to ordinary business, the days which served partly for one and partly for the other were calledintercisi, or half holy days.The manner of reckoning by weeks was not introduced until late in the second century of the christian era: it was borrowed from the Egyptians, and the days were named after the planets: thus, Sunday from the Sun, Monday from the Moon, Tuesday from Mars, Wednesday from Mercury, Thursday from Jupiter, Friday from Venus, Saturday from Saturn.A Table of the Kalends, Nones, and Ides.Days of Month.Apr, June, Sept, Nov.Jan, August, December.March, May, July, Oct.February.1Kalendæ.Kalendæ.Kalendæ.Kalendæ.2IV. Nonas.IV. NonasVI.IV. Nonas.3III.III.V.III.4Pridie.Pridie.IV.Pridie.5Nonæ.Nonæ.III.Nonæ.6VIII. Idus.VIII. Idus.Pridie.VIII. Idus.7VII.VII.Nonæ.VII.8VI.VI.VIII. Idus.VI.9V.V.VII.V.10IV.IV.VI.IV.11III.III.V.III.12Pridie.Pridie.IV.Pridie.13Idus.Idus.III.Idus.14XVIII. Kal.XIX. Kal.Pridie.XVI. Kal.15XVII.XVIII.Idus.XV.16XVI.XVII.XVII. Kal.XIV.17XV.XVI.XVI.XIII.18XIV.XV.XV.XII.19XIII.XIV.XIV.XI.20XII.XIII.XIII.X.21XI.XII.XII.IX.22X.XI.XI.VIII.23IX.X.X.VII.24VIII.IX.IX.VI.25VII.VIII.VIII.V.26VI.VII.VII.IV.27V.VI.VI.III.28IV.V.V.Prid. Kal.29III.IV.IV.Martii.30Prid. Kal.III.III.31Mens. seq.Prid. Kal.Mens. seq.Prid. Kal.Mens. seq.CHAPTER XV.Roman Games.The Roman Games formed a part of religious worship, and were always consecrated to some god: they were either stated or vowed by generals in war, or celebrated on extraordinary occasions; the most celebrated were those of the circus.Among them were first, chariot and horse races, of which the Romans were extravagantly fond. The charioteers were distributed into four parties or factions from the different colours of their dresses. The spectators favored one or other of the colours, as humor or caprice inclined them. It was not the swiftness of their horses, nor the art of the men that inclined them, but merely the dress. In the times of Justinian, no less than thirty thousand men are said to have lost their lives at Constantinople, in a tumult raised by contention among the partizans of the several colours.The order in which the chariots or horses stood, was determined by lot, and the person who presided at the games gave the signal for starting, by dropping a cloth; then the chain of thehermulibeing withdrawn, they sprung forward, and whoever first ran seven times round the course, was declared the victor; he was then crowned, and received a prize in money of considerable value.Second; contests of agility and strength, of which there were five kinds; running, leaping, boxing, wrestling and throwing thediscusor quoit. Boxers covered their hands with a kind of gloves, which had lead or iron sewed into them, to make the strokes fall with greater weight; the combatants were previously trained in a place of exercise, and restricted to a particular diet.Third; what was calledvenatio, or the fighting of wild beasts with one another, or with men, calledbestiarii, who were either forced to this by way of punishment, as the primitive christians often were, or fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or induced by hire. An incredible number of animals of various kinds, were brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, at an immense expense; and were kept in enclosures calledvivaria, till the day of exhibition. Pompey, in hissecond consulship, exhibited at once five hundred lions, and eighteen elephants, who were all despatched in five days.Fourth;naumachia, or the representation of a sea fight; those who fought, were usually composed of captives or condemned malefactors, who fought to death, unless saved by the clemency of the emperors.In the next class of games were the shows of gladiators; they were first exhibited at Rome by two brothers called Bruti, at the funeral of their father, and for some time they were only exhibited on such occasions; but afterwards, also by the magistrates, to entertain the people, chiefly at thesaturnaliaand feasts of Minerva.Incredible numbers of men were destroyed in this manner; after the triumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were exhibited for one hundred twenty-three days, in which eleven thousand animals, of different kinds, were killed, and ten thousand gladiators fought, whence we may judge of other instances. The emperor Claudius, although naturally of a gentle disposition, is said to have been rendered cruel by often attending these spectacles.Gladiators were at first composed of slaves and captives, or of condemned malefactors, but afterwards also of free born citizens, induced by hire or inclination.When any gladiator was wounded, he lowered his arms as a sign of his being vanquished, but his fate depended on the pleasure of the people, who, if they wished him to be saved, pressed down their thumbs; if to be slain, they turned them up, and ordered him to receive the sword, which gladiators usually submitted to with amazing fortitude.Such was the spirit engendered by these scenes of blood, that malefactors and unfortunate christians, during the period of the persecution against them, were compelled to risk their lives in these unequal contests; and in the time of Nero, christians were dressed in skins, and thus distinguished, were hunted by dogs, or forced to contend with ferocious animals, by which they were devoured.The next in order were the dramatic entertainments, of which there were three kinds. First; comedy, which was a representation of common life, written in a familiar style, and usually with a happy issue: the design of it was, to expose vice and folly to ridicule.Second; tragedy, or the representation of some one serious and important action; in which illustrious personsare introduced as heroes, kings, &c. written in an elevated style, and generally with an unhappy issue.The great end of tragedy was to excite the passions; chiefly pity and horror: to inspire a love of virtue, and an abhorrence of vice.The Roman tragedy and comedy differed from ours only in the chorus: this was a company of actors who usually remained on the stage singing and conversing on the subject in the intervals of the acts.Pantomimes, or representations of dumb show, where the actors expressed every thing by their dancing and gestures, without speaking.Those who were most approved, received crowns, &c. as at other games; at first composed of leaves or flowers, tied round the head with strings, afterwards of thin plates of brass gilt.The scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the modern custom, was drawn down when the play began, and raised when it was over.CHAPTER XVI.Magistrates.Rome was at first governed by kings, chosen by the people; their power was not absolute, but limited; their badges were thetrabeaor white robe adorned with stripes of purple, a golden crown and ivory sceptre; thecurulechair and twelvelictorswith thefasces, that is, carrying each a bundle of rods, with an axe in the middle of them.The regal government subsisted at Rome for two hundred and forty-three years, under seven kings—Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, all of whom, except the last, may be said to have laid the foundation of Roman greatness by their good government.Tarquin being universally detested for his tyranny and cruelty, was expelled the city, with his wife and family, on account of the violence offered by his son Sextus to Lucretia, a noble lady, the wife of Collatinus.This revolution was brought about chiefly by means of Lucius Junius Brutus. The haughtiness and cruelty of Tarquin inspired the Romans with the greatest aversion to regal government, which they retained ever after.In the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the building of the city, they elected two magistrates, of equal authority, and gave them the name of consuls. They had the same badges as the kings, except the crown, and nearly the same power; in time of war they possessed supreme command, and usually drew lots to determine which should remain in Rome—they levied soldiers, nominated the greater part of the officers, and provided what was necessary for their support.In dangerous conjunctures, they were armed by the senate with absolute power, by the solemn decree that the consuls should take care the Republic receives no harm. In any serious tumult or sedition they called the Roman citizens to arms in these words, “Let those who wish to save the republic follow me”—by which they easily checked it.Although their authority was very much impaired, first by the tribunes of the people, and afterwards upon the establishment of the empire, yet they were still employed in consulting the senate, administering justice, managing public games and the like, and had the honor to characterize the year by their own names.To be a candidate for the consulship, it was requisite to be forty-three years of age: to have gone through the inferior offices ofquæstor,ædile, andprætor—and to be present in a private station.The office of prætor was instituted partly because the consuls being often wholly taken up with foreign wars, found the want of some person to administer justice in the city; and partly because the nobility, having lost their appropriation of the consulship, were ambitious of obtaining some new honor in its room. He was attended in the city by twolictors, who went before him with thefasces, and sixlictorswithout the city; he wore also, like the consuls, thetoga pretexta, or white robe fringed with purple.The power of the prætor, in the administration of justice, was expressed in three words,do,dico,addico. By the worddo, he expressed his power in giving the form ofa writ for trying and redressing a wrong, and in appointing judges or jury to decide the cause: bydico, he meant that he declared right, or gave judgment; and byaddico, that he adjudged the goods of the debtor to the creditor. The prætor administered justice only in private or trivial cases: but in public and important causes, the people either judged themselves, or appointed persons calledquæsitoresto preside.Thecensorswere appointed to take an account of the number of the people, and the value of their fortunes, and superintend the public morals. They were usually chosen from the most respectable persons of consular dignity, at first only from among the Patricians, but afterwards likewise from the Plebeians.They had the same ensigns as the consuls, except thelictors, and were chosen every five years, but continued in office only a year and a half. When any of the senators or equites committed a dishonorable action, the censors could erase the name of the former from the list, and deprive the knight of his horse and ring; any other citizen, they degraded or deprived of all the privileges of a Roman citizen, except liberty.As the sentence of censors (Animadversio Censoria,) only affected a person's character, it was therefore properly calledIgnominia. Yet even this was not unchangeable; the people or next censors might reverse it.In addition to the revision of morals, censors had the charge of paving the streets—making roads, bridges, and aqueducts—preventing private persons from occupying public property—and frequently of imposing taxes.A census was taken by these officers, every five years, of the number of the people, the amount of their fortunes, the number of slaves, &c. After this census had been taken, a sacrifice was made of a sow, a sheep, and a bull—hence calledsuove-taurilia. As this took place only every five years, that space of time was called alustrum, because the sacrifice was a lustration offered for all the people; and thereforecondere lustrum, means to finish the census.The title of censor was esteemed more honorable than that of consul, although attended by less power: no one could be elected a second time, and they who filled it were remarkable for leading an irreproachable life; so that it was considered the chief ornament of nobility to be sprung from a censorian family.The appointment of tribunes of the people, may be attributed to the following cause; the Plebeians being oppressed by the Patricians, on account of debt, made a secession to a mountain afterwards calledmons sacer, three miles from Rome, nor could they be prevailed on to return, till they obtained from the Patricians a remission of debts for those who were insolvent, and liberty to such as had been given up to serve their creditors: and likewise that the Plebeians should have proper magistrates of their own, to protect their rights, whose person should be sacred and inviolable.They were at first five in number, but afterwards increased to ten; they had no external mark of dignity, except a kind of beadle, calledviator, who went before them.The wordveto, I forbid it, was at first the extent of their power; but it afterwards increased to such a degree, that under pretence of defending the rights of the people, they did almost whatever they pleased. If any one hurt a tribune in word or deed, he was held accursed, and his property confiscated.Theedileswere so called from their care of the public buildings; they were either Plebeian orcurule; the former, two in number, were appointed to be, as it were, the assistants of the tribunes of the commons, and to determine certain lesser causes committed to them; the latter, also two in number, were chosen from the Patricians and Plebeians, to exhibit certain public games.Thequæstorswere officers elected by the people, to take care of the public revenues; there were at first only two of them, but two others were afterwards added to accompany the armies; and upon the conquest of all Italy, four more were created, who remained in the provinces.The principal charge of the city quæstors was the care of the treasury; they received and expended the public money, and exacted the fines imposed by the people: they kept the military standards, entertained foreign ambassadors, and took charge of the funerals of those who were buried at the public expense.Commanders returning from war, before they could obtain a triumph, were obliged to take an oath before the quæstors, that they had written to the senate a true account of the number of the enemy they had slain, and of the citizens who were missing.The office of the provincial quæstors was to attend the consuls or prætors into their provinces; to furnish the provisions and pay for the army; to exact the taxes and tribute of the empire, and sell the spoils taken in war.The quæstorship was the first step of preferment to the other public offices, and to admission into the senate: its continuation was for but one year, and no one could be a candidate for it until he had completed his twenty-seventh year.Legatiwere those next in authority to the quæstors, and appointed either by the senate or president of the province, who was then said toaliquem sibi legare.The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable. They acted as lieutenants or deputies in any business for which they were appointed, and were sometimes allowed the honor of lictors.Thedictatorwas a magistrate invested with royal authority, created in perilous circumstances, in time of pestilence, sedition, or when the commonwealth was attacked by dangerous enemies.His power was supreme both in peace and war, and was even above the laws; he could raise and disband armies, and determine upon the life and fortune of Roman citizens, without consulting the senate or people; when he was appointed, all other magistrates resigned their offices except the tribunes of the commons.The dictator could continue in office only six months; but he usually resigned when he had effected the business for which he had been created. He was neither permitted to go out of Italy, nor ride on horseback, without the permission of the people; but the principal check against any abuse of power, was that he might be called to an account for his conduct, when he resigned his office.A master of horse was nominated by the dictator immediately after his creation, usually from those of consular or prætorian rank, whose office was to command the cavalry, and execute the orders of the dictator.Thedecemviriwere ten men invested with supreme power, who were appointed to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates having first resigned their offices.They at first behaved with great moderation, and administered justice to the people every tenth day. Ten tables of laws were proposed by them, and ratified by the people at thecomitia centuriata.As two other tables seemed to be wanting,decemviriwere again appointed for another year, to make them. But as these new magistrates acted tyrannically, and seemed disposed to retain their command beyond the legal time, they were compelled to resign, chiefly on account of the base passion of Appius Claudius, one of their number, for Virginia, a virgin of plebeian rank, who was slain by her father to prevent her falling into the decemvir's hands. Thedecemviriall perished, either in prison or in banishment.The consuls and all the chief magistrates, except the censors and the tribunes of the people, were preceded in public by a certain number, according to their rank of office, called lictors, each bearing