on the Pilasters be true were the Work of Phidias and Praxiteles (n) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. This Hill was added to the City by Numa (o) Dionys Halicarn lib. 2. To the East it has Mons Esquilinus and Mons Viminalis to the South the Forums of Caesar and Nerva to the West the level Part of the City to the North Collis Hortulorum and the Campus Martius (p) Fabricis Roma cap. 3. In compass almost three Miles (q) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. Mons Coelius owes its Name to Coelius or Coeles a famous Tuscan General who pitch'd his Tents here when he came to the assistance of Romulus against the Sabines (r) Varro de Ling. Lat. Lib. 4. Livy (Å¿) Lib. 1. cap. 30. and Dionysius (t) Lib. 3. attribute the taking of it in to Tullus Hostilius but Strabo (u) Geograph lib. 5. to Ancus Martius The other Names by which it was sometimes known were Querculanus or Quercetulanus and Augustus The first occasion'd by the abundance of Oaks growing there the other impos'd by the Emperour Tiberius when he had rais'd new Buildings upon it after a Fire (w) Tacit. Ann. 4. Suet. in Tib. cap. 48. One part of this Hill was call'd Coeliolus and Minor Coelius (x) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. To the East it has the City-Walls to the South Mons Aventinus to the West Mons Palatinus to the North Mons Esquilinus (y) Ibid. In compass about two Miles and a half (z) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. Mons Esquilinus was anciently call'd Cispius and Oppius (a) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. the Name of Esquilinus was varied for the easier pronounciation from Exquilinus a Corruption of Excubinus ab excubiis from the Watch that Romulus kept here (b) Vid. Propert. lib. 2. Eleg. 8. It was taken in by Servius Tullius (c) Liv. lib. 1. cap. 44. who had here his Royal Seat (d) Ibid. Varro will have the Esquiliae to be properly Two Mountains (e) De Ling. Latin lib. 4. which Opinion has been since approv'd of by a curious Observer (f) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. To the East it has the City Walls to the South the Via Labicana to the West the Valley lying between Mons Coelius and Mons Palatinus to the North Collis Viminalis (g) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. In Compass about four Miles (h) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. Mons Viminalis derives its Name from the * Vimina Osiers that grow there in great Plenty This Hill was taken in by Servius Tullius (i) Dionys lib. 4. To the East it has the Campus Esquilinus and to the South part of the Suburra and the Forum to the West Mons Quirinalis to the North the Vallis Quirinalis (k) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. In Compass Two Miles and an half (l) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. The Name of Mons Aventinus has given great Cause of Dispute among the Criticks some deriving the Word from Aventinus an Alban King (m) Varro de Ling. Lat. lib. 4. some from the River Avens (n) Ibid. and others Ab avibus from the Birds which us'd to fly hither in great Flocks from the Tiber (o) Ibid. It was call'd too Murcius from Murcia the Goddess of Sleep who had here a Sacellum or little Temple (p) Sext. Pomp. Festus Collis Dianae from the Temple of Diana (q) Martial and Remonius from Remus who would have had the City begun in this place and was here buried (r) Plutarch in Romal A. Gellius affirms (s) Lib. 13. cap. 14. that this Hill being all along reputed Sacred was never inclos'd within the Bounds of the City 'till the time of Claudius But Eutropius (t) Lib. 1. expresly attributes the taking of it in to Ancus Maritius and an old Epigram inserted by Caspinian in his Comment on Cassiodorus confirms the same To the East it has the City Walls to the South the Campus Figulinus to the West the Tiber to the North Mons Palatinus (u) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. In Circuit eighteen Stadia or Two Miles and a quarter (w) Marlian lib. 1. cap 1. Besides these Seven principal Hills Three other of inferiour note were taken in in later times Collis Hortulorum or Hortorum had its Name from the famous Gardens of Sallust adjoining to it (x) Rosin lib. 1. cap. 11. It was afterwards call'd Pincius from the Pincii a Noble Family who had here their Seat (y) Ibid. The Emperour Aurelian first inclos'd it within the City Walls (z) Ibid. To the East and South it has the plainest part of Mons Quirinalis to the West the Vallis Martia to the North the Walls of the City (a) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. In Compass about Eighteen Stadia (b) Marlian lib 1. câ—p 1. Janiculum or Janicularis was so call'd either from an old Town of the same Name said to have been built by Janus Or because Janus dwelt and was buried here (c) Rosin lib. 1. cap. 11. Or because 't was a sort of * Janua Gate to the Romans whence they issu'd out upon the Tuscans (d) Festus The Sparkling Sands have at present given it the Name of Mons aureus and by corruption Montorius (e) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. We may make Two Observations about this Hill from one Epigram of Martial That 't is the fittest place to take ones Standing for a full Prospect of the City and that 't is less inhabited than the other Parts by reason of the grossness of the Air (f) Marlial Epig. lib. 4. Ep. 64. It is still famous for the Sepulchres of Numa and Statius the Poet (g) Fabricii Rom. lib 1. cap. 3. To the East and South it has the Tiber to the West the Fields to the North the Vatican (h) Ibid. In circuit as much of it as stands within the City Walls Five Stadia (i) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. Mons Vaticanus owes its Name to the Answers of the Vates or Prophets that us'd to be given here or from the God Vaticanus or Vagitanus (k) 〈◊〉 It seems not to have been inclos'd within the Walls 'till the time of Aurelian This Hill was formerly famous for the Sepulchre of Scipio Africanus some Remains of which are still to be seen (l) Warcup's Hist of Italy Book 2. But it is more celebrated at present on the account of St. Peter's Church the Pope's Palace and the noblest Library in the World To the East it has the Campus Vatioanus and the River to the South the Janiculum to the West the Campus Figulinus or Potters Field to the North the Prata Quintia (m) Fabricii Roma cap. 3. It lies in the shape of a Bow drawn up very high the convex Part stretching almost a Mile (n) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. As to the extent of the whole City the greatest we meet with in History was in the
the Command of the Continent could not satisfie the Roman Courage especially while they saw so delicious an Isle as Sicily almost within their reach They only waited an occasion to pass the Sea when Fortune presented as fair an one as they could wish The Inhabitants of Messina a Sicilian City made grievous Complaints to the Senate of the daily Encroachments of the Carthaginians a People of vast Wealth and Power and that had the same Design on Sicily as the Romans (a) Florus lib. 2. cap. 2. A Fleet was soon Mann'd out to their Assistance and in two Years time no less than Fifty Cities were brought over (b) Eutrop. lib. 2. The entire Conquest of the Island quickly follow'd and Sardinia and Corfica were taken in about the same time by a separate Squadron And now under the Command of Regulus and Manlius the Consuls the War was translated into Africa Three hundred Forts and Castles were destroy'd in their March and the victorious Legions encamp'd under the very Walls of Carthage The Enemy reduc'd to such straits were oblig'd to apply themselves to Xantippus King of the Lacedaemonians the greatest Captain of the Age who immediately march'd to their Assistance with a numerous and well-disciplin'd Army In the very first Engagement with the Romans he entirely defeated their whole Power Thirty thousand were kill'd on the spot and Fifteen thousand with the Consul Regulus taken Prisoners But as good Success always encourag'd the Romans to greater Designs so a contrary Event did but exasperate them the more The new Consuls were immediately dispatch'd with a powerful Navy and a sufficient number of Land-Forces Several Campaignes were now wasted without any considerable Advantage on either side Or if the Romans gain'd any thing by their Victories they generally lost as much by Shipwracks when at last the whole Power of both States being drawn together on the Sea the Carthaginians were finally defeated with the loss of 125 Ships sunk in the Engagement 73 taken 32000 Men kill'd and 13000 Prisoners Upon this they were compell'd to sue for a Peace which after much entreaty and upon very hard Conditions was at last obtain'd (c) Eutrop. lib. 2. But the Carthaginians had too great Spirits to submit to such terrible Terms any longer than their Necessities oblig'd them In four Years time (d) Florus lib. 2. c. 6. they had got together an Army of 150000 Foot and 20000 Horse (e) Eutrop. lib. 3. under the Command of the famous Hannibal who forcing a Way through the Pyrenâ—ean Mountain and the Alpes reputed 'till that time impassable descended with his vast Army into Italy In Four successive Battels he defeated the Roman Forces in the last of which at Cannae 40000 of the latter were kill'd (f) Ibid. And had he not been meerly cast away by the Envy and Ill-will of his own Country-men 't is more than probable that he must have entirely ruin'd the Roman State (g) Cornelius Nepos in vit Hannibal But Supplies of Men and Money being sometimes absolutely deny'd him and never coming but very slowly the Romans had such Opportunities to recruit as they little expected from so experienc'd an Adversary The wise Management of Fabius Maximus was the first Revival of the Roman Cause He knew very well the Strength of the Enemy and therefore march'd against him without intending to hazard a Battel but to wait constantly upon him to straiten his Quarters intercept his Provisions and so make the victorious Army pine away with Penury and Want With this Design he always encamp'd upon the high Hills where the Horse could have no access to him When they march'd he did the same but at such a distance as not to be compell'd to an Engagement By this Policy he so broke Hannibal's Army as to make him absolutely despair of getting any thing in Italy (h) Flutarch in vit Fab. Max. But the conclusion of the War was owing to the Conduct of Scipio He had before reduc'd all Spain into Subjection and now taking the same course as Hannibal at first had done he march'd with the greatest part of the Roman Forces into Africa and carrying all before him to the very Walls of Carthage oblig'd the Enemy to call home their General out of Italy for the Defence of the City Hannibal obey'd and both Armies coming to an Engagement after a long Dispute wherein the Commanders and Soldiers of both Sides are reported to have out-done Themselves the Victory fell to the Romans Whereupon the Enemy were oblig'd once more to suâ—â— for a Peace which was again granted them tho' upon much harder Conditions than before The Romans by the happy conclusion of this War had so highly advanc'd themselves in the Opinion of the Neighbouring States that the Athenians with the greatest part of Greece being at this time miserably enslav'd by King Philip of Macedon unanimously petition'd the Senate for Assistance A Fleet with a sufficient number of Land-Forces was presently dispatch'd to their Relief by whose Valour the Tyrant after several Defeats was compell'd to restore all Greece to their ancient Liberties obliging himself to pay an annual Tribute to the Conquerours (i) Eutrop. lib. 4. Hannibal after his late Defeat had apply'd himself to Antiochus King of Syria who at this time was making great Preparations against the Romans Acilius Glabrio was first sent to oppose him and had the Fortune to give him several Defeats when Cornelius Scipio the Roman Admiral engaging with the King's Forces at Sea under the Command of Hannibal entirely ruin'd the whole Fleet. Which Victory being immediately follow'd by another as signal at Land the effeminate Prince was contented to purchase a Peace at the price of almost half his Kingdom (k) Florus lib. 2 cap. 8. The victorious Romans had scarce concluded the Publick Rejoicings on account of the late Success when the death of King Philip of Macedon presented them with an occasion of a more glorious Triumph His Son Perseus that succeeded resolving to break with the Senate apply'd himself wholly to raising Forces and procuring other Necessaries for a War Never were greater Appearances in the Field than on both sides most of the considerable Princes in the World being engag'd in the Quarrel But Fortune still declar'd for the Romans and the greatest part of Perseus's prodigious Army was cut off by the Consul Aemylius and the King oblig'd to surrender himself into the hands of the Conquerour (l) Vell. Paterc lib. 1. Authors that write of the Four Monarchies here fix the end of the Macedonian Empire But Rome could not think her self secure among all these Conquests while her old Rival Carthage was yet standing So that upon a slight Provocation the City after three Years Siege was taken and utterly rased by the Valour of Publius Scipio Grand-son by Adoption to him that conquer'd Hannibal (m) Ibid. Not long after Attalus King of Pergamus dying without Issue left his vast Territories
Valentinian soon after compell'd his Widow Eudoxia to accepâ— of him as a Husband when the Empress entertaining a mortaâ— Hatred for him on many accounts sent to Genseric a famous King of the Vandals and a Confederate of the late Emperour's desiring his assistance for the Deliverance of herself and the City from the Usurpation of the Tyrant Genseric easily obey'd and landing with a prodigious Army in Italy entred Rome without any opposition where contrary to his Oath and Promise he seiz'd on all the Wealth and carry'd it with several thousands of the Inhabitants into Africk (e) Paul Diacoâ— Evagrius Hist Eccles lib. 2 cap. 7. Avitus the General in Gaul was the next that took upon him the Name of Emperour which he resign'd within eight Months (f) â—d Ibid. Majorianus succeeded and after three Years left the Honour to Severus or Severian who had the Happiness after four Years Reign to die a natural Death (g) Paul Diacon lib. 16. After him Anthemius was elected Emperour who lost his Life and Dignity in a Rebellion of his Son-in-Law Ricimer (h) Ibid. And then Olybrius was sent from Constantinople too with the same Authority but died within seven Months (i) Ibid. Liarius or Glycerius who had been elected in his room by the Soldiers was immediately almost depos'd by Nepos and he himself quickly after by Orestes (k) Jâ—â—â—andes de Regn Success who made his Son Augustus or Augustulus Emperour And now Odoacer King of the Heruli with an innumerable multitude of the barbarous Nations ravaging all Italy approach'd to Rome and entring the City without any resistance and deposing Augustulus fecur'd the Imperial Dignity to himself And tho' he was forc'd afterwards to give place to Theodoric the Goth yet the Romans had never after the least Command in Italy ROMA ANTIQUA 1. T. Iouis Capitolinus 2. T. Vestae 3. T. Pacis 4. T. Romae 5. T. Faustinae 6. T. Saturni 7. T. Iouis Statoris 8. Ar. Sâ—â—â—ri Boarij 9. Seâ—â—â—â—â—nâ—â—i Sâ—uâ—ri 10. Insula Tiberina oâ—im Iouis Iâ—caonij 11. T. Fortunae Virilis 12. P. Portumni 13. Alâ—ta Sudans 14. Arcus Domiâ—iani 15. Arcus Gordiani 16. Aâ—marci â—t Veri 17. Ther Alaâ—â—â—â— 18. Th Neâ—â—â—â—â— 19. Toriâ— at T. 〈◊〉 20. Curia Hoâ—â—â— 21. Basilica Alâ—â—â— 22. Basil Aâ—â—â—â—â— 23. Pons Iaâ—â—â—â—â— 24. Pons Palâ—â—â— 25. Basil Augâ—â—â— 26. T. Nâ—rt 〈◊〉 27. Basil Al. Sâ—â—â— 28. Pal. August Part 2. Book I. Of the City Chap. 1. Of the Pomoerium and of the Form and Bigness of the City according to the Seven Hills BEFORE we come to please our selves with a particular View of the City we must by all means take notice of the Pomoerium for the Singularity to which it ow'd its Original Livy defines the Pomoerium in general to be that space of Ground both within and without the Walls which the Augurs at the first Building of Cities solemâ—ly consecrated and on which no Edifices were suffer'd to be rais'd (a) Livy lib. 1. But the account which Plutarch gives us of this matter in reference to Rome it self is sufficient to satisfie our Curiosity and is deliver'd by him to this purpose Romulus having sent for some of the Tuscans to instruct him in the Ceremonies to be observ'd in laying the Foundations of his New City the Work was begun in this manner First They dug a Trench and threw into it the First-Fruits of all Things either good by Custom or necessary by Nature and every Man taking a small Turff of Earth of the Country from whence he came they all cast them in promiscuously together Making this Trench their Centre they describ'd the City in a Cirdâ— round it Then the Founder sitted to a Plough a brazen Ploughâ—share and yoaking together a Bull and a Cow drew a deâ—â— Line or Furrow round the Bounds those that follow'd after taâ—king care that all the Clods fell inwards toward the City Theâ—â— built the Wall upon this Line which they call'd Pomoerium froâ—â— Ponâ— Moenia (b) Plutatch in Romul 'T is remarkable that the same Ceremony with which thâ— Foundations of their Cities were at first laid they us'd too in destroying and rasing Places taken from the Enemy which we finâ— was begun by the Chief Commander's turning up some of thâ—â— Wall with a Plough (c) Dempster Paralipom to Rosin lib. 1. cap. 3. As to the Form and Bigness of the City we must follow thâ—â— common Direction of the Seven Hills whence came the Phrasâ— of Vrbs Septicollis and the like so frequent with the Poets Of these Mons Palatinus has ever had the Preference whether so call'd from the People Palantes or Palatini or from thâ— Bleating and Strolling of Cattel in Latin Balare and Palare 〈◊〉 from Pales the Pastoral Goddess or from the Burying-place 〈◊〉 Pallas we find disputed and undetermin'd among their Authors 'T was in this Place that Romulus laid the Foundations of the Cinâ—â— in a quadrangular Form and here the same King and Tullâ—â— Hostilius kept their Courts as did afterwards Augustus and aâ—â— the succeeding Emperours on which account the Word Palatium came to signifie a Royal Seat (d) Râ—sin Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 4. This Hill to the East has Mons Coelius to the South Mons Avertinus to the West Mons Capitolinus to the North the Forum (e) Fabricii Roma cap. 3 In compass Twelve hundred Paces (f) Marlian Topograph Antiqâ— Roma lib. 1. cap. 1. Mons Tarpeius took its Name from Tarpeia a Roman Virgin who betray'd the City to the Sabines in this Place (g) Plutarch in Remul It was call'd too Mons Saturni and Saturnius in Honour of Saturn who is reported to have liv'd here in his Retirement and was ever reputed the Tutelar Deity of this Part of the City It had afterwards the Denomination of Capitolinus from the Head of a Man casually found here in digging for the Foundations of the famous Temple of Jupiter (h) Liv. lib. 1. cap. 55. callâ—d Capitolium for the same reason This Hill was added to the City by Titus Tatius King of the Sabines when having been first overcome in the Field by Romulus he and his Subjects were permitted to incorporate with the Romans (i) Dionysâ—â—â—â— It has to the East Mons Palatinus and the Forum to the South the Tiber to the West the level Part of the City to the North Collis Quirinalis (k) Fabricii Roma Cap. 3. In compass seven Stadia or Furlongs (l) Marlian lib. 1. cap. 1. Collis Quirinalis was so call'd either from the Temple of Quirinus another Name of Romulus or more probably from the Curetes a People that remov'd hither with Tatius from Cures a Sabine City (m) Sext. Pomp. Festus It afterwards chang'd its Name to Caballus Mons Caballi and Caballinus from the two Marble Horses with each a Servant to hold him by the Bridle which are set up here They are still standing and if the Inscription