on his shoulders as the insignia of office, thefascesandsecuris, which were a bundle of rods, with an axe in the centre of one end; but the lictors in attendance on an inferior magistrate, carried thefascesonly, without the axe, to denote that he was not possessed of the power of capital punishments.They opened a way through the crowd for the consul, saying words like these—“cedite, Consul venit,” or “date viam Consuli.” It was their duty also to inflict punishment on the condemned.CHAPTER XVII.Of Military Affairs.According to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a soldier, and bound to serve if called upon, in the armies of the state at any period, from the age of seventeen to forty-six.When the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent one or more of the priests, calledfeciales, to demand redress, and if it was not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to consider the matter, after which war might be justly declared; then the feciales again went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear into them, formally declared war against that nation.The levy of the troops, the encampment, and much of the civil discipline, as well as the temporary command ofthe army, was intrusted to the military tribunes, six of whom were appointed to each legion.During the early period of the republic, the standing army in time of peace usually consisted of only four legions, two of which were commanded by each consul, and they were relieved by new levies every year, the soldiers then serving without any pay beyond their mere subsistence. But this number was afterwards greatly augmented, and the inconvenience of raw troops having been experienced, a fixed stipend in money was allowed to the men, and they were constantly retained in the service.The legion usually consisted of three hundred horse, and three thousand foot: the different kinds of infantry which composed it were three, thehastati,principes, andtriarii. The first were so called because they fought with spears: they consisted of young men in the flower of life, and formed the first line in battle. Theprincipeswere men of middle age who occupied the second line. Thetriariiwere old soldiers of approved valor, who formed the third line.There was a fourth kind of troops, calledvelĭtesfrom their swiftness and agility: these did not form a part of the legion, and had no certain post assigned them, but fought in scattered parties, wherever occasion required, usually before the lines.The imperial eagle was the common standard of the legion; it was of gilt metal, borne on a spear by an officer of rank, styled, from his office,aquilifer, and was regarded by the soldiery with the greatest reverence. There were other ensigns, as A. B. C. D. in the frontispiece.The only musical instruments used in the Roman army, were brazen trumpets of different forms, adapted to the various duties of the service.The arms of the soldiery varied according to the battalion in which they served. Some were equipped with light javelins, and others with a missile weapon, calledpilum, which they flung at the enemy; but all carried shields and short swords of that description, usually styled cut and thrust, which they wore on the right side, to prevent its interfering with the buckler, which they bore on the left arm.The shield was of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss jutting out in the middle, to glance off stones or darts;it was four feet long and two and a half broad, made of pieces of wood joined together with small plates of iron, and the whole covered with a bull's hide.They were partly dressed in a metal cuirass with an under covering of cloth; on the head they wore helmets of brass, either fastened under the chin, with plates of the same metal, or reaching to the shoulders, which they covered and ornamented on the top with flowing tufts of horse hair.The light infantry were variously armed with slings and darts as well as swords, and commonly wore a shaggy cap, in imitation of the head of some wild beast, of which the skirt hung over their shoulders. The troops of the line wore greaves on the legs and heavy iron-bound sandals on the feet. These last were calledcaligæ, from which the emperor Caius Cæsar obtained the name of Caligula, in consequence of having worn them in his youth among the soldiery.The cavalry were armed with spears and wore a coat of mail of chain work, or scales of brass or steel, often plated with gold, under which was a close garment that reached to their buskins. The helmet was surmounted with a plume, and with an ornament distinctive of each rank, or with some device according to the fancy of the wearers, and which was then, as now in heraldry, denominated the crest. This term wascrista, derived from the resemblance of the ornament to the comb of a cock.The Romans made no use of saddles or stirrups, but merely cloths folded according to the convenience of the rider.Among the instruments used in war were towers consisting of different stories, from which showers of darts were discharged on the townsmen by means of engines calledcatapultæ,balistæ, andscorpiones.But the most dreadful machine of all was the battering ram: this was a long beam like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end with iron, in the form of a ram's head, whence it had its name. It was suspended by the middle, with ropes or chains fastened to a beam which lay across two posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was violently thrust forward, drawn back, and again pushed forward, until by repeated strokes it had broken down the wall.The discipline of the army was maintained with great severity; officers were exposed to degradation for misconduct, and the private soldier to corporal punishment. Whole legions who had transgressed their military duty were exposed to decimation, which consisted in drawing their names by lot, and putting every tenth man to the sword.The most common rewards were crowns of different forms; the mural crown was presented to him who in the assault first scaled the rampart of a town; the castral, to those who were foremost in storming the enemy's entrenchments; the civic chaplet of oak leaves, to the soldier who saved his comrade's life in battle, and the triumphal laurel wreath to the general who commanded in a successful engagement. The radial crown was that worn by the emperors.When an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave their deliverer a crown calledobsidionalis, made of the grass which grew in the besieged place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an enemy, a naval crown.But the greatest distinction that could be conferred on a commander, was a triumph; this was granted only by the senate, on the occasion of a great victory. When decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was appointed by a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the day of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured masonry, under which the procession passed.First came a detachment of cavalry, with a band of military music preceding a train of priests in their robes, who were followed by a hecatomb of the whitest oxen with gilded horns entwined with flowers; next were chariots, laden with the spoils of the vanquished; and after them, long ranks of chained captives conducted by files of lictors. Then came the conqueror, clothed in purple and crowned with laurel, having an ivory sceptre in his hand; a band of children followed dressed in white, who threw perfumes from silver censors, while they chanted the hymns of victory and the praises of the conqueror. The march was closed by the victorious troops, with their weapons wreathed with laurel; the procession marched to the temple of Jupiter, where the victor descended and dedicated his spoils to the gods.When the objects of the war had been obtained by a bloodless victory, a minor kind of triumph was granted, inwhich the general appeared on horseback, dressed in white, and crowned with myrtle, while in his hand he bore a branch of olive. No other living sacrifice was offered but sheep, from the name of which the ceremony was called an ovation.In consequence of the continual depredations to which the coast of Italy was subject, the Romans commenced the building of a number of vessels, to establish a fleet, taking for their model a Carthaginian vessel, which was formerly stranded on their coast.Their vessels were of two kinds,naves onerariæ, ships of burden, andnaves longæ, ships of war: the former served to carry provisions, &c.: they were almost round, very deep, and impelled by sails.The ships of war received their name from the number of banks of oars, one above another, which they contained: thus a ship with three banks of oars was calledtriremis, one with four,quadriremis, &c.; in these, sails were not used.CHAPTER XVIII.Assemblies, Judicial Proceedings, and Punishments of the Romans.The assemblies of the whole Roman people, to give their vote on any subject, were calledcomitia. There were three kinds, thecuriata,centuriata, andtributa.Thecomitia curiatawere assemblies of the resident Roman citizens, who were divided into thirtycuriæ, a majority of which determined all matters of importance that were laid before them, such as the election of magistrates, the enacting of laws and judging of capital causes.Comitia centuriatawere assemblies of the various centuries into which the six classes of the people were divided.Those who belonged to the first class were termedclassici, by way of pre-eminence—henceauctores classici, respectable or standard authors; those of the last class, who had no fortune, were calledcapite censi, orproletarii; and those belonging to the middle classes were all said to beinfra classem—below the class.Comitia centuriatawere the most important of all the assemblies of the people. In these, laws were enacted, magistrates elected, and criminals tried. Their meeting was in the Campus Martius.It was necessary that these assemblies should have been summoned seventeen days previously to their meeting, in order that the people might have time to reflect on the business which was to be transacted.Candidates for any public office, who were to be elected here, were obliged to give in their names before thecomitiawere summoned. Those who did so, were said topetere consulatum vel præturam, &c.; and they wore a white robe calledtoga candida, to denote the purity of their motives; on which account they were calledcandidati.Candidates went about to solicit votes (ambire,) accompanied by a nomenclator, whose duty it was to whisper the names of those whose votes they desired; for it was supposed to be an insult not to know the name of a Roman citizen.Centuria prærogativawas that century which obtained by ballot the privilege of voting first.When thecenturia prærogativahad been elected, the presiding magistrate sitting in a tent (tabernaculum,) called upon it to come and vote. All that century then immediately separated themselves from the rest, and entered into that place of the Campus Martius, calledseptaorovilia. Going into this, they had to cross over a little bridge (pons;) hence the phrasede ponte dejici—to be deprived of the elective franchise.At the farther end of theseptastood officers, calleddiribitores, who handed waxen tablets to the voters, with the names of the candidates written upon them. The voter then putting a mark (punctus) on the name of him for whom he voted, threw the tablet into a large chest; and when all were done, the votes were counted.If the votes of a century for different magistrates, or respecting any law, were equal when counted, the vote of the entire century was not reckoned among the votes of the other centuries; but in trials of life and death, if the tablets pro and con were equal, the criminal was acquitted.The candidate for whom the greatest number of centuries voted, was duly elected, (renunciatus est:) when the votes were unanimous, he was saidferre omne punctum—to be completely successful.When a law was proposed, two ballots were given to each voter: one with U. R. written upon it,Uti Rogas—as you propose; and the other with A. forAntiquo—I am for the old one.In voting on an impeachment, one tablet was marked with A. forAbsolvo—I acquit; hence this letter was calledlitera salutaris; the other with C. forcondemno—I condemn; hence C. was calledlitera tristis.In thecomitia tributa, the people voted, divided into tribes, according to their regions or wards; they were held to create inferior magistrates, to elect certain priests, to make laws, and to hold trials.Thecomitiacontinued to be assembled for upwards of seven hundred years, when that liberty was abridged by Julius Cæsar, and after him by Augustus, each of whom shared the right of creating magistrates with the people. Tiberius the second emperor, deprived the people altogether of the right of election.The extension of the Roman empire, the increase of riches, and consequently of crime, gave occasion to a great number of new laws, which were distinguished by the name of the person who proposed them, and by the subject to which they referred.Civil trials, or differences between private persons were tried in the forum by the prætor. If no adjustment could be made between the two parties, the plaintiff obtained a writ from the prætor, which required the defendant to give bail for his appearance on the third day, at which time, if either was not present when cited, he lost his cause, unless he had a valid excuse.Actions were either real, personal, or mixed. Real, was for obtaining a thing to which one had a real right, but was possessed by another. Personal, was against a person to bind him to the fulfilment of a contract, or to obtain redress for wrongs. Mixed, was when the actions had relation to persons and things.After the plaintiff had presented his case for trial, judges were appointed by the prætor, to hear and determine the matter, and fix the number of witnesses, that the suit might not be unreasonably protracted. The parties gave security that they would abide by the judgment, and the judges took a solemn oath to decide impartially; after this the cause was argued on both sides, assisted by witnesses,writings, &c. In giving sentence, the votes of a majority of the judges were necessary to decide against the defendant; but if the number was equally divided, it was left to the prætor to determine.Trial by jury, as established with us, was not known, but the mode of judging in criminal cases, seems to have resembled it. A certain number of senators and knights, or other citizens of respectability, were annually chosen by the prætor, to act as his assessors, and some of these were appointed to sit in judgment with him. They decided by a majority of voices, and returned their verdict, either guilty, not guilty, or uncertain, in which latter instance the case was deferred; but if the votes for acquittal and condemnation were equal, the culprit was discharged.There were also officers calledcentumviri, to the number at first of 100, but afterwards of 180, who were chosen equally, from the 35 tribes, and together with the prætor constituted a court of justice.Candidates for office wore a white robe, rendered shining by the art of the fuller. They did not wear tunics, or waist-coats, either that they might appear more humble, or might more easily show the scars they had received on the breast.For a long time before the election, they endeavored to gain the favor of the people, by every popular art, by going to their houses, by shaking hands with those they met, by addressing them in a kindly manner, and calling them by name, on which occasion they commonly had with them a monitor, who whispered in their ears every body's name.Criminal law was in many instances more severe than it is at the present day. Thus adultery, which now only subjects the offender to a civil suit, was by the Romans, as well as the ancient Jews, punished corporally.Forgery was not punished with death, unless the culprit was a slave; but freemen guilty of that crime were subject to banishment, which deprived them of their property and privileges; and false testimony, coining, and those offences which we term misdemeanors, exposed them to an interdiction from fire and water, or in fact an excommunication from society, which necessarily drove them into banishment.The punishments inflicted among the Romans, were—fine, (damnum,) bonds, (vincula,) stripes, (verbera,) retaliation, (talio,) infamy, (ignominia,) banishment, (exilium,) slavery, (servitus,) and death.The methods of inflicting death were various; the chief were—beheading (percussio securi), strangling in prison (strangulatio), throwing a criminal from that part of the prison called Robur (precipitatio de robore), throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (dejectio e rupe Tarpeia), crucifixion (in crucem actio), and throwing into the river (projectio in profluentem).The last-mentioned punishment was inflicted upon parricides, or the murderers of any relation. So soon as any one was convicted of such crimes, he was immediately blindfolded as unworthy of the light, and in the next place whipped with rods. He was then sewed up in a sack, and thrown into the sea. In after times, to add to the punishment, a serpent was put in the sack; and still later, an ape, a dog, and a cock. The sack which held the malefactor was calledCuleus, on which account the punishment itself is often signified by the same name.In the time of Nero, the punishment for treason was, to be stripped stark naked, and with the head held up by a fork to be whipped to death.CHAPTER XIX.The Roman Dress.The ordinary garments of the Romans were thetogaand thetunic.Thetogawas a loose woollen robe, of a semicircular form, without sleeves, open from the waist upwards, but closed from thence downwards, and surrounding the limbs as far as the middle of the leg. The upper part of the vest was drawn under the right arm, which was thus left uncovered, and, passing over the left shoulder, was there gathered in a knot, whence it fell in folds across the breast: this flap being tucked into the girdle, formed a cavity which sometimes served as a pocket, and was frequently used as a covering for the head. Its color was white, except in case of mourning, when a black or dark color was worn. The Romans were at great pains to adjust the toga and make it hang gracefully.It was at first worn by women as well as men—but afterwards matrons wore a different robe, calledstola, with a broad border or fringe, reaching to the feet. Courtezans, and women condemned for adultery, were not permitted to wear thestola—hence calledtogatæ.Roman citizens only were permitted to wear thetoga, and banished persons were prohibited the use of it. Thetoga pictawas so termed from the rich embroidery with which it was covered:—thetoga palmatafrom its being wrought in figured palm leaves—this last was the triumphal habit.Young men, until they were seventeen years of age, and young women until they were married, wore a gown bordered with purple, called thetoga prætexta.After they had arrived at the age of seventeen, young men assumed thetoga virilis.Thetunicwas a white woollen vest worn below thetoga, coming down a little below the knees before, and to the middle of the leg behind, at first without sleeves.Tunicswith sleeves were reckoned effeminate: but under the emperors, these were used with fringes at the hands. Thetunicwas fastened by a girdle or belt about the waist, to keep it tight, which also served as a purse.The women wore atunicwhich came down to their feet and covered their arms.Senators had a broad stripe of purple, sewed on the breast of their tunic, calledlatus clavus, which is sometimes put for thetunicitself, or the dignity of a senator.Theequiteswere distinguished by a narrow stripe calledangustus clavus.The Romans wore neither stockings nor breeches, but used sometimes to wrap their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth called from the parts which they covered,tibialiaandfeminalia.The chief coverings for the feet were thecalceus, which covered the whole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with alatchetor lace, and thesolea, a slipper or sandal which covered only the sole of the foot, and was fastened on with leather thongs or strings.The shoes of the senators came up to the middle of their legs, and had a golden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the soldiery were calledcaligæ, sometimes shod with nails. Comedians wore thesoccior slippers, and tragedians thecothurni.The ancient Romans went with their heads bare except at sacred rites, games, festivals, on journey or in war.—Hence, of all the honors decreed to Cæsar by the senate, he is said to have been chiefly pleased with that of always wearing a laurel crown, because it covered his baldness, which was reckoned a deformity. At games and festivals a woollen cap or bonnet was worn.The head-dress of women was at first very simple. They seldom went abroad, and when they did they almost always had their faces veiled. But when riches and luxury increased, dress became, with many, the chief object of attention. They anointed their hair with the richest perfumes, and sometimes gave it a bright yellow color, by means of a composition or wash. It was likewise adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones: sometimes with garlands and chaplets of flowers.CHAPTER XX.Of the Fine Arts and Literature.The Romans invented short or abridged writing, which enabled their secretaries to collect the speeches of orators, however rapidly delivered. The characters used by such writers were called notes. They did not consist in letters of the alphabet, but certain marks, one of which often expressed a whole word, and frequently a phrase. The same description of writing is known at the present day by the wordstenography. From notes came the wordnotary, which was given to all who professed the art of quick writing.The system of note-writing was not suddenly brought to perfection: it only came into favor when the professors most accurately reported an excellent speech which Cato pronounced in the senate. The orators, the philosophers, the dignitaries, and nearly all the rich patricians then took for secretaries note-writers, to whom they allowed handsome pay. It was usual to take from their slaves all who had intellect to acquire a knowledge of that art.The fine arts were unknown at Rome, until their successful commanders brought from Syracuse, Asia, Macedonia and Corinth, the various specimens which thoseplaces afforded. So ignorant, indeed, were they of their real worth, that when the victories of Mummius had given him possession of some of the finest productions of Grecian art, he threatened the persons to whom he intrusted the carriage of some antique statues and rare pictures, “that if they lost those, they should give him new ones.” A taste by degrees began to prevail, which they gratified at the expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and private right.The art of printing being unknown, books were sometimes written on parchment, but more generally on a paper made from the leaves of a plant calledpapyrus, which grew and was prepared in Egypt. This plant was about ten cubits high, and had several coats or skins, one above another, which they separated with a needle.The instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at the point, like our pens, calledcalamus. Their ink was sometimes composed of a black liquid emitted by the cuttle fish.The Romans commonly wrote only on one side of the paper, and joined one sheet to the end of another, till they finished what they had to write, and then rolled it on a cylinder or staff, hence calledvolumen.Butmemorandaor other unimportant matters, not intended to be preserved, were usually written on tablets spread with wax. This was effected by means of a metal pencil calledstylus, pointed at one end to scrape the letters, and flat at the other to smooth the wax when any correction was necessary.Julius Cæsar introduced the custom of folding letters in a flat square form, which were then divided into small pages, in the manner of a modern book. When forwarded for delivery, they were usually perfumed and tied round with a silken thread, the ends of which were sealed with common wax.Letters were not subscribed; but the name of the writer, and that of the person to whom they were addressed, were inserted at the commencement—thus, Julius Cæsar to his friend Antony, health. At the end was written a simple, Farewell!The Romans had many private and public libraries. Adjoining to some of them were museums for the accommodation of a college or society of learned men, who weresupported there at the public expense, with a covered walk and seats, where they might dispute.The first public library at Rome, and probably in the world, was erected by Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty, on Mount Aventine. This was adorned by the statues of the most celebrated men.CHAPTER XXI.Roman Houses.The houses of the Romans are supposed at first to have been nothing more than thatched cottages. After the city was burnt by the Gauls, it was rebuilt in a more solid and commodious manner; but the streets were very irregular.In the time of Nero the city was set on fire, and more than two-thirds of it burnt to the ground. That tyrant himself is said to have been the author of this conflagration. He beheld it from the tower of Mæcenas, and being delighted, as he said, with the beauty of the flames, played the taking of Troy, dressed like an actor.The city was then rebuilt with greater regularity and splendor—the streets were widened, the height of the houses was limited to seventy feet, and each house had a portico before it, fronting the street.Nero erected for himself a palace of extraordinary extent and magnificence. The enclosure extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline mount, which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was entirely surrounded with a spacious portico embellished with sculpture and statuary, among which stood a colossal statue of Nero himself, one hundred and twenty feet in height. The apartments were lined with marble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other precious gems: the timber works and ceilings were inlaid with gold, ivory and mother of pearl.This noble edifice, which from its magnificence obtained the appellation of the golden house, was destroyed by Vespasian as being too gorgeous for the residence even of a Roman emperor.The lower floors of the houses of the great were, at this time, either inlaid marble or mosaic work. Every thingcurious and valuable was used in ornament and furniture. The number of stories was generally two, with underground apartments. On the first, were the reception-rooms and bed-chamber; on the second, the dining-room and apartments of the women.The Romans used portable furnaces in their rooms, on which account they had little use for chimneys, except for the kitchen.The windows of some of their houses were glazed with a thick kind of glass, not perfectly transparent; in others, isinglass split into thin plates was used. Perfectly transparent glass was so rare and valuable at Rome, that Nero is said to have given a sum equal to £50,000 for two cups of such glass with handles.Houses not joined with the neighboring ones were calledInsulæ, as also lodgings or houses to let. The inhabitants of rented houses or lodgings,InsulariiorInquilini.The principal parts of a private house were thevestibulum, or court before the gate, which was ornamented towards the street with a portico extending along the entire front.Theatriumor hall, which was in the form of an oblong square, surrounded by galleries supported on pillars. It contained a hearth on which a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged thelares, or images of the ancestors of the family.These were usually nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in great respect, were not treated with the same veneration as thepenates, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin, and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an inner apartment, calledpenetralia.The outer door was furnished with a bell: the entrance was guarded by a slave in chains: he was armed with a staff, and attended by a dog.The houses had high sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and there was usually an open space in the centre to afford light to the inner apartments.The Romans were unacquainted with the use of chimnies, and were consequently much annoyed by smoke. To remedy this, they sometimes anointed the wood of which their fuel was composed, with lees of oil.The windows were closed with blinds of linen or plates of horn, but more generally with shutters of wood. During the time of the emperors, a species of transparent stone, cut into plates, was used for the purpose. Glass was not used for the admission of light into the apartments until towards the fifth century of the christian era.A villa was originally a farm-house of an ordinary kind, and occupied by the industrious cultivator of the soil; but when increasing riches inspired the citizens with a taste for new pleasures, it became the abode of opulence and luxury.Some villas were surrounded with large parks, in which deer and various foreign wild animals were kept, and in order to render the sheep that pastured on the lawn ornamental, we are told that they often dyed their fleeces with various colours.Large fish ponds were also a common appendage to the villas of persons of fortune, and great expense was often incurred in stocking them. In general, however, country houses were merely surrounded with gardens, of which the Romans were extravagantly fond.CHAPTER XXII.Marriages and Funerals.A marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and the animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the proposed union.A legal marriage was made in three different ways, calledconfarreatio,ususandcoemptio.The first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of ten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt water, and that kind of flour called “far,” from which the name of the ceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook of this, to denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the sacrifice of a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows.When a woman, with the consent of her parents orguardian, lived an entire year with a man, with the intention of becoming his wife, it was calledusus.Coemptiowas an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife made of each other, by the exchange of some pieces of money.A plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable age was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls.On the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure white, bound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to unloose: her hair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, and crowned with flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which enveloped the entire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually high heels to give her an appearance of greater dignity.Thus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with a party of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence, from the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed to feel at leaving her paternal roof.The nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was conducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by her relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various domestic utensils.The door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers. When the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered, addressing the bridegroom, “Where thou art Caius, there shall I be Caia.” intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the wife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or gently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her feet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins.Upon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both she and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union was to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great supper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and dancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married couple.The Romans paid great attention to funeral rites, because they believed that the souls of the unburied werenot admitted into the abodes of the dead; or at least wandered a hundred years along the river Styx before they were allowed to cross it.When any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present endeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed that the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the deceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet towards the outer door.The funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with the feet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and borne by the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image of the deceased, together with those of his ancestors.The procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a larger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions; mourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the deceased.On the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with flowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the deceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to purify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be communicated by any contact with a corpse.The manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:—on this account a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the deceased, those animals of which he was most fond when living.When the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile was constructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was laid; the nearest relative then set fire to it:—perfumes and spices were afterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the embers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family.