the set time mark'd in the Kalendar for their Observation Feriae Conceptivae were such as the Magistrates or Priests appointed annually to be celebrated upon what Days they pleas'd Feriae Imperativae were such as the Consuls Praetors or Dictators instituted by virtue of their own Authority and commanded to be observ'd upon solemn Occasions as the gaining of a Victory and the like Nundinae were Days set apart for the concourse of the People out of the Country and neighbouring Towns to expose their Commodities to sale the same as our greater Markets or Fairs They had the Name of Nundinae because they were kept every Ninth Day as Ovid informs us (a) Fast 1. v. 54. Feriae privatae were Holydays observ'd by particular Persons or Families upon several Accounts as Birth-days Funerals and the like Thus much for the Dies Festi The Profesti were Fasti Comitiales Comperen dini Stati and Praeliares Dies Fasti were the same as our Court-days upon which it was lawful for the Praetor to sit in Judgment and consequently Fari tria verba to say the Three solemn Words Do Dico Addico I give Laws declare Right and adjudge Losses All other Days except the intercisi were call'd Nefasti because 't was not lawful to say those Three Words upon them But we may observe from a Phrase of Horace (b) Lib. 2. Od. 13. that Dies nefastus signifies an unlucky Day as well as a Non-Court-day Dies Comitiales were such Days as the Comitia or publick Assemblies of the People were held upon Or as Ovid stiles them Quo populum jus est includere septis (c) Fast 1. vers 53. Days when the People are shut up to vote Dies Comperendini were Days when Persons that had been su'd might give Bail Dies Stati were Days appointed for the decision of any Cause between a Roman and a Foreigner Dies Praeliares were such Days as they thought it lawful to engage in any Action of Hostility upon If we make a Division of the Roman Days into Fortunaâ—â— and Unfortunate Dies Postriduani or the next Day after the Kalends Nones or Ides were always reckon'd of the latter sort and therefore had the Name of dies atri A. Gellius gives us the reason of this Observation from Verrius Flaccus because they had taken notice for several Ages that those Days had prov'd unlucky to the State in the loss of Battels Towns and other Casualties (d) Noâ—t Attiâ— lib. 5. cap 17. He tells us in the same place That the Day before the fourth of the Kalends Nones or Ides was always reckon'd unfortunate but he does not know for what reason unless that he finds the great overthrow at Gannae to have happen'd on such a Day CHAP. XI Of the Kalends Nones and Ides THE way that the Romans us'd to reckon the Days of their Months was by the Kalends Nones and Ides Romulus begun his Months always upon the first day of the new Moon and was follow'd in this by the Authors of the other accounts to avoid the altering of the immoveable Feasts Therefore every new Moon one of the inferiour Priests us'd to assemble the People in the Capitol and call over as many Days as there were between that and the Nones And so from the old Word Calo or the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to call the first of these Days had the Name of Kalendae But we must remember that this custom of calling the Days continu'd no longer than the Year of the City 450 when C. Flavius the Curule Aedile order'd the Fasti or Kalendar to be set up in publick Places that every Body might know the difference of times and the return of the Festivals (a) Livy lib. 5. cap. 46. The Nones were so call'd because they reckon'd Nine Days from them to the Ides The Ides were generally about the middle of the Month and then we may derive the Word from iduare an obsolete Verb signifying to divide The Kalends were always fixt to the first day of every Month but the Nones and the Ides in Four Months were on different Days than in the other Eight For March May July and October had Six Nones a-piece the other only Four Therefore in the first the Nones were the 7th and the Ides the 15th in the last the Nones the 5th and the Ides the 13th In reckoning these they always went backwards Thus January 1. was the first of the Kalends of January December 31. Prid. Kal. Jan. December 30. the third Kal. Jan. and so on to the 13th and that was Idus Decembris then the 12. Prid. Iduum Decemb. the 11th 3 Iduum Decemb. and so to the fifth Day and that was Nonae Decemb. And then again the 4th Prid. Nonarum Decemb. the third 3 Non. Decemb. the second 4 Non. Decem. and the first Kalendae Decemb. We must observe that when we meet with Kalendas Nonas or Idus in the Accusative Case the Preposition ante is always understood As tertio Kalendas Idus or Nonas is the same as tertio die ante Kal. Non. or Idus CHAP. XII The most Remarkable Festivals of the Romans as they stand in the Kalendar THE Kalends or the first day of January was noted for the entring of the Magistrates on their Office and for the wishing of good Fortune and sending Presents to one another among Friends (a) Ovid. Fast 1. v. 71 c. February the 15th or the 15th of the Kalends of March was the Feast of the Lupercalia when the Luperci made their wild Procession (b) Ovid. Fast 2. v. 267 c. which has been describ'd before February the 11th or the 9th of the Kalends of March was the Feralia or Feast in honour of the Ghosts when People carried some little sort of Offering to the Graves of their deceas'd Friends Ovid gives us so handsom an account of it that we must not pass him by Est honor tumulis animas placare paternas (c) Ibid. v 5. â— c. Parvaque in exstructas munera ferre pyras Parva petunt manes pietas pro divite grata est Munere non avidos Styx habet ima Deos. Tegula porrectis satis est velata coronis Et sparsae fruges parvaque mica salis Tombs have their Honours too Our Parents crave Some slender Present to adorn their Grave Slender the Present which the Ghosts we owe Those Powers observe not what we give but how No greedy Souls disturb the happy Seats below They only ask a Tile with Garlands crown'd And Fruit and Salt to scatter on the Ground The Day after the Feralia was the Charistia or Festival of Love when all the Relations in every Family met together and had a Feast The Kalends of March was the Matronalia a Feast kept by the Roman Matrons to the Honour of Mars to whom they thought themselves oblig'd for the Happiness of bearing of good Children a Favour which he first conferr'd on his
out of the Nobility or Commons The Knights were such Persons as were allow'd a Gold-Ring and a Horse at the Publick Charge The Commons were all the rest of the People besides these Two Orders including not only the inferiour Populacy but such of the Nobility too as had not yet been elected Senators and such of the Gentry as had not a compleat Knight's Estate For Persons were admitted into the two higher Ranks according to their Fortunes one that was worth Eight hundred Sestertia was capable of being chose Senator one that had Four hundred might be taken into the Equestrian Order Augustus afterwards alter'd the Senatorian State to Twelve thousand Sesterces but the Equestrian continu'd the same When we find in Livy Cicero and other Authors the Optimates and Populares oppos'd as two contrary Parties we must understand by the former such Persons of what Rank soever who stood up for the Grandeur and Majesty of the State By the latter any Persons of what Order soever who were continually mutining against the Government complaining of Encroachments loss of Liberty and Privileges and endeavouring to bring all things to a Level There 's another common Division of the People into Nobiles Novi and Ignobiles taken from the right of using Pictures or Statues an Honour only allow'd to such whose Ancestors or themselves had bore some Curule Office that is had been Curule Aedile Censor Praetor or Consul He that had the Pictures or Statues of his Ancestors was term'd Nobilis he that had only his own Novus he that had neither Ignobilis So that Jus imaginis was much the same thing among them as the Right of Bearing a Coat of Arms among us And their Novus Homo is equivalent to our upstart Gentleman Such Persons as were free of the City are generally distinguish'd into Ingenui Liberti and Libertini The Ingenui were such as had been born free and of Parents that had been always free The Libertini were the Children of such as had been made free Liberti such as had been actually made free themselves The two common Ways of conferring Freedom were by Testament and by Manumission A Slave was said to be free by Testament when his Master in consideration of his faithful Service had left him free in his last Will Of which Custom we meet with abundance of Examples in every Historian The Ceremony of Manumission was thus perform'd The Slave was brought before the Consul and in after-times before the Praetor by his Master who laying his Hand upon his Servant's Head said to the Praetor Hunc hominem liberum esse volo and with that let him go out of his Hand which they term'd èâ—mâ—inu emittere Then the Praetor laying a Rod upon his Head call'd Vindicta said Dico eum liberum esse more Quiritum After this the Lictor taking the Rod out of the Praetor's Hand struck the Servant several Blows on the Head Face and Back and nothing now remain'd but Pileo donari to receive a Cap in token of Liberty to have his Name enter'd in the Common Roll of Freemen with the reason of his obtaining that Favour CHAP. II. Of the SENATE THE Chief Council of State and as it were the Body of Magistrates was the Senate which as it has been generally reckon'd the Foundation and Support of the Roman Greatness so it was one of the earliest Constitutions in the Republick For Romulus first chose out a Hundred Persons of the best Repute for Birth Wisdom and Integrity of Manners to assist him in the Management of Affairs with the Name of Senators or Patres from their Age and Gravity a Title as Honourable and yet as little subject to Envy as could possibly have been pitch'd upon After the admission of the Sabines into Rome an equal number of that Nation were join'd to the former Hundred (a) Dionys lib. 2. And Tarqâ—inius Priscus upon his first Accession to the Crown to ingratiate himself with the Commons order'd another Hundred to be selected out of that Body for an addition to the Senate (b) Idem lib. 3. which before had been ever fill'd with Persons of the higher Ranks Sylla the Dictator made them up above Four hundred Julius Caesar Nine hundred and in the time of the Second Triumvirate there were above a Thousand no distinction being made with respect to Merit or Quality But this Disorder was afterwards rectified by Augustus and a Reformation made in the Senate according to the old Constitution (c) Sueton. in August cap. 35. The right of naming Senators belong'd at first to the Kings afterwards the Consuls chose and referr'd them to the People for their Approbation But at last the Censors engross'd the whole Privilege of conferring this Honour He that stood first in the Censor's Roll had the Honourable Title of Princeps Senatûs (d) Vid. A. Gâ—ll lib. 3. cap. 18. which he kept during Life Yet the Chief Magistrates as the Consuls Dictator c. were always his Superiours in the House Besides the Estate of Eight hundred or after Augustus of Twelve hundred Sestertia no Person was capable of this Dignity but one that had already born some Magistracy in the Common-wealth And that there was a certain Age even in later times requir'd is plain from the frequent use of Aetas Senatoria in Authors Dio Cassius positively limits it to Five and twenty (e) Lib. 5â— which was the soonest time any one could have discharged the Quaestorship the first Office of any considerable Note Yet we meet with very many Persons promoted to this Order without any consideration had to their Years as it usually happen'd in all other Honours whatever As to the general Title of Patres Conscripti given them in Authors it was taken up as a mark of Distinction proper to those Senators who were added to Romulus's Hundred either by Tarquinius Priscus or by the People upon the establishment of the Commonwealth But in after-times all the Number were promiscuously styl'd Patres and Patres Conscripti We may take a farther View of the Senators consider'd all together as a Council or Body The Magistrates who had the Power of assembling the Senators were only the Dictator the Consuls the Praetors the Tribunes of the Commons and the Interrex Yet upon extraordinary accounts the same Privilege was allow'd to the Tribuni Militum invested with Consulary Power and to the Decemviri created for the regulating the Laws And to other Magistrates chosen upon some unusual occasion In the first times of the State they were call'd together by a Publick Crier but when the City grew larger an Edict was publish'd to command their Meeting (f) P. Manâ—â— de Senat. Rom. The Places where they assembled were only such as had been formally consecrated by the Augurs and most commonly within the City only they made use of the Temple of Bellona without the Walls for the giving Audience to foreign Ambassadors and to such Provincial Magistrates as were
Adorn'd with Copper Cuts 8 vo Now in the Press An Universal Dictonary explaining all difficult English Words Ancient and Modern as also the Terms used in all Arts and Sciences together with their Etymologies collected from the most esteemed Authors Ancient and Modern and made more accurate and compleat than any hitherto Extant By several Persons particularly learned in the Sciences they undertake to speak of The whole will be digested into Alphabetical Order and contain'd in one entire Volume in Folio The Antiquities of Greece Or an Account of the Religion Civil Government Magistrates Laws Customs Military Discipline Arms publick Buildings Exercises Sports c. of the Ancient Graecians with a Description of the City of Athens c. 8 vo The Lives of the Apostles newly translated out of French PART I. The Original Growth and Decay of the Roman Common-wealth CHAP. I. Of the Building of the CITY WHILE we view the Original of States and Kingdoms the most delightful and surprizing Part of History we easily discern as the first and fairest Prospect the Rise of the Jewish and Roman Common-wealths Of which as the former had the Honour alway to be esteem'd the Favourite of Heaven and the peculiar Care of Divine Providence so the other had very good Pretensions to stile Herself the Darling of Fortune who seem'd to express a more than ordinary Fondness for this her youngest Daughter as if she had design'd the Three former Monarchies purely for a Foil to set off this latter Their own Historians rarely begin without a Fit of Wonder and before they proceed to delineate the glorious Scene give themselves the liberty of standing still some time to admire at a distance For the Founder of the City and Republick Authors have long since agreed on Romulus Son of Rhea Sylvia and Descendant of Aeneas from whom his Pedigree may be thus in short deriv'd Upon the final Ruin and Destruction of Troy by the Grecians Aeneas with a small number of Followers had the good fortune to secure himself by slight His escape was very much countenanc'd by the Enemy inasmuch as upon all occasions he had erpress'd his Inclinations to a Peace and to the restoring of Helâ—â— the unhappy cause of all the Mischief Sailing thus from Treyâ— after a tedious Voyage and great variety of Adventures he aâ—â—riv'd at last at Latium a part of Italy so call'd à latendo oâ—â— from lying bid being the Place that Saturn had chose for his Retirement when expell'd the Kingdom of Crete by his rebellioâ—â— Son Jupiter Here applying himself to the King of the Country at that time Latinus he obtain'd his only Daughter Lavinia 〈◊〉 Marriage and upon the Death of his Father-in-Law was left is possession of the Crown He remov'd the Imperial Seat from Laurentum to Lavinium a City which he had built himself iâ—â— Honour of his Wise And deceasing soon after the Right 〈◊〉 Succession rested in Ascanius whether his Son by a former Wife and the same he brought with him from Troy or another of thaâ— Name which he had by Lavinia Livy leaves undetermin'd Ascanius being under Age the Government was intrusted in the hands of Lavinia But as soon as he was grown up he left his Mother in possession of Lavinium and removing with part of the Men laid the Foundation of a New City along the side of the Mountain Albanus call'd from thence Longa Alba. After him by a Succession of Eleven Princes the Kingdom devolv'd at laâ—â— to Procas Procas at his death left two Sons Numitor and Amulius of whom Amulius over-reaching his elder Brother obligâ—â— him to quit his Claim to the Crown which he thereupon securâ—â— to himself and to prevent all disturbance that might probably arise to him or his Posterity from the elder Family making away with all the Males he constrain'd Numitor's only Daughter Rhea Sylvia to take on her the Habit of a Vestal and consequently a Vow of perpetual Virginity However the Princess was soon after found with Child and deliver'd of two Boys Remulus and Remus The Tyrant being acquainted with the truth immediately condemn'd his Niece to strait Imprisonment and the Infants to be expos'd or carry'd and left in a strange Place where â—was very improbable they should meet with any relief Theâ— Servant who had the Care of this inhuman Office left the Children at the bottom of a Tree by the Bank of the River Tiber in this sad Condition they were casually discover'd by Faustulâ—â— the King's Shepherd who being wholly ignorant of the Plot took the Infants up and carry'd them home to his Wife Laurentia to be â—urs'd with his own Children (a) Lavy lib. 1. This Wife of his had formerly been a common Prostitute call'd in Latin Lupa which Word signifying likewise a She-Wolf gave occasion to the Story of their being nurs'd by such a Beast though some take the Word always in a literal sence and maintain that they really subsisted some time by sucking such a Creature before they had the good Fortune to be reliev'd by Fausâ—uluâ— (b) See Dempster's Notes to R sinus's Antiquities lib. 1. cap. 1. The Boys as they grew up discovering the natural Greatness of their Minds and Thoughts addicted themselves to the generous Exercises of Hunting Racing Taking of Robbers and such-like and always express'd a great Desire of undertaking any Enterprize that appear'd hazardous and noble (c) Plutarch in the Life of Râ—muluâ— Now there happening a Quarrel betwixt the Herdsmen of Numitor and Amuâ—ius the former lighting casually on Remus brought him before their Master to be examin'd Numitor learning from his own mouth the strange Circumstances of his Education and Fortune easily guess'd him to be one of his Grand-sons who had been expos'd He was soon confirm'd in this Conjecture upon the arrival of Faustulus and Romulus when the whole Business being laid open upon Consultation had gaining over to their Party a sufficient number of the disaffected Citizens they contriv'd to surprize Amulius and re-establish Numitor. This Design was soon after very happily put in execution the Tyrant slain and the old King restor'd to a full Enjoyment of the Crown (d) Ibid. and Lavy lib 1. The young Princes had no sooner re-seated their Grand-father in his Throne but they began to think of procuring one for themselves They had higher Thoughts than to take up with the Reversion of a Kingdom and were unwilling to live in Alba because they could not Govern there So taking with them their Foster-father and what others they could get together they began the Foundation of a New City in the same place where in their Infancy they had been brought up (e) Pluterâ—h as before and lavy lib. 1. The first Walls were scarce finish'd when upon a slight Quarrel the occasion of which is variously reported by Historians the younger Brother had the misfortune to be slain Thus the whole Power came into Romulus's hands who carrying on the remainder of the