The Romans were, as a people, remarkably attached to the religion they professed; and scrupulously attentive in discharging the rites and ceremonies which it enjoined.

Their religion was Idolatry, in its grossest and widest acceptation. It acknowledged a few general truths, but greatly darkened these by fables and poetical fiction.

All the inhabitants of the invisible world, to which the souls of people departed after death, were indiscriminatelycalledInferi.Elysiumwas that part of hell (apud Inferos,) in which the good spent a spiritual existence of unmingled enjoyment, andTartarus(pl. -ra) was the terrible prison-house of the damned.

The worship of the gods consisted chiefly in prayers, vows, and sacrifices. No act of religious worship was performed without prayer; while praying, they stood usually with their heads covered, looking towards the east; a priest pronounced the words before them;—they frequently touched the altars or knees of the images of the gods; turning themselves round in a circle towards the right, sometimes putting their right hand to their mouth, and also prostrating themselves on the ground.

They vowed temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. Sometimes they used to write their vows on paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and fasten them with wax to the knees of the images of the gods, that being supposed to be the seat of mercy.

Lustrations were necessary to be made before entrance on any important religious duty, viz. before setting out to the temples, before the sacrifice, before initiation into the mysteries, and before solemn vows and prayers.

Lustrations were also made after acts by which one might be polluted; as after murder, or after having assisted at a funeral.

In sacrifices it was requisite that those who offered them, should come chaste and pure; that they should bathe themselves, be dressed in white robes, and crowned with the leaves of the tree which was thought most acceptable to the god whom they worshipped.

Sacrifices were made of victims whole and sound (Integræ et sanæ.) But all victims were not indifferently offered to all gods.

A white bull was an acceptable sacrifice to Jupiter; an ewe to Juno; black victims, bulls especially, to Pluto; a bull and a horse to Neptune; the horse to Mars; bullocks and lambs to Apollo, &c. Sheep and goats were offered to various deities.