Senate-House Brutus and Cassius with most of the other Conspirators being his particular Friends and such as he had oblig'd in the highest manner (i) Paterc lib. 2. cap. 56. A Civil War necessarily follow'd in which the Senate consisting for the most part of such as had embrac'd the Faction of Pompey declar'd in favour of the Assassinates while Mark Anthony the Consul undertook the Revenge of Caesar With this Pretence he exercis'd all manner of Tyranny in the City and had no other design but to secure the chief Command to himself At last the Senate were oblig'd to declare him an Enemy to the State and in pursuance to their Edict rais'd an Army to oppose him under the command of Hirtius and Pansa the new Consuls and Octavius Nephew and Heir to Caesar (k) Paterc lib. 2. cap. 61. In the first Engagement Anthony was defeated but Hirtius being kill'd in the Fight and Pansa dying immediately after the sole command of the Army came into the Hands of Octavius (l) Suet. in August cap. 11. The Senate before the late Victory had express'd an extraordinary kindness for him and honour'd him with several Marks of their particular Esteem But now being freed from the danger they apprehended from Anthony they soon alter'd their Measures and taking little notice of him any longer decreed the Two Heads of the late Conspiracy Brutus and Cassius the Two Provinces of Syria and Macedonia whither they had retir'd upon commission of the Fact (m) Horus lib. 4. cap. 7. Octavius was very sensible of their designs and thereupon was easily induced to conclude a Peace with Anthony And soon after entring into an Association with him and Lepidus as his Uncle had done with Crassus and Pompey he return'd to Rome and was elected Consul when under twenty Years of Age (n) Paterc lib. 2. cap. 65. And now by the Power of him and his Two Associates the old Senate was for the most part banish'd and a Law preferr'd by his Colleague Pedius That all who had been concern'd in the Death of Caesar should be proclaim'd Enemies to the Common-wealth and proceeded against with all Extremity (o) Ibid. To put this Order in Execution Octavius and Anthony advanc'd with the Forces under their Command toward Macedoma where Brutus and Cassius had go together a numerous Army to oppose them both Parties meeting near the City Philippi the Traytors were defeated and the Two Commanders died soon after by their own Hands (p) Flerus lib. 2. cap. 7. And now for Ten Years all Affairs were manag'd by the Triumviri when Lepidus setting up for himself in Sicily was contented upon the arrival of Octavius to compound for his Life with the dishonourable Resignation of his Share in the Government (q) Paterc lib. 2. cap. 80. The Friendship of Octavius and Anthony was not of much longer continuance For the latter being for several Enormities declar'd an Enemy to the State was finally routed in a Sea-Engagement at Actium and flying thence with his Mistress Cleopatra kill'd himself soon after and left the sole command in the Hands of Octavius He by his Prudence and Moderation gain'd such an entire Interest in the Senate and People that when he offer'd to lay down all the Authority he was invested with above the rest and restore the Commonwealth to the ancient Constitution they unanimously agreed in this Opinion That their Liberty was sooner to be parted with than so excellent a Prince However to avoid all Offence he rejected the very Names he thought might be displeasing and above all things the Quality of a Dictator which had been so odious in Sylla and Caesar By this means he was the Founder of that Government which continu'd ever after in Rome The new Acquisitions to the Empire were in his time very considerable Cantabria Aquitania Pannonia Dalmatia and Illyricum being wholly subdued The Germans were driven beyond the River Albis and Two of their Nations the Suevi and Sicambri transplanted into Gaul (Å¿) Sueton. in August cap. 21. Tiberius tho' in Augustus his time he had given proofs of an extraordinary Courage in the German War (t) Vid. Paterc lib. 2 cap. 106 c. yet upon his own Accession to the Crown is memorable for no Exploit but the reducing of Cappadocia into a Roman Province (u) Eutrop. lib. 7. and this was owing more to his Cunning than his Valour And at last upon his infamous retirement into the Island Capreae he grew so strangely negligent of the Publick Affairs as to send no Lieurenants for the Government of Spain and Syria for several Years To let Armenia be over-run by the Parthians Moesia by the Dacians the Sarmatians and almost all Gaul by the Germans to the extreme Danger as well as Dishonour of the Empire (w) Sueton. in Tib. cap. 41. Caligula as he far exceeded his Predecessor in all manner of Debauchery so in relation to Martial Affairs was much his Inferiour However he is famous for a Mock-Expedition that he made against the Germans when arriving in that part of the Country opposite to Britain and receiving into his Protection a fugitive Prince of the Island he sent glorious Letters to the Senate giving an account of the happy Conquest of the whole Kingdom (x) Suet. in Cal g. cap. 44. And soon after making his Soldiers fill their Helmets with Cockle-shells and Pebbles which he call'd The Spoils of the Ocean (y) Idem cap. 46 return'd to the City to demand a Triumph (z) Idem cap. 47. And when that Honouâ— was denied him by the Senate he broke out into such extravagant Cruelties that he even compell'd them to cut him of for the security of their own Persons (a) Idem cap. 49. 56. Nay he was so faâ— from entertaining any desire of benefitting the Publick that he often complain'd of his ill Fortune because no signal Calamity happen'd in his time and made it his constant wish That either the utter destruction of an Army or some Plague Famine Earthquake or other extraordinary Desolation might continâ—â— the Memory of his Reign to succeeding Ages (b) Idem c. 31. Caliâ—â—â—â— being taken off the Senate assembled in the Capitol to debaâ—e about the extinguishing the Name and Family of the Caesars and restoring the Commonwealth to the old Constitution (c) Idem c. 60. When one of the Soldiers that were ransacking the Palace lighting casually upon Claudius Uncle to the late Emperouâ— where he had hid himself in a Corner behind the Hangings pull'd him out to the rest of his Gang and recommended hiâ— as the fittest Person in the World to be Emperour All were strangely pleas'd at the Motion and taking him along with them by force lodg'd him among the Guards (d) Idem h. Caâ—d c. 50. The Senate upon the first Information sent immediately to stop their Proceedings But not agreeing among themselves and hearing the Multitude call out for one Governour
Reign of Valerian who enlarg'd the Walls to such a Degree as to surround the space of Fifty Miles (o) Vopâ—sâ—â— in Aâ—râ—â—tano The number of Inhabitants in its flourishing State Lipsius computes at Four Millions (p) De Magnitud Roman At present the compass of the City is not above Thirteen Miles (q) Fabricii Roma cap. 2. CHAP. II. Of the Division of the City into Tribes and Regions And of the Gates and Bridges ROMVLVS divided his little City into Three Tribes and Servius Tullius added a fourth which division continu'd 'till the time of Augustus 'T was he first appointed the Fourteen Regions or Wards An Account of which with the number of Temples Baths c. in every Region may be thus taken from the accurate Panvinius REGION I. PORTA CAPENA Streets 9. Luci 3. Temples 4. Aedes 6. Publick Baths 6. Arches 4. Barns 14. Mills 12. Great Houses 121. The whole Compass 13223 Feet REGION II. COELIMONTIVM Streets 12. Luci 2. Temples 5. The Publick Baths of the City Private Baths So. The Great Shambles Barns 23. Mills 23. Great Houses 133. The Compass 13200 Feet REGION III. ISIS and SERAPIS Streets 8. Temples 2. The Amphitheatre of Vespasian The Baths of Titus Trajan and Philip. Barns 29 or 19. Mills 23. Great Houses 160. The Compass 12450 Feet REGION IV. VIA SACRA or TEMPLVM PACIS Streets 8. Temples 10. The Colossus of the Sun 120 Foot high The Arches of Titus Severus and Constantine Private Baths 75. Barns 18. Mills 24. Great Houses 138. The Compass 14000 or as some say only 8000 Feet REGION V. ESQVILINA Streets 15. Luci 8. Temples 6. Aedes 5. Private Baths 75. Barns 23. Mills 22. Great Houses 180. The Compass 15950 Feet REGION VI. ACTA SEMITA Streets 12 or 13. Temples 15. Portico's 2. Circi 2. Fora 2. Private Baths 75. Barns 19. Mills 23. Great Houses 155. The Compass 15600 Feet REGION VII VIA LATA Streets 40. Temples 4. Private Baths 75. Arches 3. Mills 17. Barns 25. Great Houses 120. The Compass 23700 Feet REGION VIII FORVM ROMANVM Streets 12. Temples 21. Private Baths 66. Aedes 10. Portico's 9. Arches 4. Fora 7. Curiae 4. Basilicae 7. Columns 6. Barns 18. Mills 30. Great Houses 150. The Compass 14867 Feet REGION IX CIRCVS FLAMINIVS Streets 30. Temples 8. Aedes 20. Portico's 12. Circi 2. Theatres 4. Basilicae 3. Curiae 2. Thermae 5. Arches 2. Columns 2. Mills 32. Barns 32. Great Houses 189. The Compass 30560 Feet REGION X. PALATIVM Streets 7. Temples 10. Aedes 9. Theatre 1. Curiae 4. Private Baths 15. Mills 12. Barns 16. Great Houses 109. The Compass 11600 Feet REGION XI CIRCVS MAXIMVS Streets 8. Aedes 22. Private Baths 15. Barns 16. Mills 12. Great Houses 189. The Compass 11600 Feet REGION XII PISCINA PVBLICA Streets 12. Aedes 2. Private Baths 68. Barns 28. Mills 25. Great Houses 128. The Compass 12000 Feet REGION XIII AVENTINVS Streets 17. Luci 6. Temples 6. Private Baths 74. Barns 36. Mills 30. Great Houses 155. The Compass 16300 Feet REGION XIV TRANSTIBERINA Streets 23. Aedes 6. Private Baths 136. Barns 22. Mills 32. Great Houses 150. The Compass 33409 Feet As to the Gates Romulus built only Three or as some will have it Four at most But as Buildings were enlarg'd the Gates were accordingly multiplied so that Pliny tells us there were Thirty four in his time The most remarkable were Porta Flumentana so call'd because if stood near the River Porta Flaminâ—a owing its Name to the Flaminian Way which begins there Porta Carmentalis built by Romulus and so call'd from Carmenta the Prophetess Mother of Evander Porta Naevia which Varro derives à nemoribus from the Woods which formerly stood near it Porta Saliana deriving its Name from the Salt which the Sabines us'd to bring in at that Gate from the Sea to supply the City Porta Capena call'd so from Capena an old City of Italy to which the way laid through this Gate It is sometimes call'd Appia from Appius the Censor and Triumphalis from the Triumphs in which the Procession commonly pass'd under here and Fontinalis from the Aquaeducts which were rais'd over it Whence Juvenal calls it Madida Capena and Martial Capena grandi Porta quae pluit guttâ The Tiber was pass'd over by Eight Bridges the Names of which are thus set down by Marlian Milvius Aelius Vaticanus Janiculensis Cestius Fabricius Palatinus and Sublicius CHAP. III. Of the Places of Worship particularly of the Temples and Luci. BEFORE we proceed to take a view of the most remarkable places set a-part for the Celebration of Divine Service it may be proper to make a short Observation about the general Names under which we meet with them in Authors Templum then was a place which had not been only dedicated to some Deity but withal formally consecrated by the Augurs Aedes Sacrâ— were such as wanted that Consecration which if they afterwards receiv'd they chang'd their Names to Temples Delubrum according to Servius was a place that under one Roof comprehended several Deities Aelicula is only a diminutive and signifies no more than a little Aedes Sacellum may be deriv'd the same way from Aedes Sacra Festus tells us 't is a place sacred to the Gods without a Roof 'T were endless to reckon up but the bare Names of all the Temples we meet with in Authors The most celebrated on all accounts were the Capitel and the Pantheon CAPITOLIUM Templ PANTHEON vulgo Rotunda The Capitol or Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was the effect of a Vow made by Tarquinius Priscus in the Sabine War (a) Liv. lib. 1. But he had scarce laid the Foundations before his death His Nephew Tarquin the Proud finish'd it with the Spoils taken from the neighbouring Nations (b) Ibid. But upon the expulsion of the Kings the Consecration was perform'd by Horatius the Consul (c) Plutarch in Poplicol The Structure stood on a high Ridge taking in Four Acres of Ground The Front was adorn'd with Three Rows of of Pillars the other sides with Two (d) Dionys Halicar The Ascent from the Ground was by an hundred Steps (e) Tacitus The prodigious Gifts and Ornaments with which it was at several times endow'd almost exceed belief Suetonius (f) In August cap. 30. tells us that Augustus gave at one time Two thousand pound weight of Gold and in Jewels and precious Stones to the value of Five hundred Sesterces Livy and Pliny (g) Liv. lib. 10 35 38. Plmy lib. 33 c. surprize us with Accounts of the brazen Thresholds the noble Pillars that Sylla remov'd hither from Athens out of the Temple of Jupiter Olympius the gilded Roof the gilded Shields and those of solid Silver the huge Vessels of Silver holding Three Measures the Golden Chariot c. This Temple was first consum'd by sire in the Marian War and then rebuilt by Sylla who dying before the Dedication left that Honour to Quintus Catulus This
warchful Janus guards his Temple's Door Here when the Fathers have ordain'd to try The chance of Baâ—tel by their six'd Decree The Consul rich in his Gabinian Gown And Regal Pall leads the Procession on The sounding Hinges gravely turns about Rouzeth th' imprison'd God and lets the Furies out The Superstition of consecrating Groves and Woods to the Honour of the Deities was a practice very usual with the Ancients For not to speak of those mention'd in the Holy Scripture Pliny assures us That Trees in old time serv'd for the Temples of the Gods Tacitus reports this custom of the old Germans Q. Curtius of the Indians and almost all Writers of the old Druids The Romans too were great Admirers of this way of Worship and therefore had their Luci in most parts of the City generally dedicated to some particular Deity The most probable reason that can be given for this practice is taken from the common Opinion That Fear was the main Principle of Devotion among the ignorant Heathens And therefore such darksom and lonely Seats putting them into a sudden Horrour and Dread made them fansie that there must necessarily something of Divinity inhabit here which cou'd produce in them such an Awe and Reverence at their Entrance THEATRUM CORNELII BALBI GADITANI AMPHITHEATRUM CLAUDII CHAP. IV. Of the Theatres Amphitheatres Circo's Naumachiae Odea Stadia and Xysti and of the Campus Martius THeatres so call'd from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to see owe their Original to Bacchus (a) Polydor. Virg. de Rer. invent lib. 3. cap. 13. They were usual in several parts of Greece and at last after the same manner as other Institutions were borrow'd thence by the Romans That the Theatre and Amphitheatre were two different sorts of Aedifices was never question'd the former being built in the shape of a Semicircle the other generally Oval so as to make the same Figure as if two Theatres should be join'd together (b) Ibid. Yet the same place is often call'd by both these Names in several Authors They seem too to have been design'd for quite different Ends the Theatres for Stage-Plays the Amphitheatres for the greater Shows of Gladiators wild Beasts c. The parts of the Theatre and Amphitheatre best worth our Observation by reason of their frequent use in Classicks are as follows Scena was a Partition reaching quite cross the Theatre being either Versatilis or Duclilis either to turn round or to draw up for the presenting a new prospect to the Spectators as Seâ—cius hath observ'd (c) In Georg. 3. Prescenium was the space of ground just before the Scene where the Pulpitum stood into which the Actors came from behind the Scenes to perform (d) Rosin lib. 5. cap. 4. The middle part or Area of the Amphitheatre was call'd The middle part or Area of the Amphitheatre was call'd Cavea because 't was considerably lower than the other parts whence perhaps the Name of Pit in our Play-houses was borrow'd And Arena because it us'd to be strown with Sand to hinder the Performers from slipping Lipsius hath taken notice that the whole Amphitheatre was often call'd by both these Names (e) Laps in Amphitheat And the Veronese Hill call'd the Theatre which remains almost entire in that City the Arena (f) Warcup's History of Italy There was a threefold Distinction of the Seats according to the ordinary division of the people into Senators Knights and Commons the first Range was call'd Orchestra the second Equestria and the other Popularia (g) Casalius de Urb. Rom. Imp. splendore lib. 2. cap. 5. Theatres in the first Ages of the Common-wealth were only temporary and compos'd of Wood which sometimes tumbled down with a great Destruction as Dio (h) Lib. 37. and Pliny (i) Lib. 36. cap. 15. speak of one particularly Of these temporary Theatres the most celebrated was that of M. Scaurus mention'd by Pliny (k) Ibid. the Scenes of which was divided into three Partitions one above another the first consisting of 120 Pillars of Marble the next of the like number of Pillars curiously wrought in Glass The top of all had still the same number of Pillars adorn'd with gilded Tablets Between the Pillars were set 3000 Statues and Images of Brass The Cavea would hold 80000 Men. The Structure which Curio afterwards rais'd at the Funeral of his Father tho' inferiour to the former in Magnificence yet was no less remarkable upon account of the admirable Artifice and Contrivance He built two spacious Theatres of Wood so order'd with Hinges and other Necessaries as to be able to turn round with very little trouble These he set at first back to back for the Celebration of the Stage-plays and such-like Diversions to prevent the Disorder that might otherwise arise by the coufusion of the Scenes Toward the latter end of the Day pulling down the Scenes and joining the two Fronts of the Theatres he compos'd an exact Amphitheatre in which he again oblig'd the People with a Show of Gladiators (l) Ibid. Pamper the Great was the first that undertook the raising a fix'd Theatre which he built very nobly with square Stone on which account Tacitus (m) Ann. 14. tells us he was severely reprehended for introducing a Custom so different from that of their Forefathers who were contented to see the like Persormances in Seats built only for the present occasion and in ancient times standing only on the Ground To this purpose I can't omit an ingenious Reflection of Ovid upon the Luxury of the Age he liv'd in by comparing the honest Simplicity of the old Romans with the Vanity and Extravagance of the modern in this particular Tunc neque marmoreo pendebant vela Theatro Nec fuerant liquido pulpita rubra croco Illic quas tulerant memorata Palatia frondes Simpliciter positae Scena sine arte fuit In gradibus sedit populus de cespite factis Quâlibet hirsutas fronde tegente comas (n) Ovid. de Arte Amandi No Pillars then of Egypt's costly Stone No Purple Sails hung waving in the Sun No Flowers about the scented Seats were thrown But Sylvan Bowers and shady Palaces Brought by themselves secur'd them from the Rays Thus guarded and refresh'd with humble Green Pondring they gaz'd upon the artless Scene Their Seats of homely Turf the Crowd would rear And cover with green Boughs their more disorder'd Hair Juvenal intimates that this good old Custom remain'd still uncorrupted in several Parts of Italy ipsa dierum Festorum herboso colitur si quando Theatro Majestas tandemque redit ad pulpita notum Exodium cùm personae pallentis hiatum In gremio matris formidat rusticus infans Aequales habitus illuc similemque videbis Orchestram populum (o) Juv. Sat. 3. On Theatres of Turf in homely state Old Plays they act old Feasts they celebrate The same rude Song returns upon the Crowd And by
Tradition is for Wit allow'd The Mimick yearly gives the same Delights And in the Mother's Arms the clownish Infant frights Their Habits undistinguish'd by Degree Are plain alike the same Simplicity Both on the Stage and in the Pit you see * Mâ— Dryâ—en Some Remains of this Theatre of Pompey are still to be seen at Rome as also of those other of Marcellus Statilius Taurus Tâ—berius and Titus the second being almost entire (p) Fabric Rom. cap. 12. The Circo's were places set apart for the celebration of several sorts of Games which we will speak of hereafter They were generally oblong or almost in the shape of a Bow (q) Marlian Topog. Râ—m Ant. lib. 4. cap. 10. having a Wall quite round (r) Pelydor Virg. de Rer. invent lib. 2. cap. 14. with Ranges of Seats for the convenience of the Spectators At the entrance of the Circus stood the Carceres or Lists whence they started and just by them one of the Metae or Marks the other standing at the farther end to conclude the Race There were several of these Circi in Rome as those of Flaminius Nero Caracalla and Severus But the most remarkable as the very Name imports was the Circus Maximus first built by Tarquâ—â—â—us Priscus (Å¿) Livy Dionys Halic The length of it was four Stadia or Furlongs the breadth the like number of Acres with a Trench of ten foot deep and as many broad to receive the Water and Seats enough for a Hundred and fifty thousand Men (t) Dionys lib. 3. It was extreamly beautified and adorn'd by succeeding Princes particularly by Julius Caesar Augustus Caligula Domitian Trajan and Heliogabalus and enlarg'd to such a prodigious extent as to be able to contain in their proper Seats Two hundred and sixty thousand Spectators (u) Plin. lib. 36. The Naumachiae or Places for the Shows of Sea-Engagements are no-where particularly describ'd but we may suppose them to be very little different from the Circo's and Amphitheatres since those sort of Shows for which they were design'd were often exhibited in the fore-mention'd places (w) Marlian Topog. Rom. Ant. lib. 4. cap. 13. Odeum was a publick Edifice much after the manner of a Theatre (x) Fabric Rom. cap. 12. where the Musicians and Actors privately exercis'd before their appearance on the Stage (y) Rosin lib. 5. cap. 4. Plutarch hath describ'd one of these Odeum's at Athens whence to be sure the Romans took the hint of theirs in the following Words For the contrivance of it on the inside it was full of Seats and Ranges of Pillars and on the out-side the Roof or Covering of it was made from one point at top with a great many Bendings all shelving downward in imitation of the King of Persia 's Pavillion (z) In Periâ—â—e The Stadia were places in the form of Circo's for the Running of Men and Horses (a) Fabric Rom. cap. 12. A very noble one Suetonius (b) In Domitian tells us was built by Domitian The Xysti were places built after the fashion of the Portico's for the Wrestlers to exercise in (c) Fabric Rom. cap. 12. CIRCI ET QUINQUE LUDICRORUM CIRCENSIUM Deformatio ex Onuphrio Panvinio NAVMACHIAE ID EST NAVALIS PUGNAE Descriptio ex Onuphr Panvinio The Campus Martius famous on so many accounts was a large plain Field lying near the Tiber whence we find it sometimes under the Name of Tiberinus It was call'd Martius because it had been consecrated by the old Romans to the God Mars Besides the pleasant Situation and other natural Ornaments the continual Sports and Exercises perform'd here made it one of the most diverting Sights near the City For Here the young Noblemen practis'd all manner of Feats of Activity learn'd the use of all sorts of Arms and Weapons Here the Races either with Chariots or single Horses were undertaken Besides this 't was nobly adorn'd with the Statues of famous Men and with Arches Columns and Portico's and other magnificent Structures Here stood the Villa Publica or Palace for the Reception and Entertainment of Ambassadors from foreign States who were not allow'd to enter the City Several of the publick Comitia were held in this Field and for that purpose were the Septa or Ovilia built an Apartment enclos'd with Rails where the Tribes or Centuries went in one by one to give their Votes Cicero in one of his Epistles to Atticus intimates a noble Design he had to make the Septa of Marble and to cover them with a high Roof with the addition of a stately Portico or Piazza all round But we hear no more of this Project and therefore may reasonably suppose he was disappointed by the Civil Wars which broke out presently after CHAP. V. Of the Curiae Senacula Basilicae Fora and Comitium THE Roman Curia as it signifies a publick Aedifice was of two sorts Divine and Civil In the former the Priests and religious Orders met for the Regulation of the Rites and Ceremonies belonging to the Worship of the Gods In the other the Senate us'd to assemble to consult about the publick Concerns of the Commonwealth (a) Alex. ab Alex. lib. 1. c. 16. The Senate could not meet in such a Curia unless it had been solemnly consecrated by the Augurs (b) A Gell. lib. 14. c. 7. and made of the same nature as a Temple Sometimes at least the Curiae were no distinct Building but only a Room or Hall in some publick place as particularly Livy (c) Lib. 1. and Pliny (d) Lib. speak of a Curia in the Comitium tho' that it self were no entire Structure The most celebrated Curiae were Curia Hostilia built by Tullus Hostilius as Livy (e) Lib. 1. informs us And Curia Pompeii where the Senate assembled for the effecting the Death of Julius Caesar (f) Sueton. in Jul. Caes c â—o Senaculum is sometimes the same as Curia (g) Marlian Topog. Ant. Rom. lib. 3. c. 27. To be sure it could be no other than a Meeting-place for the Senate the same as the Grecians call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sext. Pomp. Festus (h) In vece Senaculum tells us of three Senacula two within the City-Walls for ordinary Consultations and one without the limits of the City where the Senate assembled to give Audience to those Ambassadours of foreign States whom they were unwilling to Honour with an admission into the City Lampridius (i) In vit lâ—â— â—ai informs us that the Emperour Heliogabalus built a Senaculum purposely for the use of the Women where upon high Days a Council of grave Matrons were to keep Court The Basilicae were very spacious and beautiful Aedifices design'd not only for the Senate to sit in but for the Judges too in the decision of all sorts of Causes and for the Counsellors to receive Clients The Bankers too had one part of it allotted for their Residence (k) Rosin Ant.
lib. 9. cap. 7. Vossius (l) In voâ—e Basilica hath observ'd that these Basilicae were exactly in the shape of our Churches oblong almost like a Ship which was the reason that upon the ruin of many of them Christian Churches were several times rais'd on the old Foundations And very often a whole Basilica converted to such a pious use And hence perhaps all our great Domo's or Cathedrals are still call'd Basilicae The Roman Forums were publick Buildings about three times as long as they were broad All the compass of the Forum was surrounded with arch'd Portico's only some passages being left for places of entrance They generally contriv'd to have the most stately Aedifices all round them as Temples Theatres Basilicae c. (m) Lips de Mag. Rom. They were of two sorts Fora Civilia and Fora Venalia The first were design'd for the Ornament of the City and for the use of publick Courts of justice the others were intended for no other end but the Necessities and Convenience of the Inhabitants and were no doubt equivalent to our Markets I believe Lipsius in the description that hath been given above means only the former Of these there were Five very considerable in Rome Forum Romanum built by Romulus and adorn'd with Portico's on all sides by Tarquinius Priscus It was call'd Forum Romanum or simply Forum by way of eminence on account of its Antiquity and of the most frequent use of it in publick Affairs Martial (n) Epâ—g lib. 2. and Statius (o) Sylvar lib. 1. car 1. for the same reason give it the Name of Forum Latium Ovid the same (p) Fast 4. and Forum Magnum (q) Fast 3 and Herodian (r) In vit M. Antonin Forum vetus Statius the Poet (s) Sylv. lib. 1. car 1. hath given an accurate description of the Forum in his Poem upon the Statue of Domitian on Horse-back set up here by that Emperour Forum Julium built by Julius Caesar with the Spoils taken in the Gallick War The very Area Suetonius (t) In Jul. Caes cap. 26. tells us cost 100000 Sesterces and Dio (u) Dio. lib affirms it to have much exceeded the Forum Romanum Forum Augusti built by Augustus Caesar and reckon'd by Pliny among the Wonders of the City The most remarkable Curiosity was the Statues in the two Portico's on each side of the main Building In one all the Latin Kings beginning with Aeneas in the other all the Kings of Rome beginning with Romulus and most of the eminent Persons in the Commonwealth and himself among the rest with an Inscription upon the Pedestal of every Statue expressing the chief Actions and Exploits of the Person it represented (w) Lips de Magnitud Rom. This Forum as Spartian (x) In vit Hadrian informs us was restor'd by the Emperour Hadrian Forum Nervae begun by Domitian as Suetonius (y) In Domit. cap 5. relates but finish'd and nam'd by the Emperour Nerva In this Forum Alexander Severus set up the Statues of all the Emperours that had been Canoniz'd (z) Spartian in Severo in imitation of the Contrivance of Augustus mention'd but now This Forum was call'd Transitorium because it lay very convenient for a passage to the other three and Palladium from the Statue of Minerva the Tutelar Deity of Augustus (a) Lips in Magn. Rom. upon which account perhaps Fabricius (b) Roma cap. 7. attributes the Name of Palladium to the Forum of that Emperour There 's scarce any thing remaining of this Forum except an old decay'd Arch which the People by a strange Corruption instead of Nerva's Arch call Noah's Ark (c) Marlian lib. 3. cap. 14. But the most celebrated for the admirable Structure and Contrivance was the Forum Trajani built by the Emperour Trajan with the foreign Spoils he had took in the Wars The Covering of this Aedifice was all Brass the Portico's exceedingly beautiful and magnificent with Pillars of more than ordinary heighth and Chapiters of excessive bigness (d) Idem lib. 2. cap. 13. Ammianus Marcellinus in the description of Constantius his triumphal Entrance into Rome when he hath brought him with no ordinary admiration by the Baths the Pantheon the Capitol and other noble Structures as soon as ever he gives him a sight of this Forum of Trajan he puts him into an ecstasie and can't forbear making an Harangue upon the matter (e) Ammian Marcelin Hist lib. 16. We meet in the same place with a very smart Repartee which Constantius receiv'd at this time from Ormisdas a Persian Prince The Emperour as he strangely admir'd every thing belonging to this noble Pile so he had a particular Fancy for the Statue of Trajan's Horse which stood on the top of the Building and express'd his Desire of doing as much for his own Beast Pray Sir saith the Prince before you talk of getting such a Horse will you be pleas'd to build such a Stable to put him in (f) Ibid. The chief Fora Venalia or Markets were Boarium for Oxen and Beef Suarium for Swine Pistorium for Bread Cupedinarium for Dainties Holitorium for Roots Sallers and such-like The Comitium was only a part of the Forum Romanum which serv'd sometimes for the Celebration of the Comitia which will be describ'd hereafter In this part of the Forum stood the Rostra being a Suggestum or sort of Pulpit adorn'd with the Beaks of Ships taken in a Sea-Fight from the Inhabitants of Antium in Italy as Livy informs us (g) Lib. 8. In this the Causes were pleaded the Orations made and the Funeral Panegyricks spoke by Persons at the Death of their Relations which pious Action they term'd Defuncti pro rostris Laudatio Hard by was fix'd the Puteal of which we have several and very different accounts from the Criticks but none more probable than the Opinion of the ingenious Monsieur Dacier (h) Dacier Not on Horace Sat. lib. 2. Sat. 6. vers 35. which he delivers to this purpose The Romans whenever a Thunderbolt fell upon a place without a Roof took care out of Superstition to have a sort of Cover built over it which they properly call Puteal This had the Name of Puteal Libonis and Scribonium Puteal because Scribonius Libo erected it by order of the Senate The Praetor's Tribunal standing just by is often signified in Authors by the same Expression CHAP. VI. Of the Portico's Arches Columns and Trophies IN Accounts of the eminent Buildings of the City the Portico's have ever had an honourable place They were Structures of curious Work and extraordinary Beauty annex'd to publick Edifices Sacred or Civil as well for Ornament as use They generally took their Names either from the Temples that they stood near as Porticus Concordiae Quirini Herculis c. or from the Authors as Porticus Pompeia Octavia Livia c. Or from the nature and form of the Building as Porticus curva stadiata porphyretica Or
their Original to Romulus who borrow'd the Institution from the Tuscans The Tuscans receiv'd it as the general Tradition goes from a Boy that they plough'd up casually out of the Ground who oblig'd them with a discovery of all the Mysteries belonging to this Art (a) Cicero de Divinat lib. 2. At first only the Natives of Tuscany exercis'd this Office at Rome and therefore the Senate made an Order That Twelve of the Sons of the principal Noblity should be sent into that Country to be instructed in the Rites and Ceremonies of their Religion of which this Secret was a chief part (b) Idem de Divinat lib. 1. The business of the Haruspices was to look upon the Beasts offer'd in Sacrifice and by them to divine the success of any Enterprize They took their Observations from Four Appearances 1. From the Beasts before they were cut up 2. From the Entrails of those Beasts after they were cut up 3. From the Flame that us'd to rise when they were burning 4. From the Flower or Bran from the Frankincense Wine and Water that they us'd in the Sacrifice In the Beasts before they were cut up they took notice Whether they were forc'd to be dragg'd to the Altar Whether they got loose out of the Leader's Hands Whether they escap'd the the stroke or bounded up and roar'd very loud when they receiv'd it Whether they died with a great deal of difficulty all which with several other Omens were counted unfortunate Or whether on the other side they follow'd the Leader without Compulsion receiv'd the Blow without struggling and resistance Whether they died easily and sent out a great quantity of Blood which gave the like assurance of a prosperous event In the Beast when cut up they observ'd the colour of the parts and whether any were wanting A double Liver was counted highly unfortunate A little or a lean Heart was always unlucky If the Heart was wholly missing nothing could be thought more fatal and dreadful as it happen'd in Two Oxen together offer'd by Julius Caesar a little before his Murder if the Entrails fell out of the Priests Hands if they were dawb'd more than ordinary with Blood if they were of a pale livid colour they portended sudden danger and ruin As to the Flame of the Sacrifice it furnish'd them with a good Omen if it gather'd up violently and presently consum'd the Sacrifice If it was clear pure and transparent without any mixture of Smoak and not discolour'd with red pale or black if it was quiet and calm not sparkling or crackling but run up directly in the shape of a Pyramid On the contrary it always portended Misfortunes if at first it requir'd much pains to light it if it did not burn upright but rowl'd into Circles and left void spaces between them if it did not presently catch hold on the whole Sacrifice but crept up by degrees from one part to another if it happen'd to be spread about by the Wind or to be put out by sudden Rain or to leave any part unconsum'd In the Meal Frankincense Wine and Water they were to observe whether they had their due quantity their proper taste colour and smell c. There were several lesser Signs which supplied them with Conjectures too insignificant to be here mention'd Most of these ill Omens are hinted at by Virgil. Georg. 3. v. 486. Saepe in honore Deûm medio stans â—osiia ad aram Lanea dum niveà circumdatur insula vittâ Inter cunctantes cecidit moribunda ministros Aut si quam ferro mactaverat ante Sacerdos Inde neque impositis ardent altaria fibris Nec responsa potest consultus reddere vates Ac vix suppositi tinguntur Sanguine cultri Summaque jejunâ sanie infuscatur arena The Victim Ox that was for Altars press'd Trimm'd with white Ribbons and with Garlands dress'd Sunk of himself without the Gods command Preventing the slow Sacrificer's Hand Or by the Holy Butcher if he fell Th' inspected Entrails cou'd no Fate foretell Nor laid on Altars did pure Flames arise But clouds of smouldring Smoak forbad the Sacrifice Scarcely the Knife was redden'd with his Gore Or the black Poyson stain'd the sandy Floor Mr. Dryden There are but Two Accounts of the Derivation of the Name of the Pontifices and both very uncertain either from Pons and facere because they first built the Sublician Bridge in Rome and had the care of its repair or from Posse and facere where facere must be interpreted to signifie the same as Offerre and Sacrificare The first of these is the most receiv'd Opinion and yet Plutarch himself hath call'd it absurd (c) In Numa At the first Institution of them by Numa the number was confin'd to Four who were constantly chose out of the Nobility 'till the Year of the City 454 when Five more were order'd to be added out of the Commons at the same times as the Augurs receiv'd the like Addition And as the Augurs had a College so the Pontifices too were settled in such a Body And as Sylla afterwards added Seven Augurs so he added as many Pontifices to the College The first Eight bearing the Name of Pontifices Majores the other of Minores The Office of the Pontifices was to give Judgment in all Causes relating to Religion to enquire into the Lives and Manners of the Inferiour Priests and to punish them if they saw occasion to prescribe Rules for Publick Worship to regulate the Feasts Sacrifices and all other Sacred Institutions Tully in his Oration to them for his House tells them That the Honour and safety of the Common-wealth the Liberty of the People the Houses and Fortunes of the Citizens and the very Gods themselves were all entrusted to their care and depended wholly on their Wisdom and Management The Master of Superintendent of the Pontifices was one of the most honourable Officers in the Common-wealth Numâ— when he instituted the Order invested himself first with this Dignity as Plutarch informs us tho' Livy attributes it to another Person of the same Name Festus his definition of this great Priest is Judex atque Arbiter rerum humanarum Divinarumque The Judge and Arbitrator of Divine and Humane Affairs Upon this account all the Emperours after the Example of Julius Caesar and Augustus either actually took upon them the Office or at least us'd the Name And even the Christian Emperours for some time retain'd this in the ordinary enumeration of their Titles 'till the time of Gratian who as we learn from Zozimus (d) Histor lib. 4. absolutely refus'd it Polydore Virgil (e) De rerum Invent. lib. 14. cap. 14. does not question but this was an infallible Omen of the Authority which the Bishop of Rome enjoys to this Day under the same Name of Pontifex Maximus CHAP. V. Of the Flamines Rex Sacrorum Salii and Feciales THE Name of the Flamines is not much clearer than the former Plutarch makes