The victim was led to the altar with a loose rope, that it might not seem to be brought by force, which was reckoned a bad omen. After silence was proclaimed, a salted cake was sprinkled on the head of the beast, and frankincense and wine poured between his horns, the priest having first tasted the wine himself, and given it to be tasted bythose that stood next him, which was calledlibatio—the priest then plucked the highest hairs between the horns, and threw them into the fire—the victim was struck with an axe or mall, then stabbed with knives, and the blood being caught in goblets, was poured on the altar—it was then flayed and dissected; then the entrails were inspected by the aruspices, and if the signs were favorable, they were said to have offered up an acceptable sacrifice, or to have pacified the gods; if not, another victim was offered up, and sometimes several. The parts which fell to the gods were sprinkled with meal, wine, and frankincense, and burnt on the altar. When the sacrifice was finished, the priest, having washed his hands, and uttered certain prayers, again made a libation, and the people were dismissed.

Human sacrifices were also offered among the Romans: persons guilty of certain crimes, as treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and the infernal gods, and therefore any one might slay them with impunity.

Altars and temples afforded an asylum or place of refuge among the Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, chiefly to slaves from the cruelty of their masters, and to insolvent debtors and criminals, where it was considered impious to touch them; but sometimes they put fire and combustible materials around the place, that the person might appear to be forced away, not by men, but by a god: or shut up the temple and unroofed it, that he might perish in the open air.

Romulus divided the year into ten months; the first of which was called March from Mars, his supposed father; the 2d April, either from the Greek name of Venus, (Aφροδιτα) or because trees and flowers open their buds, during that month; the 3d, May, from Maia, the mother of Mercury; the 4th, June, from the goddess Juno; 5th, July, from Julius Cæsar; 6th, August, from Augustus Cæsar; the rest were called from their number, September, October, November, December.

Numa added two months—January from Janus, and February because the people were then purified, (februabatur) by an expiatory sacrifice from the sin of the whole year: for this anciently was the last month in the year.

Numa in imitation of the Greeks divided the year into twelve lunar months, according to the course of the moon, but as this mode of division did not correspond with the course of the sun, he ordained that an intercalary month should be added every other year.

Julius Cæsar afterwards abolished this month, and with the assistance of Sosigĕnes, a skilful astronomer of Alexandria, in the year of Rome 707, arranged the year according to the course of the sun, commencing with the first of January, and assigned to each month the number of days which they still retain. This is the celebrated Julian or solar year which has been since maintained without any other alteration than that of the new style, introduced by pope Gregory, A. D. 1582, and adopted in England in 1752, when eleven days were dropped between the second and fourteenth of September.

The months were divided into three parts,kalends,nonesandides. They commenced with thekalends; thenonesoccurred on the fifth, and theideson the thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and October, when they fell on the seventh and fifteenth.

In marking the days of the month they went backwards: thus, January first was the first of thekalendsof January—December thirty-first waspridie kalendas, or the day next before thekalendsof January—the day before that, or the thirtieth of December,tertio kalendas Januarii, or the third day before thekalendsof January, and so on to the thirteenth, when came the ides of December.

The day was either civil or natural; the civil day was from midnight to midnight; the natural day was from the rising to the setting of the sun.

The use of clocks and watches was unknown to the Romans—nor was it till four hundred and forty-seven years after the building of the city, that the sun dial was introduced: about a century later, they first measured time by a water machine, which served by night, as well as by day.

Their days were distinguished by the names offesti,profesti, andintercisi. Thefestiwere dedicated to religious worship, theprofestiwere allotted to ordinary business, the days which served partly for one and partly for the other were calledintercisi, or half holy days.

The manner of reckoning by weeks was not introduced until late in the second century of the christian era: it was borrowed from the Egyptians, and the days were named after the planets: thus, Sunday from the Sun, Monday from the Moon, Tuesday from Mars, Wednesday from Mercury, Thursday from Jupiter, Friday from Venus, Saturday from Saturn.

The Roman Games formed a part of religious worship, and were always consecrated to some god: they were either stated or vowed by generals in war, or celebrated on extraordinary occasions; the most celebrated were those of the circus.

Among them were first, chariot and horse races, of which the Romans were extravagantly fond. The charioteers were distributed into four parties or factions from the different colours of their dresses. The spectators favored one or other of the colours, as humor or caprice inclined them. It was not the swiftness of their horses, nor the art of the men that inclined them, but merely the dress. In the times of Justinian, no less than thirty thousand men are said to have lost their lives at Constantinople, in a tumult raised by contention among the partizans of the several colours.

The order in which the chariots or horses stood, was determined by lot, and the person who presided at the games gave the signal for starting, by dropping a cloth; then the chain of thehermulibeing withdrawn, they sprung forward, and whoever first ran seven times round the course, was declared the victor; he was then crowned, and received a prize in money of considerable value.

Second; contests of agility and strength, of which there were five kinds; running, leaping, boxing, wrestling and throwing thediscusor quoit. Boxers covered their hands with a kind of gloves, which had lead or iron sewed into them, to make the strokes fall with greater weight; the combatants were previously trained in a place of exercise, and restricted to a particular diet.

Third; what was calledvenatio, or the fighting of wild beasts with one another, or with men, calledbestiarii, who were either forced to this by way of punishment, as the primitive christians often were, or fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or induced by hire. An incredible number of animals of various kinds, were brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, at an immense expense; and were kept in enclosures calledvivaria, till the day of exhibition. Pompey, in hissecond consulship, exhibited at once five hundred lions, and eighteen elephants, who were all despatched in five days.

Fourth;naumachia, or the representation of a sea fight; those who fought, were usually composed of captives or condemned malefactors, who fought to death, unless saved by the clemency of the emperors.

In the next class of games were the shows of gladiators; they were first exhibited at Rome by two brothers called Bruti, at the funeral of their father, and for some time they were only exhibited on such occasions; but afterwards, also by the magistrates, to entertain the people, chiefly at thesaturnaliaand feasts of Minerva.

Incredible numbers of men were destroyed in this manner; after the triumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were exhibited for one hundred twenty-three days, in which eleven thousand animals, of different kinds, were killed, and ten thousand gladiators fought, whence we may judge of other instances. The emperor Claudius, although naturally of a gentle disposition, is said to have been rendered cruel by often attending these spectacles.

Gladiators were at first composed of slaves and captives, or of condemned malefactors, but afterwards also of free born citizens, induced by hire or inclination.

When any gladiator was wounded, he lowered his arms as a sign of his being vanquished, but his fate depended on the pleasure of the people, who, if they wished him to be saved, pressed down their thumbs; if to be slain, they turned them up, and ordered him to receive the sword, which gladiators usually submitted to with amazing fortitude.

Such was the spirit engendered by these scenes of blood, that malefactors and unfortunate christians, during the period of the persecution against them, were compelled to risk their lives in these unequal contests; and in the time of Nero, christians were dressed in skins, and thus distinguished, were hunted by dogs, or forced to contend with ferocious animals, by which they were devoured.

The next in order were the dramatic entertainments, of which there were three kinds. First; comedy, which was a representation of common life, written in a familiar style, and usually with a happy issue: the design of it was, to expose vice and folly to ridicule.

Second; tragedy, or the representation of some one serious and important action; in which illustrious personsare introduced as heroes, kings, &c. written in an elevated style, and generally with an unhappy issue.

The great end of tragedy was to excite the passions; chiefly pity and horror: to inspire a love of virtue, and an abhorrence of vice.

The Roman tragedy and comedy differed from ours only in the chorus: this was a company of actors who usually remained on the stage singing and conversing on the subject in the intervals of the acts.

Pantomimes, or representations of dumb show, where the actors expressed every thing by their dancing and gestures, without speaking.

Those who were most approved, received crowns, &c. as at other games; at first composed of leaves or flowers, tied round the head with strings, afterwards of thin plates of brass gilt.

The scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the modern custom, was drawn down when the play began, and raised when it was over.

Rome was at first governed by kings, chosen by the people; their power was not absolute, but limited; their badges were thetrabeaor white robe adorned with stripes of purple, a golden crown and ivory sceptre; thecurulechair and twelvelictorswith thefasces, that is, carrying each a bundle of rods, with an axe in the middle of them.

The regal government subsisted at Rome for two hundred and forty-three years, under seven kings—Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, all of whom, except the last, may be said to have laid the foundation of Roman greatness by their good government.

Tarquin being universally detested for his tyranny and cruelty, was expelled the city, with his wife and family, on account of the violence offered by his son Sextus to Lucretia, a noble lady, the wife of Collatinus.

This revolution was brought about chiefly by means of Lucius Junius Brutus. The haughtiness and cruelty of Tarquin inspired the Romans with the greatest aversion to regal government, which they retained ever after.

In the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the building of the city, they elected two magistrates, of equal authority, and gave them the name of consuls. They had the same badges as the kings, except the crown, and nearly the same power; in time of war they possessed supreme command, and usually drew lots to determine which should remain in Rome—they levied soldiers, nominated the greater part of the officers, and provided what was necessary for their support.

In dangerous conjunctures, they were armed by the senate with absolute power, by the solemn decree that the consuls should take care the Republic receives no harm. In any serious tumult or sedition they called the Roman citizens to arms in these words, “Let those who wish to save the republic follow me”—by which they easily checked it.

Although their authority was very much impaired, first by the tribunes of the people, and afterwards upon the establishment of the empire, yet they were still employed in consulting the senate, administering justice, managing public games and the like, and had the honor to characterize the year by their own names.

To be a candidate for the consulship, it was requisite to be forty-three years of age: to have gone through the inferior offices ofquæstor,ædile, andprætor—and to be present in a private station.

The office of prætor was instituted partly because the consuls being often wholly taken up with foreign wars, found the want of some person to administer justice in the city; and partly because the nobility, having lost their appropriation of the consulship, were ambitious of obtaining some new honor in its room. He was attended in the city by twolictors, who went before him with thefasces, and sixlictorswithout the city; he wore also, like the consuls, thetoga pretexta, or white robe fringed with purple.