own Mistress Rhea (e) Ovid. Fast 3. v. 233. On the same Day began the solemn Feast of the Salii and their Procession with the Ancylia which have been spoken of before The Ides of March was the Feast of Anna Perenna in Honour either of the Sister of Dido who fled into Italy to Aeneas or of one Anna an old Gentlewoman that in a great Dearth at Rome for some time furnish'd the common People with Corn out of her own Store The Celebration of this Day consisted in drinking and Feasting largely among Friends The common People met for this purpose in the Fields near the Tiber and building themselves Booths and Arbours kept the Day with all manner of Sports and Jollity wishing one another to live as many Years as they drunk Cups (f) Ibid. v. 5â—3 c. The same Day was by a Decree of Senate order'd to be call'd Parricidium from the Murder of Julius Caesar which happen'd on it (g) Suâ—ton in Jul. cap. 88. Appian in his Second Book tells us of a very different Law that Dolobella the Consul would have preferr'd upon this occasion and that was to have the Day call'd ever after Natalis Vrbis the Birth-day of the City as if their Liberty had reviv'd upon the Death of Caesar March the 19th or the 14th of the Kalends of April begun the Quinquatrus or Quinquatria the Feast of Minerva continuing Five Days 'T was during this Solemnity that the Boys and Girls us'd to pray to the Goddess for Wisdom and Learning of which she had the Patronage To which Custom Juvevenal alludes Eloquium famam Demosthenis aut Ciceronis Incipit optare totis Quinquatribus optat (h) Sat. 10. To rival Tully or Demosthenes Begins to wish in the Quinquatrian Days And wishes all the Feast April the 19th or the 13th of the Kalends of May was the Cerealia or Feast of Ceres in which Solemnity the chief Actors were the Women No person that mourn'd was allow'd to bear a part in this Service and therefore 't is very remarkable that upon the defeat at Cannae there was such an universal Grief in the City that the Anniversary Feast of Ceres was forc'd to be omitted (i) Livy lib. 22. April the 21st or the 11th of the Kalends of May was the Palilia or Feast of Pales Goddess of Shepherds This is sometimes call'd Parilia à pariendo because Prayers were now made for the fruitfulness of the Sheep Ovid tells us a very tedious course of Superstition that the Shepherds run through upon this Day They always contriv'd to have a great Feast at Night and when most of them were pretty merry they concluded all with dancing over the Fires that they made in the Field with heaps of Stubble (k) Ovid. Fast 4. v. 721 c. The same Day was call'd Vrbis natalis being the Day on which the City was built (l) Ibid. v. 806. April the 25th or the 7th of the Kalends of May was the Robigalia or Feast of the Goddess Robigo or the God Robigus who took care to keep off the Mildew and Blasting from the Corn and Fruit (m) Ibid. v. 901. April 29th or the 5th of the Kalends of May was the Floralia or Feast of Flora Goddess of Flowers (n) Ibid. v. 943. when the publick Sports were celebrated that will be hereafter describ'd In the remaining part of the Year we meet with no Festival of extraordinary note except the Poplifugium and the Saturnalia The Original of the famous Nonae Caprotinae or Poplifugium is doubly related by Plutarch according to the Two common Opinions First because Romulus disappear'd on that Day when an Assembly being held in the Palus Capreae or Goatsmarch on a sudden happen'd a most wonderful Tempest accompanied with terrible Thunder and other unusual Disorders in the Air. The common People fled all away to secure themselves but after the Tempest was over could never find their King (o) Plutarch in Romulus Or else from Caprificus a wild Fig-Tree because in the Gallic War a Roman Virgin who was Prisoner in the Enemies Camp taking the opportunity when she saw them one night in a disorder got up into a wild Fig-tree and holding out a lighted Torch toward the City gave the Romans a Signal to fall on which they did with such good Success as to gain a considerable Victory (p) Plutarch in Romul in Camill. The Original of the Saturnalia as to the time is unknown Macrobius assuring us that it was celebrated in Italy long before the building of Rome (q) Macrob. Saturn lib. 1. cap. 7. The Story of Saturn in whose Honour it was kept every Body is acquainted with As to the manner of the Solemnity besides the Sacrifices and other parts of publick Worship there were several lesser Observations worth our notice As the Liberty now allow'd to Servants to be free and merry with their Masters so often alluded to in Authors 'T is probable this was done in Memory of the Liberty enjoy'd in the Golden Age under Saturn before the Names of Servant or Master were known to the World Besides this they sent Presents to one another among Friends No War was to be proclaim'd and no Offender executed The Schools kept a Vacation and nothing but Mirth and Freedom was to be met with in the City They kept at first only one Day the 14th of the Kalends of January But the number was afterwards encreas'd to Three Four Five and some say Seven Days (r) Lipsiuâ— Saturnal lib. 1. cap. 3. PART II. BOOK III. Of the Civil Government of the Romans CHAP. I. Of the general Divisions of the People ROMVLVS as soon as his City was tolerably well fill'd with Inhabitants made a distinction of the People according to Honour and Quality giving the better sort the Name of Patres or Patricii and the rest the common Title of Plebeti To bind the Two Degrees more firmly together he recommended to the Patricians some of the Plebeians to protect and countenance the former being stil'd Patroni and the others Clientes The Patrons were always their Clients Counsellors in litigious Cases their Advocates in Judgments in short their Advisers and Overseers in all Affairs whatever On the other side the Clients faithfully serv'd their Patrons not only paying them all imaginable respect and deference but if occasion requir'd assisting them with Money toward the defraying of any extraordinary Charges But afterwards when the State grew rich and great though all other good Offices continu'd between them yet 't was thought a dishonourable thing for the better Sort to take any Money of their Inferiours (a) Vide Dionys lib. 2. Liv. lib. 1. Plutarch in Romulo The Division of the People into the three distinct Orders of Senators Knights and Commons took its rise about the time of Tarquin's expulsion The Senators were such Persons as had been promoted to sit in the Supreme Council of State either
and defend Augustus when at the desire of the Senate and People he assum'd the sole Government of the Empire among other Constitutions at the beginning of his Reign divided the Provinces into two parts one of which he gave wholly over to the People and reserv'd the other for himself After which time only the Governours sent into the First Division bore the Name of Proconsuls though they were denied the whole Military Power and so fell short of the old Proconsuls To these four sorts of Proconsuls we may add two more from Alexander of Naples First Such as the Senate created Proconsuls without a Province purely for the Command of the Army and the Care of the Military Discipline And secondly such design'd Consuls as entred on their Proconsular Office before they were admitted to the Consulship CHAP. XV. Of the Provincial Praetors and Propraetors of the Legati Quaestors and Proquaestors IN the first times of the Common-wealth the Provinces were govern'd by Praetors and as the Dominions of the State were enlarg'd the Number of those Magistrates was accordingly encreas'd yet even in those times if they continu'd in the Command of the Province beyond the time prefix'd for the continuance of their Praetorship they took upon them the Names of Propraetors though they still kept the same Authority as before About A. V. C. 604. the design'd Praetors began to divide the Praetorian or lesser Provinces by Lot in the same manner as the Consuls did the Consular and when at the end of the Year they repair'd to their respective Governments assum'd the Title of Propraetors As their creation was the same as that of the Proconsuls so their entrance upon their Office and the whole course of their Administration was exactly answerable to theirs only that they were allow'd but Six Lictors with an equal Number of Fasces whereas the Proconsuls had Twelve of each Now though before the time of Augustus the Propraetors by reason of their presiding over the Provinces of lesser Note and Importance were always reckon'd inferiour to the Proconsuls yet upon his division of the Provinces the Governours of those which fell to his share bearing the Name of Propraetors got the Preference of the Proconsuls in respect of Power and Authority being invested with the Military Command and continuing in their Office as long as the Emperour pleas'd The chief Assistants of the Proconsuls and the Propraetors were the Legati and the Provincial Quaestors The former being different in number according to the Quality of the Governour whom they accompanied serv'd for the judging of inferiour Causes and the management of all smaller Concerns remitting every thing of moment to the Care of the Governour or President Besides the Legati there went with every Proconsul or Propraetor one or more Quaestors whose whole Business was concern'd in managing the Publick Accounts taking care of the Supplies of Money Corn and other Necessaries and Conveniences for the maintenance of the Roman Army We seldom meet with Proquaestors in Authors they being only such as perform'd the Office of Quaestor in the Provinces without the deputation of the Senate which was requisite to the Constitution of the proper Quaestors This happen'd either when a Quaestor died in his Office or went to Rome without being succeeded by another Quaestor For in both these cases the Governour of the Province appointed another in his room to discharge the same Duties under the Name of Proquaestor Of the like nature with these Quaestors were the Procuratores Caesaris often mention'd by Tacitus and Suetonius Officers sent by the Emperours into every Province to receive and regulate the Publick Revenue and to dispose of it at the Emperour's Command Such a Magistrate was Pontius Pilate in Judaea and though the judging of extream Causes did not properly belong to his Office yet because the Jews were always look'd upon as a rebellious Nation and apt to revolt upon the least occasion and because the President of Syria was forced to attend on other parts of his Province therefore for the better keeping the Jews in order the Procurator of Judaea was invested with all the Authority proper to the Proconsul even with the Power of Life and Death as the Learned Bishop Pearson observes (a) Bishop Pearson on the Creed Art 4. CHAP. XVII Of the Comitia THE Comitia according to Sigonius's Definition were General Assemblies of the People lawfully call'd by some Magistrate for the enjoyment or prohibition of any thing by their Votes (a) Sigon de Antiq Jure Civ Romanorum lib. 1. cap. 17. The proper Comitia were of three sorts Curiata Genturiata and Tributa with reference to the Three grand Divisions of the City and People into Curiae Centuries and Tribes For by Comitia Calata which we sometimes meet with in Authors in elder times were meant all the Comitia in general the Word Calata from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Calo being their common Epithet though 't was at last restrain'd to two sorts of Assemblies those for the creation of Priests and those for the inspection and regulation of last Wills and Testaments (b) A. Gell. lib. 15. cap. 27. The Comitia Curiata owe their Original to the Division which Romulus made of the People into Thirty Curiae Ten being contain'd under every Tribe They answer'd in most respects to the Parishes in our Cities being not only separated by proper Bounds and Limits but distinguish'd too by their different Places set a-part for the celebration of Divine Service which was perform'd by particular Priests one to every Curia with the Name of Curiones Before the Institution of the Comitia Centuriata all the grand Concerns of the State were transacted in the Assembly of the Curia's as the Election of Kings and other Chief Officers the making and abrogating of Laws and the adjudging of capital Causes After the expulsion of the Kings when the Commons had obtain'd the Privilege to have Tribunes and Aediles they elected them for some time at these Assemblies But that Ceremony being at length transferr'd to the Comitia Tributa the Curiae were never conven'd to give their Votes except now and then upon account of making some particular Laws relating to Adoptions Wills and Testaments or the Creation of Officers for an Expedition or for the Electing of some of the Priests as the Flamines and the Curio maximus or Superintendant of the Curiones who themselves were chose by every particular Curia The Power of Calling these Assemblies belong'd at first only to the Kings but upon the establishment of the Democracy the same Privilege was allow'd to most of the Chief Magistrates and sometimes to the Pontifices The Person who had the liberty of Voting here were such Roman Citizens as belong'd to the Curiae or such as actually liv'd in the City and conform'd to the Customs and Rites of their proper Curia all those being excluded who dwelt without the Bounds of the City retaining the Ceremonies of their
own Country tho' they had been Honour'd with the Jus Civitatis or admitted free Citizens of Rome (c) Sigon de Antiq. jure Provinc lib. 3. cap. 1. The place where the Curiae met was the Comitium a part of the Forum describ'd before (d) See Part II. Book 1. cap. 5. No set time was allotted for the holding of these or any of the other Comitia but only as Business requir'd The People being met together and confirm'd by the report of good Omens from the Augurs which was necessary in all the Assemblies the Rogatio or Business to be propos'd to them was publickly read After this if none of the Magistrates interpos'd upon the Order of him that presided in the Comitia the People divided into their proper Curia's and consulted of the matter and then the Curia's being call'd out as it happen'd by Lot gave their Votes Man by Man in ancient times vivâ voce and afterwards by Tablets Tabellae the most Votes in every Curia going for the Voice of the whole Curia and the most Curiae for the general Consent of the People (e) â—â—siâ— lib. 7 cap. 7. The Comitia Centuriata were instituted by Servius Tullius who obliging every one to give a true account of what they were worth according to those Accounts divided the People into six Ranks or Classes which he subdivided into 193 Centuries The first Classis containing the Equites and richest Citizens consisted of Ninety eight Centuries The second taking in the Trades-men and Mechanicks made up Two and twenty Centuries The third the same number The fourth Twenty The fifth Thirty And the last fill'd up with the poorer sort had but one Century (f) See Dionys lib. 4. Persons of the First Rank by reason of their Pre-eminence had the Name of Classici whence came the Phrase of Classici Authores for the most approv'd Writers All others of what Classis soever were said to be infra classem (g) A. Gell. lib. 7. chap. 13. The Assembly of the People by Centuries was held for the electing of Consuls Censors and Praetors as also for the judging of Persons accus'd of what they call'd Crimen Perduellionis or Actions by which the Party had show'd himself an Enemy to the State and for the confirmation of all such Laws as were propos'd by the Chief Magistrates and which had the Privilege of calling these Assemblies The Place appointed for their Meeting was the Campus Martius because in the primitive Times of the Common-wealth when they were under continual Apprehensions of Enemies the People to prevent any sudden assault when arm'd in martial order to hold these Assemblies and were for that reason forbid by the Laws to meet in the City because an Army was upon no account to be martial'd within the Walls Yet in later Ages 't was thought sufficient to place a Body of Soldiers as a Guard in the Janiculum where an Imperial Standard was erected the taking down of which denoted the conclusion of the Comitia Though the time of these Comitia for other Matters was undetermin'd yet the Magistrates after the Year of the City 601. when they began to enter on their Place the Kalends of January were constantly design'd about the end of July and the beginning of August All the time between their Election and Confirmation they continu'd as private Persons that inquisition might be made into the Election and the other Candidates might have time to enter Objections if they met with any suspicion of foul dealing Yet at the Election of the Censors this Custom did not hold but as soon as they were pronounc'd elected they were immediately invested with the Honour (b) Livy lib. 40. By the institution of these Comitia Servius Tullius secretly convey'd the whole Power from the Commons For the Centuries of the first and richest Class being call'd out first who were Three more in number than all the rest put together if they all agreed as generally they did the Business was already decided and the other Classes were needless and insignificant However the Three last scarce ever came to Vote (i) Dionys lib. 4. The Commons in the time of the Free State to rectifie this Disadvantage obtain'd that before they proceeded to Voting any Matter at these Comitia that Century shou'd give their Suffrages first upon whom it fell by Lot with the Name of Centuris Prerogativa the rest being to follow according to the Order of their Classis After the constituting of the Five and thirty Tribes into which the Classes and their Centuries were divided in the first place the Tribes cast Lots which shou'd be the Prerogative-Tribe and then the Centuries of that Tribe for the Honour of being the Prerogative-Century All the other Tribes and Centuries had the appellation of Jure vocatae because they were call'd out according to their proper places The Prerogative-Century being chose by lot the Chief Magistrate sitting in a * Tabernaculum Tent in the middle of the Campus Martius order'd that Century to come out and give their Voices upon which they presently separated from the rest of the Multitude and came into an inclos'd Apartment which they term'd Septa or Ovilia passing over the Pontes or narrow Boards laid there for the occasion on which account de Ponte dejici is to be deny'd the privilege of Voting At the hither end of the Pontes stood the Diribitores a sort of under-Officers call'd so from dividing or martialling the People and deliver'd to every Man in the election of Magistrates as many Tablets as there appear'd Candidates Tabellae one of whose Names was wrote upon every Tablet A fit number of great Chests were set ready in the Septa and every body threw in which Tablet he pleas'd By the Chests were plac'd some of the publick Servants who taking out the Tablets of every Century for every Tablet made a Prick or a Point in another Table which they kept by them Thus the Business being decided by most Points gave occasion to the Phrase of Omne tulit punctum a and the like The same method was observ'd in the judiciary Processes at these Comitia and in the Confirmation of Laws except that in both these cases only two Tablets were offer'd to every Person on one of which was wrote V. R. and on the other A. in capital Letters the two first standing for uti rogas or be it as you desire relating to the Magistrate who propos'd the Question and the last for antiquo or I forbid it 'T is remarkable that though in the Election of Magistrates and in the Ratification of Laws the Votes of that Century whose Tablets were equally divided signify'd nothing yet in Trials of Life and Death if the Tablets pro and con were the same in number the Person was actually acquitted (l) Dionys lib. 7. The division of the People into Tribes was an invention of Romulus after he had admitted the Sabines into