The power of the prætor, in the administration of justice, was expressed in three words,do,dico,addico. By the worddo, he expressed his power in giving the form ofa writ for trying and redressing a wrong, and in appointing judges or jury to decide the cause: bydico, he meant that he declared right, or gave judgment; and byaddico, that he adjudged the goods of the debtor to the creditor. The prætor administered justice only in private or trivial cases: but in public and important causes, the people either judged themselves, or appointed persons calledquæsitoresto preside.

Thecensorswere appointed to take an account of the number of the people, and the value of their fortunes, and superintend the public morals. They were usually chosen from the most respectable persons of consular dignity, at first only from among the Patricians, but afterwards likewise from the Plebeians.

They had the same ensigns as the consuls, except thelictors, and were chosen every five years, but continued in office only a year and a half. When any of the senators or equites committed a dishonorable action, the censors could erase the name of the former from the list, and deprive the knight of his horse and ring; any other citizen, they degraded or deprived of all the privileges of a Roman citizen, except liberty.

As the sentence of censors (Animadversio Censoria,) only affected a person's character, it was therefore properly calledIgnominia. Yet even this was not unchangeable; the people or next censors might reverse it.

In addition to the revision of morals, censors had the charge of paving the streets—making roads, bridges, and aqueducts—preventing private persons from occupying public property—and frequently of imposing taxes.

A census was taken by these officers, every five years, of the number of the people, the amount of their fortunes, the number of slaves, &c. After this census had been taken, a sacrifice was made of a sow, a sheep, and a bull—hence calledsuove-taurilia. As this took place only every five years, that space of time was called alustrum, because the sacrifice was a lustration offered for all the people; and thereforecondere lustrum, means to finish the census.

The title of censor was esteemed more honorable than that of consul, although attended by less power: no one could be elected a second time, and they who filled it were remarkable for leading an irreproachable life; so that it was considered the chief ornament of nobility to be sprung from a censorian family.

The appointment of tribunes of the people, may be attributed to the following cause; the Plebeians being oppressed by the Patricians, on account of debt, made a secession to a mountain afterwards calledmons sacer, three miles from Rome, nor could they be prevailed on to return, till they obtained from the Patricians a remission of debts for those who were insolvent, and liberty to such as had been given up to serve their creditors: and likewise that the Plebeians should have proper magistrates of their own, to protect their rights, whose person should be sacred and inviolable.

They were at first five in number, but afterwards increased to ten; they had no external mark of dignity, except a kind of beadle, calledviator, who went before them.

The wordveto, I forbid it, was at first the extent of their power; but it afterwards increased to such a degree, that under pretence of defending the rights of the people, they did almost whatever they pleased. If any one hurt a tribune in word or deed, he was held accursed, and his property confiscated.

Theedileswere so called from their care of the public buildings; they were either Plebeian orcurule; the former, two in number, were appointed to be, as it were, the assistants of the tribunes of the commons, and to determine certain lesser causes committed to them; the latter, also two in number, were chosen from the Patricians and Plebeians, to exhibit certain public games.

Thequæstorswere officers elected by the people, to take care of the public revenues; there were at first only two of them, but two others were afterwards added to accompany the armies; and upon the conquest of all Italy, four more were created, who remained in the provinces.

The principal charge of the city quæstors was the care of the treasury; they received and expended the public money, and exacted the fines imposed by the people: they kept the military standards, entertained foreign ambassadors, and took charge of the funerals of those who were buried at the public expense.

Commanders returning from war, before they could obtain a triumph, were obliged to take an oath before the quæstors, that they had written to the senate a true account of the number of the enemy they had slain, and of the citizens who were missing.

The office of the provincial quæstors was to attend the consuls or prætors into their provinces; to furnish the provisions and pay for the army; to exact the taxes and tribute of the empire, and sell the spoils taken in war.

The quæstorship was the first step of preferment to the other public offices, and to admission into the senate: its continuation was for but one year, and no one could be a candidate for it until he had completed his twenty-seventh year.

Legatiwere those next in authority to the quæstors, and appointed either by the senate or president of the province, who was then said toaliquem sibi legare.

The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable. They acted as lieutenants or deputies in any business for which they were appointed, and were sometimes allowed the honor of lictors.

Thedictatorwas a magistrate invested with royal authority, created in perilous circumstances, in time of pestilence, sedition, or when the commonwealth was attacked by dangerous enemies.

His power was supreme both in peace and war, and was even above the laws; he could raise and disband armies, and determine upon the life and fortune of Roman citizens, without consulting the senate or people; when he was appointed, all other magistrates resigned their offices except the tribunes of the commons.

The dictator could continue in office only six months; but he usually resigned when he had effected the business for which he had been created. He was neither permitted to go out of Italy, nor ride on horseback, without the permission of the people; but the principal check against any abuse of power, was that he might be called to an account for his conduct, when he resigned his office.

A master of horse was nominated by the dictator immediately after his creation, usually from those of consular or prætorian rank, whose office was to command the cavalry, and execute the orders of the dictator.

Thedecemviriwere ten men invested with supreme power, who were appointed to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates having first resigned their offices.

They at first behaved with great moderation, and administered justice to the people every tenth day. Ten tables of laws were proposed by them, and ratified by the people at thecomitia centuriata.

As two other tables seemed to be wanting,decemviriwere again appointed for another year, to make them. But as these new magistrates acted tyrannically, and seemed disposed to retain their command beyond the legal time, they were compelled to resign, chiefly on account of the base passion of Appius Claudius, one of their number, for Virginia, a virgin of plebeian rank, who was slain by her father to prevent her falling into the decemvir's hands. Thedecemviriall perished, either in prison or in banishment.

The consuls and all the chief magistrates, except the censors and the tribunes of the people, were preceded in public by a certain number, according to their rank of office, called lictors, each bearing on his shoulders as the insignia of office, thefascesandsecuris, which were a bundle of rods, with an axe in the centre of one end; but the lictors in attendance on an inferior magistrate, carried thefascesonly, without the axe, to denote that he was not possessed of the power of capital punishments.

They opened a way through the crowd for the consul, saying words like these—“cedite, Consul venit,” or “date viam Consuli.” It was their duty also to inflict punishment on the condemned.

According to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a soldier, and bound to serve if called upon, in the armies of the state at any period, from the age of seventeen to forty-six.

When the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent one or more of the priests, calledfeciales, to demand redress, and if it was not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to consider the matter, after which war might be justly declared; then the feciales again went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear into them, formally declared war against that nation.

The levy of the troops, the encampment, and much of the civil discipline, as well as the temporary command ofthe army, was intrusted to the military tribunes, six of whom were appointed to each legion.

During the early period of the republic, the standing army in time of peace usually consisted of only four legions, two of which were commanded by each consul, and they were relieved by new levies every year, the soldiers then serving without any pay beyond their mere subsistence. But this number was afterwards greatly augmented, and the inconvenience of raw troops having been experienced, a fixed stipend in money was allowed to the men, and they were constantly retained in the service.

The legion usually consisted of three hundred horse, and three thousand foot: the different kinds of infantry which composed it were three, thehastati,principes, andtriarii. The first were so called because they fought with spears: they consisted of young men in the flower of life, and formed the first line in battle. Theprincipeswere men of middle age who occupied the second line. Thetriariiwere old soldiers of approved valor, who formed the third line.

There was a fourth kind of troops, calledvelĭtesfrom their swiftness and agility: these did not form a part of the legion, and had no certain post assigned them, but fought in scattered parties, wherever occasion required, usually before the lines.

The imperial eagle was the common standard of the legion; it was of gilt metal, borne on a spear by an officer of rank, styled, from his office,aquilifer, and was regarded by the soldiery with the greatest reverence. There were other ensigns, as A. B. C. D. in the frontispiece.

The only musical instruments used in the Roman army, were brazen trumpets of different forms, adapted to the various duties of the service.

The arms of the soldiery varied according to the battalion in which they served. Some were equipped with light javelins, and others with a missile weapon, calledpilum, which they flung at the enemy; but all carried shields and short swords of that description, usually styled cut and thrust, which they wore on the right side, to prevent its interfering with the buckler, which they bore on the left arm.

The shield was of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss jutting out in the middle, to glance off stones or darts;it was four feet long and two and a half broad, made of pieces of wood joined together with small plates of iron, and the whole covered with a bull's hide.

They were partly dressed in a metal cuirass with an under covering of cloth; on the head they wore helmets of brass, either fastened under the chin, with plates of the same metal, or reaching to the shoulders, which they covered and ornamented on the top with flowing tufts of horse hair.

The light infantry were variously armed with slings and darts as well as swords, and commonly wore a shaggy cap, in imitation of the head of some wild beast, of which the skirt hung over their shoulders. The troops of the line wore greaves on the legs and heavy iron-bound sandals on the feet. These last were calledcaligæ, from which the emperor Caius Cæsar obtained the name of Caligula, in consequence of having worn them in his youth among the soldiery.

The cavalry were armed with spears and wore a coat of mail of chain work, or scales of brass or steel, often plated with gold, under which was a close garment that reached to their buskins. The helmet was surmounted with a plume, and with an ornament distinctive of each rank, or with some device according to the fancy of the wearers, and which was then, as now in heraldry, denominated the crest. This term wascrista, derived from the resemblance of the ornament to the comb of a cock.

The Romans made no use of saddles or stirrups, but merely cloths folded according to the convenience of the rider.

Among the instruments used in war were towers consisting of different stories, from which showers of darts were discharged on the townsmen by means of engines calledcatapultæ,balistæ, andscorpiones.

But the most dreadful machine of all was the battering ram: this was a long beam like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end with iron, in the form of a ram's head, whence it had its name. It was suspended by the middle, with ropes or chains fastened to a beam which lay across two posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was violently thrust forward, drawn back, and again pushed forward, until by repeated strokes it had broken down the wall.

The discipline of the army was maintained with great severity; officers were exposed to degradation for misconduct, and the private soldier to corporal punishment. Whole legions who had transgressed their military duty were exposed to decimation, which consisted in drawing their names by lot, and putting every tenth man to the sword.

The most common rewards were crowns of different forms; the mural crown was presented to him who in the assault first scaled the rampart of a town; the castral, to those who were foremost in storming the enemy's entrenchments; the civic chaplet of oak leaves, to the soldier who saved his comrade's life in battle, and the triumphal laurel wreath to the general who commanded in a successful engagement. The radial crown was that worn by the emperors.

When an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave their deliverer a crown calledobsidionalis, made of the grass which grew in the besieged place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an enemy, a naval crown.

But the greatest distinction that could be conferred on a commander, was a triumph; this was granted only by the senate, on the occasion of a great victory. When decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was appointed by a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the day of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured masonry, under which the procession passed.

First came a detachment of cavalry, with a band of military music preceding a train of priests in their robes, who were followed by a hecatomb of the whitest oxen with gilded horns entwined with flowers; next were chariots, laden with the spoils of the vanquished; and after them, long ranks of chained captives conducted by files of lictors. Then came the conqueror, clothed in purple and crowned with laurel, having an ivory sceptre in his hand; a band of children followed dressed in white, who threw perfumes from silver censors, while they chanted the hymns of victory and the praises of the conqueror. The march was closed by the victorious troops, with their weapons wreathed with laurel; the procession marched to the temple of Jupiter, where the victor descended and dedicated his spoils to the gods.

When the objects of the war had been obtained by a bloodless victory, a minor kind of triumph was granted, inwhich the general appeared on horseback, dressed in white, and crowned with myrtle, while in his hand he bore a branch of olive. No other living sacrifice was offered but sheep, from the name of which the ceremony was called an ovation.

In consequence of the continual depredations to which the coast of Italy was subject, the Romans commenced the building of a number of vessels, to establish a fleet, taking for their model a Carthaginian vessel, which was formerly stranded on their coast.

Their vessels were of two kinds,naves onerariæ, ships of burden, andnaves longæ, ships of war: the former served to carry provisions, &c.: they were almost round, very deep, and impelled by sails.

The ships of war received their name from the number of banks of oars, one above another, which they contained: thus a ship with three banks of oars was calledtriremis, one with four,quadriremis, &c.; in these, sails were not used.

The assemblies of the whole Roman people, to give their vote on any subject, were calledcomitia. There were three kinds, thecuriata,centuriata, andtributa.

Thecomitia curiatawere assemblies of the resident Roman citizens, who were divided into thirtycuriæ, a majority of which determined all matters of importance that were laid before them, such as the election of magistrates, the enacting of laws and judging of capital causes.

Comitia centuriatawere assemblies of the various centuries into which the six classes of the people were divided.

Those who belonged to the first class were termedclassici, by way of pre-eminence—henceauctores classici, respectable or standard authors; those of the last class, who had no fortune, were calledcapite censi, orproletarii; and those belonging to the middle classes were all said to beinfra classem—below the class.

Comitia centuriatawere the most important of all the assemblies of the people. In these, laws were enacted, magistrates elected, and criminals tried. Their meeting was in the Campus Martius.

It was necessary that these assemblies should have been summoned seventeen days previously to their meeting, in order that the people might have time to reflect on the business which was to be transacted.

Candidates for any public office, who were to be elected here, were obliged to give in their names before thecomitiawere summoned. Those who did so, were said topetere consulatum vel præturam, &c.; and they wore a white robe calledtoga candida, to denote the purity of their motives; on which account they were calledcandidati.

Candidates went about to solicit votes (ambire,) accompanied by a nomenclator, whose duty it was to whisper the names of those whose votes they desired; for it was supposed to be an insult not to know the name of a Roman citizen.

Centuria prærogativawas that century which obtained by ballot the privilege of voting first.

When thecenturia prærogativahad been elected, the presiding magistrate sitting in a tent (tabernaculum,) called upon it to come and vote. All that century then immediately separated themselves from the rest, and entered into that place of the Campus Martius, calledseptaorovilia. Going into this, they had to cross over a little bridge (pons;) hence the phrasede ponte dejici—to be deprived of the elective franchise.

At the farther end of theseptastood officers, calleddiribitores, who handed waxen tablets to the voters, with the names of the candidates written upon them. The voter then putting a mark (punctus) on the name of him for whom he voted, threw the tablet into a large chest; and when all were done, the votes were counted.

If the votes of a century for different magistrates, or respecting any law, were equal when counted, the vote of the entire century was not reckoned among the votes of the other centuries; but in trials of life and death, if the tablets pro and con were equal, the criminal was acquitted.

The candidate for whom the greatest number of centuries voted, was duly elected, (renunciatus est:) when the votes were unanimous, he was saidferre omne punctum—to be completely successful.

When a law was proposed, two ballots were given to each voter: one with U. R. written upon it,Uti Rogas—as you propose; and the other with A. forAntiquo—I am for the old one.

In voting on an impeachment, one tablet was marked with A. forAbsolvo—I acquit; hence this letter was calledlitera salutaris; the other with C. forcondemno—I condemn; hence C. was calledlitera tristis.

In thecomitia tributa, the people voted, divided into tribes, according to their regions or wards; they were held to create inferior magistrates, to elect certain priests, to make laws, and to hold trials.

Thecomitiacontinued to be assembled for upwards of seven hundred years, when that liberty was abridged by Julius Cæsar, and after him by Augustus, each of whom shared the right of creating magistrates with the people. Tiberius the second emperor, deprived the people altogether of the right of election.

The extension of the Roman empire, the increase of riches, and consequently of crime, gave occasion to a great number of new laws, which were distinguished by the name of the person who proposed them, and by the subject to which they referred.

Civil trials, or differences between private persons were tried in the forum by the prætor. If no adjustment could be made between the two parties, the plaintiff obtained a writ from the prætor, which required the defendant to give bail for his appearance on the third day, at which time, if either was not present when cited, he lost his cause, unless he had a valid excuse.

Actions were either real, personal, or mixed. Real, was for obtaining a thing to which one had a real right, but was possessed by another. Personal, was against a person to bind him to the fulfilment of a contract, or to obtain redress for wrongs. Mixed, was when the actions had relation to persons and things.

After the plaintiff had presented his case for trial, judges were appointed by the prætor, to hear and determine the matter, and fix the number of witnesses, that the suit might not be unreasonably protracted. The parties gave security that they would abide by the judgment, and the judges took a solemn oath to decide impartially; after this the cause was argued on both sides, assisted by witnesses,writings, &c. In giving sentence, the votes of a majority of the judges were necessary to decide against the defendant; but if the number was equally divided, it was left to the prætor to determine.

Trial by jury, as established with us, was not known, but the mode of judging in criminal cases, seems to have resembled it. A certain number of senators and knights, or other citizens of respectability, were annually chosen by the prætor, to act as his assessors, and some of these were appointed to sit in judgment with him. They decided by a majority of voices, and returned their verdict, either guilty, not guilty, or uncertain, in which latter instance the case was deferred; but if the votes for acquittal and condemnation were equal, the culprit was discharged.

There were also officers calledcentumviri, to the number at first of 100, but afterwards of 180, who were chosen equally, from the 35 tribes, and together with the prætor constituted a court of justice.

Candidates for office wore a white robe, rendered shining by the art of the fuller. They did not wear tunics, or waist-coats, either that they might appear more humble, or might more easily show the scars they had received on the breast.

For a long time before the election, they endeavored to gain the favor of the people, by every popular art, by going to their houses, by shaking hands with those they met, by addressing them in a kindly manner, and calling them by name, on which occasion they commonly had with them a monitor, who whispered in their ears every body's name.

Criminal law was in many instances more severe than it is at the present day. Thus adultery, which now only subjects the offender to a civil suit, was by the Romans, as well as the ancient Jews, punished corporally.

Forgery was not punished with death, unless the culprit was a slave; but freemen guilty of that crime were subject to banishment, which deprived them of their property and privileges; and false testimony, coining, and those offences which we term misdemeanors, exposed them to an interdiction from fire and water, or in fact an excommunication from society, which necessarily drove them into banishment.

The punishments inflicted among the Romans, were—fine, (damnum,) bonds, (vincula,) stripes, (verbera,) retaliation, (talio,) infamy, (ignominia,) banishment, (exilium,) slavery, (servitus,) and death.

The methods of inflicting death were various; the chief were—beheading (percussio securi), strangling in prison (strangulatio), throwing a criminal from that part of the prison called Robur (precipitatio de robore), throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (dejectio e rupe Tarpeia), crucifixion (in crucem actio), and throwing into the river (projectio in profluentem).

The last-mentioned punishment was inflicted upon parricides, or the murderers of any relation. So soon as any one was convicted of such crimes, he was immediately blindfolded as unworthy of the light, and in the next place whipped with rods. He was then sewed up in a sack, and thrown into the sea. In after times, to add to the punishment, a serpent was put in the sack; and still later, an ape, a dog, and a cock. The sack which held the malefactor was calledCuleus, on which account the punishment itself is often signified by the same name.

In the time of Nero, the punishment for treason was, to be stripped stark naked, and with the head held up by a fork to be whipped to death.

The ordinary garments of the Romans were thetogaand thetunic.

Thetogawas a loose woollen robe, of a semicircular form, without sleeves, open from the waist upwards, but closed from thence downwards, and surrounding the limbs as far as the middle of the leg. The upper part of the vest was drawn under the right arm, which was thus left uncovered, and, passing over the left shoulder, was there gathered in a knot, whence it fell in folds across the breast: this flap being tucked into the girdle, formed a cavity which sometimes served as a pocket, and was frequently used as a covering for the head. Its color was white, except in case of mourning, when a black or dark color was worn. The Romans were at great pains to adjust the toga and make it hang gracefully.

It was at first worn by women as well as men—but afterwards matrons wore a different robe, calledstola, with a broad border or fringe, reaching to the feet. Courtezans, and women condemned for adultery, were not permitted to wear thestola—hence calledtogatæ.