sorts as Manicae Pedicae Nervi Boiae and the like The publick Prison in Rome was built by Ancus Martius hard by the Forum (a) Livy lib. 1. To which a new part was added by Servius Tullius called thence Tullianum Sallust describes the Tullianum as an Apartment under-ground (b) In Bello Catilinar into which they put the most notorious Criminals The higher part rais'd by Ancus Martius has commonly the Name of the Râ—bur from the Oaken Planks which compos'd it For the keeping of the Prison besides the Triumviri was appointed a sort of Gaoler whom Valerius Maximus calls Custos caceris (c) Lib. 5. and Pliny Commentariensis (d) Lib. 7. cap. 38. Verbera or Stripes were inflicted either with Rods Virgae or with Battoons Fustes The first commonly preceded capital Punishments properly so call'd The other was most in use in the Camp and belong'd to the Military Discipline Talio was a Punishment by which the guilty Person suffer'd exactly after the same manner as he had offended as in Cases of maiming and the like Yet Agellius informs us that the Criminal was allow'd the liberty of compounding with the Person he had injur'd so that he needed not suffer the Talio unless he voluntarily chose it (e) Vide Agell lib. 11. cap. 1. Ignominia was no more than a publick Shame which the offending Person underwent either by virtue of the Praetor's Edict or more commonly by Order of the Censor This Punishment besides the Scandal took away from the Party on whom 't was inflicted the Privilege of bearing any Office and almost all other Liberties of a Roman Citizen Exilium was not a Punishment immediately but by consequence for the Phrase us'd in the Sentence and Laws was Aquae ignis interdictio the forbidding the use of Water and Fire which being necessary for Life the condemn'd Person was oblig'd to leave his Country Yet in the times of the later Emperours we find it to have been a positive Punishment as appears from the Civil Law Relegatio may be reckon'd under this Head tho' it were something different from the former this being the sending a Criminal to such a Place or for such a Time or perhaps for ever by which the Party was not depriv'd of the Privilege of a Citizen of Rome as he was in the first sort of Banishment which they properly call'd Exilium Suetonius speaks of a new sort of Relegatio invented by the Emperour Claudius by which he order'd suspected Persons not to stir three Miles from the City (f) Suet. in Claud. cap. 23. Besides this Relegatio they had two other kinds of Banishment which they term'd Deportatio and Proscriptio tho' nothing is more common than to have them confounded in most Authors Deportatio or Transportation differ'd in these Respects from Relegatio that whereas the Relegati were condemn'd either to change their Country for a set time or for for ever and lost neither their Estate and Goods nor the Privilege of Citizens On the contrary the Deportati were banish'd always for ever and lost both their Estates and Privileges being counted dead in the Law (g) Calâ—â—n 〈◊〉 Jâ—râ—dâ—c in voc Depâ—rtati Relegaâ— As for the Proscripti they are defin'd by the Lawyers to be such Persons whose Names were fix'd up in Tablets at the Forum to the end that they might be brought to Justice a Reward being propos'd to those that took them and a Punishment to those that conceal'd them (h) Ibid in voce Proscripti Sylla was the first Inventor of this Practice and gave himself the greatest Example of it that we meet with proscribing 2000 Knights and Senators at once (i) Flâ—ruâ— lib. 3. â—ap â—1 'T is plain that this was not a positive Banishment but a forcing Persons to make use of that security so that we may fansy it of like nature with our Outlawry Servitus was a Punishment by which the Criminal's Person as well as Goods was publickly expos'd to sale by Auction This rarely happen'd to the Citizens but was an usual way of treating Captives taken in War and therefore will be describ'd hereafter Under the Head of Capital Punishments the Romans reckoned extream Bunishment because those who underwent that Sentence were in a civil Sence dead Mors. But because this Punishment has been already describ'd we are only now to take notice of such as reach'd the Offenders Life The chief of these were Percussio securi Strangulatio Praecipitatio de robore Dejectio è rupe Tarpeià in crucem actio and Projectio in profluentem The first was the same as beheading with us The second was perform'd in the Prison as it is now in Turkey The third and fourth were a throwing the Criminal headlong either from that part of the Prison call'd Robur or from the highest part of the Tarpeian Mountain The fifth Punishment namely Crucifixion was seldom inflicted on any but Slaves or the meanest of the Commons yet we find some Examples of a different Practice and Suetonius particularly relates of the Emperour Galba that having condemned a Roman Citizen to suffer this Punishment for poysoning his Ward the Gentleman as he was carrying to Execution made a grievous complaint that a Citizen of Rome should undergo such a servile Death alledging the Laws to the contrary The Emperour hearing his Plea promis'd to alleviate the shame of his Sentence and order'd a Cross much larger and more neat than ordinary to be erected and to be wash'd over with White Paint that the Gentleman who stood so much on his Quality might have the Honour to be hang'd in State (k) Sueton. in Galbâ cap 9. The Cross and the Furca are commonly taken for the same thing in Authors tho' properly speaking there was a great difference between them The Furca is divided by Lipsius into Ignominiosa and Poenalis The former Plutarch describes to be that piece of Wood which supports the Thill of a Waggon He adds that 't was one of the greatest Penances for a Servant who had offended to take this upon his Shoulders and carry it about the Neighbourhood for whoever was seen with this infamous Burden had no longer any Credit or Trust among those who knew it but was call'd Furciser by way of Ignominy and Reproach (l) Vide Plutarch in Coriolane Furca poenalis was a piece of Wood much of the same shape as the former which was fastned about the convicted Person 's Neck he being generally either scourg'd to death under it or lifted up by it upon the Cross Lipsius makes it the same with the Patibulum and fansies that for all the Name it might not be a forked piece of Timber but rather a straight Beam to which the Criminal's Arms being stretch'd out were tied and which being holsted up at the place of Execution serv'd for the transverse part of the Cross Projectio in profluentem was a Punishment proper to the Crime of Parricide
Jugurth CHAP. XXX Laws relating to Corn. SEMPRONIA Lex the Author C. Sempronius Gracchus not T. Sempronius Gracchus as Rosinus has it ordaining that a certain quantity of Corn should be distributed every Month among the Commons so much to every Man for which they were only to pay the small consideration of a Semissis and a Triens (a) Fler. Epit. Lav. lib. 60. Vâ—l. Pat. lib. 2 〈◊〉 Terentia Cassia Lex the Authors M. Terentius Varro Lucullus and C. Cassius Consuls A. 680. ordaining that the same set price should be given for all Corn bought up in the Province to hinder the Exactions of the Quasters (b) 〈◊〉 in Verrin 5. Clodia Lex the Author P. Clodius Triâ—â—â—e of the Câ—mmâ—ns A. 695. ordaining that those quantities of Corn which were formerly sold to the poor People at six Asses and a Triens the Bushel should be distributed among them gratis (c) Cicero pro Sextio in Pison c. Hierenica Lex the Author Hiero Tyrant of Sicily regulating the Affair between the Farmers and the Decumani or Gatherers of the Corn-Tax which because it consisted of a tenth part they call'd Decumae ordaining the quantity of Corn the Price and the time of receiving it which for the Justice of it the Romans still continued in force after they had possess'd themselves of that Island (d) Cicero in Verr. 4. CHAP. XXXI Laws for the regulating of Expences ORCHIA Lex the Author C. Orchius Tribune of the Commons A. 566. defining the number of Guests which were allow'd to be present at any Entertainment (a) Macreb Saturn lib. 2. cap. 14. Fannia Lex the Author C. Fannius Consul A. 588. ordaining that upon the higher Festivals no Person should expend more than an hundred Asses in a Day on ten other Days in every Month thirty Asses and at all other times ten (b) Ibid. Agell lib. 2. cap. 24. Didia Lex enacted about eighteen Years after the former ordaining that the Laws for regulating Expences should reach all the Italians as well as the Inhabitants of Rome and that not only the Masters of extravagant Treats but the Guests too should incurr a Penalty for their Offence (c) Ibid. Lex Licinia the Author P. Licinius Crassus the Rich agreeing in most particulars with the Fanman Law and farther prescribing that on the Kalends Nones and Nundinae thirty Asses should be the most that was spent at any Table and that on ordinary Days which were not particularly excepted Caro arida opponitur salsamento Casaubon adAgell Notae MSS. there should be spent only three pound of dry Flesh and one pound of Salt Meat but allowing as much as every Body pleas'd of any Fruits of the Ground (d) Ibid. Agell lib. 2. cap. 24. Cornelia Lex the Author L. Cornelius Sylla enacted not so much for the retrenching of extravagant Treats as for the imposing a lower price on Provisions (e) Agell lib. 2. cap. 24. Aemilia Lex the Author M. Aemilius Lepidus Consul about A. 675 respecting the particular sorts of Meats in use at that time and stating the just quantities allowable of every kind (f) Ibid. Antia Lex the Author one Antius Restio a farther Essay toward the suppression of Luxury the particulars of which we are not acquainted with But Macrobius gives us this remarkable Story of the Author that finding his Constitution to be of very little force by reason of the great head that Prodigality and Extravagance had gain'd in the City he never afterwards supp'd abroad as long as he liv'd for fear he should be forc'd to be a Witness of the Contempt of his own Injunction without being in a condition to punish it (g) Macrob. Agell Julia Lex preferr'd in the time of Augustus allowing two hundred Sestertii for Provisions on the dies Profesti three hundred on the common Festivals in the Kalendar and a thousand at Marriage-Feasts and such extraordinary Entertainments (h) Agell Agellius farther adds that he finds in an old Author an Edict either of Augustus or Tiberius he is uncertain which raising the allowance according to the difference of the Festivals from three hundred to two thousand Sestertii (i) Ibid. Hither may be referr'd the Lex Oppia the Author C. Oppius Tribune of the Commons A. 540. in the heat of the second Punick War ordaining that no Woman should have above half an Ounce of Gold wear a party-colour'd Garment or be carried in a Chariot in any City Town or to any place within a Miles distance unless upon the account of celebrating some sacred Solemnity (k) Livy lib. 34. Tac. Ann. 3. CHAP. XXXII Laws relating to Martial Affairs SACRATA Lex Militaris the Author probably M. Valerius Corvus Dictator A. 411. ordaining that no Soldiers Name which had been entred in the Muster-Roll should be struck out unless by the Party's consent And that no Person who had been Military Tribune should execute the Office of Ductor Ordinum (a) Liv. lib. 7. Sempronia Lex the Author C. Sempronius Gracchus Tribune of the Commons A. 630. ordaining that the Soldiers should receive their Cloths gratis at the publick Charge without any diminution of their ordinary Pay And that none should be oblig'd to serve in the Army who was not full seventeen Years old (b) Plutarch in C. Graâ—ch Maria Porcia Lex the Authors L. Marius and M. Porcius Cato Tribunes of the Commons A. 691. ordaining that a Penalty should be inflicted on such Commanders as wrote falsely to the Senate about the number of the slain on the Enemies side and of their own Party And that they should be oblig'd when they first entred the City to take a solemn Oath before the Quaestors that the number which they return'd was true according to the est Computation (c) Valâ—r Max. lib. 2. cap. 8. Sulpicia Lex the Author P. Sulpicius Tribune of the Commons A. 665. ordaining that the chief Command in the Mithridatick War which was then enjoy'd by L. Sylla should be taken from him and conferr'd on C. Marius (d) Vell. Patere lib. 2. Florus Epit. 77. Plutarch in Sylla Marto c. Gabinia Lex the Author A. Gabinius Tribune of the Commons A. 685. ordaining that a Commission should be granted to Cn. Pompey for the management of the War against the Pirates for three Years with this particular Clause That upon all the Sea on this side Hercules his Pillars and in the Maritime Provinces as far as 400 Stadia from the Sea he should be empower'd to command Kings Governours and States to supply him with all Necessaries in the Expedition (f) Asconius in Cornelian Vell. Paterc lib. 2. Plutarch in Pomp. Cicero de Lege Maniliâ post Reditum in Senat. Manilia Lex the Author C. Manilius Tribune of the Commons A. 687. ordaining that all the Forces of Lucullus and the Provinces under his Government should be given to Pompey
off from all the Italian States (b) Dio lib. 37. Cic. in Epist ad Attic. Portoria according to Sigonius's explication were a sort of Toll paid always at the carrying of any exportable Goods to the Haven whence the Collectors of it were call'd Portitores Lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus The Romans consulting the Grandeur of their Republick had always a particular Honour for a married state and nothing was more usual than for the Censors to impose a Fine upon old Batchelours Dionysius Halicarnassus (c) Lib. 9. mentions an old Constitution by which all Persons of full Age were oblig'd to marry But the first Law of which we have any certainty was this of Augustus Caesar preferr'd A. 736. It did not pass before it had receiv'd several Amendments being at first rejected for its extream severity This is the subject of Propertius's Seventh Elegy of the Third Book Gaâ—â—sa est certè sublatam Cynthia legem c. My Cynthia laugh'd to see the Bill thrown out c. Horace calls it Lex Marita (d) In Carmine Seculati A. 762. this Law being improv'd and enlarg'd was preferr'd in a new Bill by Papius and Poppaeus the Consuls at that time whence it is sometimes call'd Papia Poppaea Lex and generally Julia Papia A great part of the general Heads are collected by Lipsius in his Excursions on Tacitus (e) Exchrs ad Tacit. Ann. lib. 3. Liter C. Vid. Sueton isâ— Octavio cap. 34. among which the most remarkable are those which contain the Sanctions of Rewards and Punishments As to the first of these it was hereby ordain'd That all the Magistrates shou'd take Precedence according to their number of Children or a married Man before a Batchelour That in Elections those Candidates shou'd be preferr'd who had the most numerous Offspring And that any Person might stand sooner than ordinary for an Office if he had as many Children as he wanted Years to be capable of bearing such a Dignity (f) Plin Epist lib. 7. That whoever in the City had Three Children in the other Parts of Italy Four and in the Provinces Five or as some say Seven shou'd be excus'd from all troublesome Offices in the place where he liv'd Hence came the famous jus trium liberorum so frequently met with in Pliny Martial c. by which the Emperours often oblig'd such Persons with this Privilege to whom Nature had denied it Of the Penalties incurr'd by such as in spight of this Law liv'd a single Life the chief was That unmarried Persons shou'd be incapable of receiving any Legacy or Inheritance by Will unless from their near Relations and such as were married and yet had no Children above half an Estate Hence Plutarch has a severe Reflection on the covetous Humour of the Age That several of the Romans did not marry for the sake of raising Heirs eâ— their own Fortunes but that they themselves might upon this account be capable of inheriting the Estates of other Men (g) Plat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Juvenal alludes to the same custom Jam Pater es dederam quod famae opponere possis (h) Sat 9. vers 86. Jura Parentis habes propter me scriberis Haeres Legatum omne capis nec non dulce caducums Now by my Toil thou gain'st a Father's Fame No more shall pointing Crowds attest thy Shame Thine is the Privilege our Laws afford To him that stands a Father on record In Misers Wills you stand unquestion'd now And reap the Harvest which you cou'd not sow Claudia Lex de scribarum negotiatione This Law is barely mention'd by Suetonius (i) In Domit. cap. 9. and seems a part of the Lex Claudia or Clodia about the Trading of the Senators already explain'd It appears therefore that not only the Senators but the Scribes too or at least those Scribes who assisted the Quaestors were forbid to make use of a Vessel of above Three hundred Amphorae We may reasonably suppose that this Prohibition was not laid upon them in respect of their Order and Degree which were not by any means eminent but rather upon account of their particular Place or Office because it look'd very improper that Persons who were concern'd in the Publick Accounts shou'd at the same time by dealing in Traffick and Merchandise endeavour rather the filling their own Coffers than improving the Revenues of the State (k) Vid. Torrent in Not. ad â—bcum Mamilia Lex this Law as well as the former depends upon a single Authority being just nam'd by Salust (l) In Bell. Jugurthin and not explain'd by Manulius or Rosinus It seems to have been to this purpose that since Affairs had been very often ill manag'd by the Nobility those Persons whose Ancestors had bore no Magistracy in the State such as they call'd Homines novi shou'd for the future be allow'd the Privilege of holding Publick Offices (m) Vid. Rivium in Not. ad locum Atinia Lex de furtis ordaining That no Prescription shou'd secure the possession of stollen Goods but that the proper Owner shou'd have an eternal Right to them (n) Cie Verr. â— Agell lib. 17. cap. 7. PART II. BOOK IV. The Roman Art of WAR CHAP. I. The Levies of the Roman Foot AT the same time of the Year as the Consuls were declar'd Elect or Design'd they chose the Military Tribunes Fourteen out of the Body of the Equites who had serv'd in the Army five Years and Ten out of the Commohalty such as had made Ten Campagnes The former they call'd Tribuni Juniores the latter Seniores The Consuls having agreed on a Levy as in the time of the Common-wealth they usually did every Year they issu'd out an Edict commanding all Persons who had reach'd the Military Age about Seventeen Years to appear commonly in the Capitol or in the Area before the Capitol as the most sacred and august Place on such a Day The People being come together and the Consuls who presided in the Assembly having taken their Seat in the first place the Four and twenty Tribunes were disposâ—d of according to the number of Legions they design'd to make up which was generally Four The Junior Tribunes were aâ—sign'd Four to the first Legion Three to the second Four to the third and Three to the last The Senior Tribunes Two to the first Legion and the third Three to the second and the last After this every Tribe being call'd out by Lot was order'd to divide into their proper Centuries out of each Century were the Soldiers cited by Name with respect had to their Estate and Class for which purpose there were Tables ready at hand in which the Name Age and Wealth of every Person was exactly describ'd Four Men as much alike in all circumstances as cou'd be pitch'd upon being presented out of the Century first the Tribunes of the first Legion chose one then the Tribunes of the second another the Tribunes of the