Roman citizens only were permitted to wear thetoga, and banished persons were prohibited the use of it. Thetoga pictawas so termed from the rich embroidery with which it was covered:—thetoga palmatafrom its being wrought in figured palm leaves—this last was the triumphal habit.

Young men, until they were seventeen years of age, and young women until they were married, wore a gown bordered with purple, called thetoga prætexta.

After they had arrived at the age of seventeen, young men assumed thetoga virilis.

Thetunicwas a white woollen vest worn below thetoga, coming down a little below the knees before, and to the middle of the leg behind, at first without sleeves.Tunicswith sleeves were reckoned effeminate: but under the emperors, these were used with fringes at the hands. Thetunicwas fastened by a girdle or belt about the waist, to keep it tight, which also served as a purse.

The women wore atunicwhich came down to their feet and covered their arms.

Senators had a broad stripe of purple, sewed on the breast of their tunic, calledlatus clavus, which is sometimes put for thetunicitself, or the dignity of a senator.

Theequiteswere distinguished by a narrow stripe calledangustus clavus.

The Romans wore neither stockings nor breeches, but used sometimes to wrap their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth called from the parts which they covered,tibialiaandfeminalia.

The chief coverings for the feet were thecalceus, which covered the whole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with alatchetor lace, and thesolea, a slipper or sandal which covered only the sole of the foot, and was fastened on with leather thongs or strings.

The shoes of the senators came up to the middle of their legs, and had a golden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the soldiery were calledcaligæ, sometimes shod with nails. Comedians wore thesoccior slippers, and tragedians thecothurni.

The ancient Romans went with their heads bare except at sacred rites, games, festivals, on journey or in war.—Hence, of all the honors decreed to Cæsar by the senate, he is said to have been chiefly pleased with that of always wearing a laurel crown, because it covered his baldness, which was reckoned a deformity. At games and festivals a woollen cap or bonnet was worn.

The head-dress of women was at first very simple. They seldom went abroad, and when they did they almost always had their faces veiled. But when riches and luxury increased, dress became, with many, the chief object of attention. They anointed their hair with the richest perfumes, and sometimes gave it a bright yellow color, by means of a composition or wash. It was likewise adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones: sometimes with garlands and chaplets of flowers.

The Romans invented short or abridged writing, which enabled their secretaries to collect the speeches of orators, however rapidly delivered. The characters used by such writers were called notes. They did not consist in letters of the alphabet, but certain marks, one of which often expressed a whole word, and frequently a phrase. The same description of writing is known at the present day by the wordstenography. From notes came the wordnotary, which was given to all who professed the art of quick writing.

The system of note-writing was not suddenly brought to perfection: it only came into favor when the professors most accurately reported an excellent speech which Cato pronounced in the senate. The orators, the philosophers, the dignitaries, and nearly all the rich patricians then took for secretaries note-writers, to whom they allowed handsome pay. It was usual to take from their slaves all who had intellect to acquire a knowledge of that art.

The fine arts were unknown at Rome, until their successful commanders brought from Syracuse, Asia, Macedonia and Corinth, the various specimens which thoseplaces afforded. So ignorant, indeed, were they of their real worth, that when the victories of Mummius had given him possession of some of the finest productions of Grecian art, he threatened the persons to whom he intrusted the carriage of some antique statues and rare pictures, “that if they lost those, they should give him new ones.” A taste by degrees began to prevail, which they gratified at the expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and private right.

The art of printing being unknown, books were sometimes written on parchment, but more generally on a paper made from the leaves of a plant calledpapyrus, which grew and was prepared in Egypt. This plant was about ten cubits high, and had several coats or skins, one above another, which they separated with a needle.

The instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at the point, like our pens, calledcalamus. Their ink was sometimes composed of a black liquid emitted by the cuttle fish.

The Romans commonly wrote only on one side of the paper, and joined one sheet to the end of another, till they finished what they had to write, and then rolled it on a cylinder or staff, hence calledvolumen.

Butmemorandaor other unimportant matters, not intended to be preserved, were usually written on tablets spread with wax. This was effected by means of a metal pencil calledstylus, pointed at one end to scrape the letters, and flat at the other to smooth the wax when any correction was necessary.

Julius Cæsar introduced the custom of folding letters in a flat square form, which were then divided into small pages, in the manner of a modern book. When forwarded for delivery, they were usually perfumed and tied round with a silken thread, the ends of which were sealed with common wax.

Letters were not subscribed; but the name of the writer, and that of the person to whom they were addressed, were inserted at the commencement—thus, Julius Cæsar to his friend Antony, health. At the end was written a simple, Farewell!

The Romans had many private and public libraries. Adjoining to some of them were museums for the accommodation of a college or society of learned men, who weresupported there at the public expense, with a covered walk and seats, where they might dispute.

The first public library at Rome, and probably in the world, was erected by Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty, on Mount Aventine. This was adorned by the statues of the most celebrated men.

The houses of the Romans are supposed at first to have been nothing more than thatched cottages. After the city was burnt by the Gauls, it was rebuilt in a more solid and commodious manner; but the streets were very irregular.

In the time of Nero the city was set on fire, and more than two-thirds of it burnt to the ground. That tyrant himself is said to have been the author of this conflagration. He beheld it from the tower of Mæcenas, and being delighted, as he said, with the beauty of the flames, played the taking of Troy, dressed like an actor.

The city was then rebuilt with greater regularity and splendor—the streets were widened, the height of the houses was limited to seventy feet, and each house had a portico before it, fronting the street.

Nero erected for himself a palace of extraordinary extent and magnificence. The enclosure extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline mount, which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was entirely surrounded with a spacious portico embellished with sculpture and statuary, among which stood a colossal statue of Nero himself, one hundred and twenty feet in height. The apartments were lined with marble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other precious gems: the timber works and ceilings were inlaid with gold, ivory and mother of pearl.

This noble edifice, which from its magnificence obtained the appellation of the golden house, was destroyed by Vespasian as being too gorgeous for the residence even of a Roman emperor.

The lower floors of the houses of the great were, at this time, either inlaid marble or mosaic work. Every thingcurious and valuable was used in ornament and furniture. The number of stories was generally two, with underground apartments. On the first, were the reception-rooms and bed-chamber; on the second, the dining-room and apartments of the women.

The Romans used portable furnaces in their rooms, on which account they had little use for chimneys, except for the kitchen.

The windows of some of their houses were glazed with a thick kind of glass, not perfectly transparent; in others, isinglass split into thin plates was used. Perfectly transparent glass was so rare and valuable at Rome, that Nero is said to have given a sum equal to £50,000 for two cups of such glass with handles.

Houses not joined with the neighboring ones were calledInsulæ, as also lodgings or houses to let. The inhabitants of rented houses or lodgings,InsulariiorInquilini.

The principal parts of a private house were thevestibulum, or court before the gate, which was ornamented towards the street with a portico extending along the entire front.

Theatriumor hall, which was in the form of an oblong square, surrounded by galleries supported on pillars. It contained a hearth on which a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged thelares, or images of the ancestors of the family.

These were usually nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in great respect, were not treated with the same veneration as thepenates, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin, and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an inner apartment, calledpenetralia.

The outer door was furnished with a bell: the entrance was guarded by a slave in chains: he was armed with a staff, and attended by a dog.

The houses had high sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and there was usually an open space in the centre to afford light to the inner apartments.

The Romans were unacquainted with the use of chimnies, and were consequently much annoyed by smoke. To remedy this, they sometimes anointed the wood of which their fuel was composed, with lees of oil.

The windows were closed with blinds of linen or plates of horn, but more generally with shutters of wood. During the time of the emperors, a species of transparent stone, cut into plates, was used for the purpose. Glass was not used for the admission of light into the apartments until towards the fifth century of the christian era.

A villa was originally a farm-house of an ordinary kind, and occupied by the industrious cultivator of the soil; but when increasing riches inspired the citizens with a taste for new pleasures, it became the abode of opulence and luxury.

Some villas were surrounded with large parks, in which deer and various foreign wild animals were kept, and in order to render the sheep that pastured on the lawn ornamental, we are told that they often dyed their fleeces with various colours.

Large fish ponds were also a common appendage to the villas of persons of fortune, and great expense was often incurred in stocking them. In general, however, country houses were merely surrounded with gardens, of which the Romans were extravagantly fond.

A marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and the animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the proposed union.

A legal marriage was made in three different ways, calledconfarreatio,ususandcoemptio.

The first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of ten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt water, and that kind of flour called “far,” from which the name of the ceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook of this, to denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the sacrifice of a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows.

When a woman, with the consent of her parents orguardian, lived an entire year with a man, with the intention of becoming his wife, it was calledusus.

Coemptiowas an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife made of each other, by the exchange of some pieces of money.

A plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable age was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls.

On the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure white, bound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to unloose: her hair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, and crowned with flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which enveloped the entire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually high heels to give her an appearance of greater dignity.

Thus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with a party of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence, from the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed to feel at leaving her paternal roof.

The nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was conducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by her relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various domestic utensils.

The door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers. When the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered, addressing the bridegroom, “Where thou art Caius, there shall I be Caia.” intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the wife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or gently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her feet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins.

Upon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both she and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union was to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great supper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and dancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married couple.

The Romans paid great attention to funeral rites, because they believed that the souls of the unburied werenot admitted into the abodes of the dead; or at least wandered a hundred years along the river Styx before they were allowed to cross it.

When any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present endeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed that the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the deceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet towards the outer door.

The funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with the feet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and borne by the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image of the deceased, together with those of his ancestors.

The procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a larger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions; mourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the deceased.

On the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with flowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the deceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to purify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be communicated by any contact with a corpse.

The manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:—on this account a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the deceased, those animals of which he was most fond when living.

When the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile was constructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was laid; the nearest relative then set fire to it:—perfumes and spices were afterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the embers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family.

Back to IndexNext