a review of the Cavalry and Augustus particularly restor'd the old custom of the Transvectio which had before been discontinu'd for some time CHAP. III. The Military Oath and the Levies of the Confederates THE Levies being finish'd the Tribunes of every Legion chose out one whom they thought the fittest Person and gave him a solemn Oath at large the substance of which was That he shou'd oblige himself to obey the Commanders in all things to the utmost of his Power be ready to attend whenever they order'd his appearance and never to leave the Army but by their consent After he had ended the whole Legion passing one by one every Man in short swore to the same effect crying as he went by Idem in me This and some other Oaths were so essential to the Military State that Juvenal useth the Word Sacramenta for Milites or Militia Sat. 16. Praemia nune alia atque alia emolumenta notemus Sacramentorum As to the raising the Confederate Troops Polybius informs us That at the same time as the Levies were made in Rome the Consuls gave notice to the Cities of the Allies in Italy intimating the number of Forces they shou'd have occasion to borrow of them together with the Time and Place when and where they wou'd have them make their Rendezvous The States accordingly conven'd their Men and chusing out their desir'd Number gave them an Oath and assign'd them a Commander in Chief and a Pay-master General We may observe that in the time of Polybius all Italy was indeed subject to the Romans yet no State or People in it had been reduc'd into the form of a Province retaining for the generality their old Governours and Laws and being term'd Secii or Confederates But after all the Italians were not only divided into separate Provinces but afterwards honour'd with the jus Civitatis the Name of Sociâ— ceas'd all the Natives of Italy being accounted Romans and therefore instead of the social Troops the Auxilia were afterwards procur'd which are carefully to be distinguish'd from the former They were sent by foreign States and Princes at the desire of the Roman Senate or Generals and were allow'd a set Pay from the Republick whereas the Socii receiv'd no consideration for their Service but a Distribution of Corn. CHAP. IV. Of the Evocati THE most eminent Degree of Soldiers were the Evocati taken as well out of Allies as Citizens out of Horse as Foot not by Force but at the Request and Intreaty of the Consuls or other Officers for which purpose Letters were commonly dispatch'd to every particular Man whom they design'd thus to invite into their Service These were old experienc'd Soldiers and generally such as had serv'd out their legal Time or had receiv'd particular Marks of Favour as a Reward of their Valour on which accounts they were styl'd Emeriti and Beneficiarii Searce any War was undertaken but a great number of these were invited into the Army and therefore they had the Honour to be reckon'd almost equal with the Centurions In the Field they usually guarded the chief Standard being excus'd from all the Military Drudgery of standing on the Watch labouring in the Works and other servile Employments The Emperour Galba gave the same Name of Evocati to a select Band of young Gentlemen of the Equestrian Rank whom he kept as a Guard to his Palace (a) Suâ—ton in Galb cap. 10. CHAP. V. The several kinds of the Roman Foot and their Division into Manipuli Cohorts and Legions THE whole Roman Infantry was divided into Four sorts Velites Hastati Principes and Triarii The Velites were commonly some of the Tyro's or young Soldiers of mean Condition and lightly Arm'd They had their Name à volando or à velocitate from their Swiftness and Expedition They seem not to have been divided into any distinct Bodies or Companies but to have hover'd in loose Order before the Army The Hastati were so call'd because they us'd in ancient times to fight with Spears which were afterwards laid aside as incommodious These were taken out of the next in Age to the Velites The Principes were generally Men of middle Age and of greatest Vigour 'T is probable that before the Institution of the Hastati they us'd to begin the Fight whence they borrow'd their Name The Triarii were commonly Veterans or hardy old Soldiers of long Experience and approv'd Valour They had their Name from their Position being Marshal'd in the Third Place as the main Strength and Hopes of their Party They are sometimes call'd Pilarii from their Weapons the Pila Every one of these grand Divisions except the Velites compos'd Thirty Manipuli or Companies Every Manipulus made Two Centuries or Ordines Three Manipuli One of the Hastati another of the Principes and a Third of the Triarii compos'd a Cohort Among these one was fill'd with some of the choisest Soldiers and Officers obtaining the Honourable Title of Prima Cohors We meet too with the Praetoria Cohors instituted by Scipio Numantinus selected for the most part out of the Evocati or Reformade's and oblig'd only to attend on the Praetor or General And this gave original to the Praetoriani the Life-guard of the Emperours Ten Cohorts made up a Legion The exact number of Foot in such a Battalion Romulus fix'd at Three thousand though Plutarch assures us That after the reception of the Sabines into Rome he encreas'd it to Six thousand The common number afterwards in the first times of the Free State was Four thousand In the War with Hannibal it arose to Five thousand After this 'T is probable they sunk to about Four thousand or Four thousand two hundred again which was the number in the time of Polybius In the Age of Julius Caesar we don't find any Legions exceeding the Polybian number of Men and he himself expresly speaks of Two Legions that did not make above Seven thousand between them (a) Commentar lib. 5. â— The number of Legions kept in Pay together was different according to the various Times and Occasions During the Free State Four Legions were commonly fitted up every Year and divided between the Two Consuls Yet in cases of necessity we sometimes meet with no less than Sixteen or Eighteen in Livy Augustus maintain'd a Standing Army of Twenty three or as some will have it of Twenty five Legions but in after-times we seldom find so many They borrow'd their Names from the Order in which they were rais'd as Prima Secunda Tertia but because it usually happen'd that there were several Primae Secundae c. in several places upon that account they took a sort of Surname besides either from the Emperours who first constituted them as Augusta Claudiana Galbiana Flavia Vlpia Trajana Antoniana or from the Provinces which had been conquer'd chiefly by their Valour as Parthica Scythica Gallica Arabica c. Or from the Names of the particular Deities for whom their Commanders had an especial Honour
Viridomarus King of the Gauls whence Virgil says of him Aeneid 6. Tertiaque arma patri suspendet capta Quirino Where Quirino must be understood only as an Epithet applied to Jupiter as denoting his Authority and Power in War as the same Word is attributed to Janus by Horace and Sueton. Therefore Servius is most certainly guilty of a Mistake when he tells us that the first Spoils of this nature were according to Numa's Laws to be presented to Jupiter the second to Mars and the third to Quirinus or Romulus for that Decree of Numa only took place if the same Person had the good Fortune to take these Spoils three times but we are assur'd that not only Romulus but Cossus and Marcellus too all made the Dedication to Jupiter The Admirers of the Roman Magnificence will be infinitely pleas'd with the Relation already given from Plutarch of the Triumphal Pomp while others who fansie that People to have been possess'd with a strange measure of vain-glory and attribute all their Military State and Grandeur to an ambitions Ostentation will be much better satisfied with the satyrical Account which Juvenal furnisheth us with in his Tenth Satyr He is saying that Democritus found subject enough for a continual Fit of Laughter in places where there was no such formal Pageantry as is commonly to be seen in Rome and then he goes on Quid si vidisset Praetorem curribus altis Extantem medio sublimem in pulvere Circi In tunicâ Jovis pictae Sarrana ferentem Ex humeris aulaea togae magnaeque coronae Tantum orbem quanto cervix non sufficit ulla Quippe tenet sudans hanc publicus sibi Consul Ni placeat curru servus portatur eodem Da nunc volucrem Sceptro quae surgit eburno Illinc Cornicines hinc praecedentia longi Agminis officia niveos ad fraena Quirites Defossa in loculis quos sportula fecit amicos What had he done had he beheld on high Our Consul seated in mock-Majesty His Chariot rowling o'er the dusty Place While with dumb Pride and a set formal Face He moves in the dull ceremonial Track With Jove's embroider'd Coat upon his Back A Suit of Hâ—â—gings had not more oppress'd His Shoulders than that long laborious Vest A heavy Gewgaw call'd a Crown that spread About his Temples drown'd his narrow Head And wou'd have crush'd it with the massie Freight But that a sweating Slave sustain'd the weight A Slave in the same Chariot seen to ride To mortifie the mighty Mad-man's Pride And now the Imperial Eagle rais'd on high With golden Beak the Mark of Majesty Trumpets before and on the left and right A Cavalcade of Nobles all in white In their own Natures false and flatt'ring Tribes But made his Friends by Places and by Bribes Mr. Dryden CHAP. XVII The Roman Way of declaring War and of making Leagues THE Romans us'd abundance of Superstition in entring upon any Hostility or closing in any League or Confederacy The Publick Ministers who perform'd the Ceremonial Part of both these were the Feciales or Heralds already describ'd among the Priests nothing remains but the Ceremonies themselves which were of this nature When any neighbouring State had given sufficient reason for the Senate to suspect a Design of breaking with them or had offer'd any Violence or Injustice to the Subjects of Rome which was enough to give them the repute of Enemies one of the Feciales chosen out of the College on this occasion and habited in the Vest belonging to his Order together with his other Ensigns and Habiliments set forward for the Enemy's Country As soon as he reach'd the Confines he pronounc'd a formal Declaration of the cause of his arrival calling all the Gods to witness and imprecating the Divine Vengeance on himself and his Country if his Reasons were not just When he came to the chief City of the Enemy he again repeated the same Declaration with some addition and withal desired satisfaction If they deliver'd into his Power the Authors of the Injury or gave Hostages for security he return'd satisfied to Rome if otherwise they desired time to consider he went away for ten Days and then came again to hear their Resolution And this he did in some cases three times But if nothing was done toward an Accommodation in about thirty Days he declar'd that the Romans wou'd endeavour to assert their Right by their Arms. After this the Herald was oblig'd to return and to make a true Report of his Ambassie before the Senate assuring them of the Legality of the War which they were now consulting to undertake and was then again dispatch'd to perform the last part of the Ceremony which was to throw a Spear into or towards the Enemy's Country in token of Defiance and as a Summons to War pronouncing at the same time a set Form of Words to the same purpose As to the making of Leagues Polybins acquaints us That the Ratification of the Articles of an Agreement between the Romans and the Carthaginians was perform'd in this manner The Carthaginians swore by the Gods of their Country and the Romans after their ancient Custom swore by a Stone and then by Mars They swore by a Stone thus The Herald who took the Oath having sworn in behalf of the Publick takes up a Stone and then pronounceth these Words If I keep my Faith may the Gods vouchsafe their Assistance and give me success if on the contrary I violate it then may the other Party be entirely safe and preserv'd in their Country in their Laws in their Possessions and in a word in all their Rights and Liberties and may I perish and fall alone as now this Stone does And then he lets the Stone fall out of his Hands (a) Polyb. lib. 3. Livy's account of the like Ceremony is something more particular yet differs little in substance only that he says the Herald's concluding Clause was Otherwise may Jove strike the Roman People as I do this Hog and accordingly he kill'd an Hog that stood ready by with the Stone which he held in his Hand This last Opinion is confirm'd by the Authority of Virgil when speaking of the Romans and Albanians he says Et caesâ jungebant foedera Porcâ And perhaps both these Customs might be in use at different times CHAP. XVIII The Roman Method of treating the People they conquer'd with the Constitution of the Coloniae Municipia Praefecturae and Provinces THE civil Usage and extraordinary Favours with which the Romans oblig'd the poor conquer'd Nations has been reasonably esteem'd one of the prime Causes of the extent of their Dominions and the establishment of their Command Yet when they saw occasion they were not to seek in severer Methods such as the seizing on the greatest part of the Enemy's Land or removing the Natives to another Soil If a State or People had been necessitated to surrender themselves into the Roman Power they us'd sub jugum mitti
the Emperours The Ludi quinquennales instituted by Augustus Caesar after his Victory against Anthony which resolving to deliver famous to succeeding Ages he built the City Nicopolis near Actium the place of Battel on purpose to hold these Games whence they are often call'd Ludi Actiaci They consisted of Shows of Gladiators Wrestlers and other Exercises and were kept as well at Rome as at Nicopolis The proper Curators of them were the four Colleges of Priests the Pontifices the Augurs the Septemviri and the Quindecemviri Virgil in allusion to this Custom when he brings his Hero to the Promontory of Actium makes him hold solemn Games with the Lustrations and Sacrifices us'd on that occasion by the Romans Lustramurque Jovi votisque incendimus aras Actiaque Iliacis celebramus littora Ludis Aen. 3. Nero after the manner of the Graecians instituted Quinquennial Games at which the most celebrated Masters of Musick Horse-racing Wrestling c. disputed for the Prize (t) Sueton Ner. 12. The same Exercises were perform'd in the Quinquennial Games of Domitian dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus together with the Contentions of Orators and Poets (u) Idem Domit. 4. at which the famous Statius had once the ill Fortune to lose the Prize as he complains several times in his Miscellany Poems Ludi Decennales or Games to return every tenth Year were instituted by Augustus with this political Design to secure the whole Command to himself without incurring the Envy or Jealousie of the People For every tenth Year proclaiming solemn Sports and so gathering together a numerous Company of Spectators he there made a solemn proffer of resigning his Imperial Office to the People tho' he immediately resum'd it as if continu'd to him by the common consent of the Nation (w) Dio. lib. 53. Hence a Custom was deriv'd for the succeeding Emperours every tenth Year of their Reign to keep a magnificent Feast with the Celebration of all sorts of publick Sports and Exercises (x) Ibid. The Ludi Triumphales were such Games as made a part of the Triumphal Solemnity Ludi Natalitii instituted by every particular Emperour to commemorate his own Birth-day Ludi Juveniles instituted by Nero at the shaving of his Beard and at first privately celebrated in his Palace or Gardens but they soon became Publick and were kept with great State and Magnificence Hence the Games held by the following Emperours in the Palace yearly on the first of January took the Name of Juvenilia (y) Sueton. Nâ—r. 11. 〈…〉 Cicero speaks of the Ludi Juventutis instituted by Salinator in the Senensian War for the Health and safety of the Youth a Plague then reigning in the City (z) in â—â—â—â—o The Ludi Miscelli which Suetonius makes Caligula to have instituted at Lyons in France seem to have been a Miscellany of Sports consisting of several Exercises join'd together in a new and an unusual manner (a) Sueton. Câ—iâ—g 20. Tâ—rrâ—â—â— alloâ— The LVDIFVNEBRES assign'd for one Species of the Roman Publick Games as to their original and manner have been already describ'd in the Chapter of the Gladiators It may be proper to observe farther that Tertullian in his particular Tract De Spectaculis as he derives the Custom of the Gladiatorian Combats from the Funeral Rites so he takes notice that the Word Munus applied originally to these Shows is no more than Officium a kind Office to the dead We must remember too that tho' the Shows of Gladiators which took their Rise from hence were afterwards exhibited on many other occasions yet the Primitive Custom of presenting them at the Funeral of great Men all along prevail'd in the City and Roman Provinces Nor was it confin'd only to Persons of Quality but almost every rich Man was honour'd with this Solemnity after his Death And this they very commonly provided for in their Wills defining the number of Gladiators who should be hir'd to engage In so much that when any wealâ—hy Person deceas'd the People us'd to claim a Show of Gladiators as their due by long Custom Suetonius to this purpose tells us of a Funeral in which the common People extorted Money by force from the deceas'd Person 's Heirs to be expended on this account (b) Suet. Tib. 37. Julius Caesar brought up a new Custom of allowing this Honour to the Women when he oblig'd the People with a Feast and a publick Show in memory of his Daughter (c) Idem Jul. 26. It is very memorable that tho' the Exhibitors of these Shows were private Persons yet during the time of the Celebration they were consider'd as of the highest Rank and Quality having the Honour to wear the Praetexta and to be waited on by the Lictors and Beadles who were necessary to keep the People in order and to assist the Designatores or Marshallers of the Procession (d) Kirckman de Funer Rom. lib. 4. cap. 8. CHAP. VIII Of the Roman Habit. THE Roman Habit has given as much trouble to the Criticks as any other part of Antiquity And tho' the most learned Men have been so kind as to leave us their Thoughts on this Subject yet the Matter is not fully explain'd and the Controversies about it admit of no Decision However without enquiring into the several Fashions of the Romans or defining the exact time when they first chang'd their leathern Jerkins and their primitive Hides of wild Beasts for the more decent and graceful Attires it will be sufficient to the present design to observe the several sorts of Garments in use with both Sexes and to give the best distinction of them that can be found out at this distance The two common and celebrated Garments of the Romans were the Toga and the Tunica The Toga or Gown seems to have been of a Semicircular Form without Sleeves different in largeness according to the Wealth or Poverty of the wearer and us'd only upon occasion of appearing in publick whence 't is often call'd Vestis forensis (a) Feriar de re Vestiar lib. 1. cap. 28. The Colour of the Gown is generally believ'd to have been White The common Objections against this Opinion are how it could then be distinguish'd from the Toga Candida us'd by Competitors for Offices or how it comes to pass that we read particularly of their wearing white Gowns on Holy-days and publick Festivals as in Horace Ille repotia natales aliosque dierum Festos albatus celebret (b) Lib. 2. Sat. 2. if their ordinary Gowns were of the same Colour But both these Scruples are easily solv'd For between the Toga Alba and Candida we may apprehend this difference that the former was the natural colour of the Wool and the other an artificial White which appear'd with a greater advantage of Lustre and therefore Polybius chuseth rather to call the Candidates Gown 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not of a bare White but of a bright shining colour
one shou'd sow a Coat in this Manner that one Side shou'd have a broad Galoon and the other a narrow one neither part has any thing properly answering to it As to the Name of the Clavi he thinks there needs no farther Reason be given than that the Ancients call'd any thing which was made with Design to be put upon another thing Clavus g It has been a receiv'd Opinion that the Angusticlave distinguish'd the Knights from the Common-People in the same Manner as the Laticlave did the Senators from those of the Equestrian Rank But Rubenius averrs that there was no manner of Difference between the Tunics of the Knights and those of the Commons This Conjecture seems to be favour'd by Appian in the second Book of his History where he tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Slave in Habit goes like his Master and excepting only the Senator's Robe all other Garments are common to the Servants And Pliny when he says that the Rings distinguish'd the Equestrian Order from the Common-People as their Tunick did the Senate from those that wore the Rings wou'd not probably have omitted the other Distinction had it been real Besides both these Authorities Lampridius in the Life of Alexander Severus confirms the present Assertion He acquaints us that the aforesaid Emperour had some Thoughts of assigning a proper Habit to Servants different from that of their Masters But his great Lawyers Vlpian and Paulus dissuaded him from the Project as what wou'd infallibly give Occasion to much quarrelling and dissension so that upon the whole he was contented only to distinguish the Senators from the Knights by their Clavus But all this Argument will come to nothing unless we can clear the Point about the use of Purple among the Romans which the Civilians tell us was strictly forbid the Common-People under the Emperours It may therefore be observ'd that all the Prohibitions of this Nature are restrain'd to some particular species of Purple (h) Dacier or Horace lib. 1. Sat. 5. Thus Julius Caesar forbad the use of the Conchilian Garments or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (h) Sueton. Jul. cap. 43. And Nero afterwards prohibited the ordinary Use of the Amethystine or Tyrian Purple (i) Idem Nero cap. 32. These Conjectures of Rubenius need no better confirmation than that they are repeated and approv'd by the most judicious Graevius (k) Ad Sueton. Jul. 43. Otho 10. Domitian 10. According to this Opinion it is an easie Matter to reconcile the great Contest between Manutius and Lipsius and the inferior Criticks of both Parties about the Colour of the Tunic the former asserting it to be Purple and the other White For 't is evident it might be call'd either if we suppose the Ground-Work to have been White with the addition of these Purple Lists or Galoons As to the Persons who had the Honour of wearing the Laticlave it may be maintain'd that the Sons of those Senators who were Patritians had the Privilege of using this Vest in their Childhood together with the Praetexta But the Sons of such Senators as were not Patritians did not put on the Laticlave 'till they applied themselves to the Service of the Common-Wealth and to bearing Offices (l) See Pliny Lib. 8. Epist 23. Yet Augustus chang'd this Custom and gave the Sons of any Senators leave to assume the Laticlave presently after the time of their putting on the Toga Virilis tho' they were not yet capable of Honours (m) Sueton. Aug. cap. 37. And by the particular Favour of the Emperours the same Privilege was allow'd to the more splendid Families of the Knights Thus Ovid speaks of himself and Brother who are known to have been of the Equestrian Order Intereà tacito passu labentibus annis Liberior fratri sumpta mihique toga Induiturque humeris cum lato purpura clavo c. (n) Tristium Lib. 4. â—leg 10. And Statius of Metius Celer whom in another Place he terms Splendidissimus (o) Praefat. ad lib. 3. Sylvarum the proper Stile of the Knights Puer hic sudavit in armis Notus adhuc tantùm majoris munere clavi (p) Sylv. lib. 3. carm 2. Beside the Gown and Tunic we hardly meet with any Garments of Roman Original or that deserve the Labour of an enquiry into their Difference Yet among these the Lacerna and the Penula occur more frequently than any other In the old Gloss upon Persius Sat 1. Verse 68. they are both call'd Pallia which identity of Names might probably arise from the near resemblance they bore one to the other and both to the Graecian Pallium The Lacerna was first us'd in the Camp but afterwards admitted into the City and worn upon their Gowns to defend them from the Weather The Penula was sometimes us'd with the same Design but being shorter and fitter for expedition it was chiefly worn upon a Journey (q) See Lips Elect. lib. 1. cap. 13. Dr. Holyday on Juvenal Sat. 1. Rubenius will have the Lacerna and the Penula to be both close-bodied kind of Frocks girt about in the Middle the only Difference between them being that the Penulae were always Brown the Lacernae of no certain Colour and that the Cucullus the Cowl or Hood was sow'd on the former but worn as a distinct thing from the other (r) De Laticlav lib. 1. cap. 6. But Ferrarius who has spent a whole Book in animadverting on that Author wonders that any Body shou'd be so Ignorant as not to know these two Garments to have been of a quite distinct Species (Å¿) Analect de Re Vest cap. ult It will be expected that the Habits of the Roman Priests shou'd be particularly describ'd but we have no certain Intelligence only what concerns the chief of them the Augurs the Flamens and the Pontifices The Augurs wore the Trabea first dy'd with Scarlet and afterwards with Purple Rubenius takes the Robe which Herod in Derision put on our Saviour to have been of this Nature because St. Matthew calls it Scarlet and St. Luke Purple Cicero useth Dibaphus a Garment twice dy'd for the Augural Robe (t) Epist Famil Lib. 2. Epist 16. The proper Robe of the Flamens was the Laena a sort of Purple Chlamys or almost a double Gown fastn'd about the Neck with a Buckle or Clasp It was interwoven curiously with Gold so as to appear very Splendid and Magnificent Thus Virgil describes his Hero in this Habit. Tyrioque ardebat murice laena Demissa ex humeris dives quae munera Dido Fecerat tenui telas discreverat auro Aen. 4. The Pontiffs had the honour of using the Praetexta and so had the Epulones as we learn from Livy Lib. 43. The Priests were remarkable for their modesty in Apparel and therefore they made use only of the Common-purple never affecting the more Chargeable and Splendid Thus Cicero Vestitus asper nostrâ hâc purpurâ plebeiâ ac
Fashion the old Primitive White grew so much into contempt that at last it became proper to the Women for their Mourning Cloaths Thus Statius in the Tears of Hetruscus Huc vittata comam niveoque insignis amictu Mitibus exsequiis ades And tho' it may with some Reason be thought that the Poet here directing his Speech to the Goddess Piety gives her that Habit rather as a mark of Purity and Innocence than as the proper Badge of Grief in her Sex yet the matter of Fact is still evident from the Authority of Plutarch who States this Subject for one of his Problems and gives several Reasons for the Practice After the PERSONS follows the PLACE whither the Procession was directed by which we must be guided in our next enquiry In all the Funerals of Note especially in the Publick or indictive the Corpse was first brought with a vast Train of followers into the Forum Thus Horace Book 1. Sat. 6. At hic si plostra ducenta Concurrantque foro tria funera magna sonabit Cornua quod vincatque tubas Here one of the nearest Relations ascended the Rostra and oblig'd the Audience with an Oration in Praise of the Deceas'd If none of the Kindred undertook the Office it was discharg'd by some of the most eminent Persons in the City for Learning and Eloquence as Appian reports of the Funeral of Sylla (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 1. And Pliny the Younger reckons it as the last Addition to the Happiness of a very great Man that he had the Honour to be praised at his Funeral by the most Eloquent Tacitus then Consul (a) Lib. 2. Epist 1. which is agreeable to Quinctilian's Account of this Matter Nam funebres c. For Funeral Orations says he depend very often on some publick Office and by order of Senate are many times given in charge to the Magistrates to be perform'd by themselves in Person (b) Instiâ—nt lib. 3. cap. 9. The invention of this Custom is generally attributed to Valerius Poplicola soon after the expulsion of the Regal Family Plutarch tells us that honouring his Collegues Obsequies with a Funeral Oration it so pleas'd the Romans that it became customary for the best Men to celebrate the Funerals of great Persons with Speeches in their Commendation Nor was this Honour proper to one Sex alone for Livy reports that the Matrons upon account of making a Collection of Gold for the deliverance of Rome from the Gauls were allow'd as a signal Favour to have Funeral Panegyricks in the same manner as the Men. Plutarch's Relation of this Matter differs from Livy only in the Reasons of the Custom He acquaints us that when it was agreed after the taking of Veii that a Bowl of Massy Gold shou'd be made and sent to Delphi there was so great a scarcity of Gold and the Magistrates so puzzled in considering how to get it that the Roman Ladies meeting together and consulting among themselves out of the Golden Ornaments that they wore contributed as much as went to the making the Offering which in Weight came to eight Talents of Gold The Senate to give them the Honour they had deserv'd ordain'd that Funeral Orations shou'd be us'd at the Obsequies of Women as well as of Men which had never been a Custom before But it seems probable that this Honour was at first only paid to aged Matrons since we learn from the same excellent Author that there was no President of any Funeral Oration on a younger Woman 'till Julius Caesar first made one upon the Death of his own Wife Cicero (c) In Bruto and Livy (d) â—ib 8. complain very much of this Custom of Funeral-Speeches as if they had conduc'd in a great measure to the corruption and falsifying of History For it being ordinary on these occasions to be directed more by the Precepts of Oratory than by the true Matter of Fact it usually happen'd that the deceas'd Party was extoll'd on the Account of several noble Atcheivements to which he had no just Pretensions and especially when they came to enquire into their Stock and Original as was customary at these Solemnities they seldom fail'd to clap in Three or Four of the most renowned Persons of the Common-Wealth to illustrate the Family of the Deceas'd and so by Degrees well nigh ruin'd all proper Distinctions of Houses and Blood The next place to which the Corpse was carried was the place of Burning and Burial It has been a Custom among most Nations to appoint this without the City particularly among the Jews and Greeks from whom it may be suppos'd to have been deriv'd down to the Romans That the Jews Buried without the City is evident from several places of the New Testament Thus the Sepulchre in which Joseph laid our Saviour's Body was in the same Place in which he was crucified (e) John 19.41 which was near to the City (f) John 19.20 And we read in St. Matthew that at our Lord's Passion the Graves were open'd and many Bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the Graves after his Resurrection and went into the Holy City and appear'd unto many (g) Matthew 27.52 and 53. As to the Graecians Servius in an Epistle to Tully (h) Famii lib. 4 Epist 12. giving an Account of the unhappy Death of his Collegue Marcellus which fell out in Greece tells him that he cou'd not by any means obtain Leave of the Athenians to allow him a Burying-Place within the City they urging a religious Restraint in that Point and the want of Precedents for such a Practice The Romans follow'd the same Custom from the very first building of the City which was afterwards settled in a Law by the Decemviri and often reviv'd and confirm'd by several later Constitutions The Reason of this Ancient Practice may be resolv'd into a sacred and a civil Consideration As to the former the Romans and most other People had a Notion that whatever had been consecrated to the supernal Gods was presently defil'd upon the touch of a Corpse or even by bringing such a Spectacle near it Thus Agellius tells us that the Flamen Dialis might not on any Account enter into a Place where there was a Grave or so much as touch a dead Body (i) Lib. 10. cap. 15. And if the Pontifex Maximus happen'd to praise any one Publickly at a Funeral he had a Veil always laid over the Corpse to keep it from his Sight as Dio reports of Augustus (k) Lib. 54. and Seneca of Tiberius (l) Consolat ad Mar. cap. 15. 'T is likely that this might be borrow'd from the Jewish Law by which the High-Priest was forbid to use the ordinary Signs of Mourning or to go in to any dead Body (m) Leviticus 21.10 11. The civil Consideration seems to have been that neither the Air might be corrupted by the stench of putrefied Bodies nor the Buildings endanger'd
by the frequency of Funeral Fires The Places then appointed for Burial without the City were either Private or Publick the Private Places were the Fields or Gardens belonging to particular Families Hence Martial took the Jest in one of his Epigrams on a Gentleman that had buried abundance of Wives Septima jam Phileros tibi conditur uxor in agro Plus nulli Phileros quà m tibi reddit ager If it was possible they always buried in that part of the Field or Garden which lay nearest to the Common Road both to put passengers in mind of mortality and to save the best part of their land Thus Juvenal Sat. 1. Experiar quid concedatur in illos Quorum Flaminiâ tegitur cinis atque Latinâ And we have scarce any Relation of a Burying in Authors but they tell us the Urn was laid near such a Way Propertius is very carnest in desiring that he may not be buried after this ordinary Custom near a celebrated Road for fear it shou'd disturb his Shade Dii faciant mea ne terrâ locet ossa frequenti Quà facit assiduo tramite vulgus iter Post mortem tumuli sic infamantur amantum Me tegat arboneâ devia terra comâ Aut humet ignotae cumulus vallatus arenae Non juvat in mediâ nomen habere viâ Lib. 3. Eleg. 15. The Publick Burying Places were of Two Sorts those which were allotted to the Poor and those which were put to this Use only at the Funerals of great Persons The former were the Puticulae or Puticuli without the Esquilian Gate they contain'd a great quantity of Ground and were put to no other Use than the burying the Bones and Ashes of Persons of the lowest Rank who had no private Place of their own to lay the Corpse in But because the vast Number of Bones deposited here infecting the Air rendred the neighbouring Parts of the City unhealthy Augustus gave away a great many Acres of this Common Field to his Favourite Maecenas who turn'd it into fine Gardens This Horace tells us at Large Book 1. Sat. 8. Huc priùs angustis ejecta cadavera cellis Conservus vili portanda locabat in arca Hic miserae plebi stabat commune sepulchrum c. The publick Place assign'd for the Burial of great Persons was commonly the Campus Martius this Honour cou'd not be procur'd but by a Publick Decrec of Senate and was never conferr'd but on Men of the highest Stations and Merits Thus Plutarch relates of Lucullus and Pompey Appian of Sylla (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 1. Suetonius of Drusus (p) Claud. cap. 1. and Virgil of Marcellus Quantus ille virûm magnam Mavortis ad urbem Campus aget gemitus vel quae Tiberine videbis Funera cum tumulum praeterlabere recentem Aen. 6. Cicero in his Ninth Philippic reports that Servius Sulpitius upon account of his many signal Services to the Common-Wealth was honour'd with a Publick Sepulchre in the Campus Esquilinus or in any other Place where he pleas'd Thirty Foot in Dimension every way and to remain to his Heirs and Posterity But there are not many Instances of the like Practice It has been said that the ordinary Custom was to bury without the City but we must except some Sepulchres as those of the Vestal Virgins whom Servius tells us the Laws allow'd a burying-Burying-Place within the City (q) Ad Aen. 9. The same Honour was allow'd to some extraordinary Persons as to Valerius Poplicola (r) Plutarch in his Life and to Fabritius (s) Cicero being to continue to their Heirs Yet none of the Family were afterwards there interr'd but the Body being carried thither one plac'd a burning Torch under it and then immediately took it away as an attestation of the Deceas'd's Privilege and his receding from his Honour and then the Body was remov'd to another Place Having done with the carrying forth we come to the Act of Burial The Corpse being brought in the manner already describ'd without the City if they design'd to burn it was carried directly to the Place appointed for that purpose which if it was join'd with the Sepulchre was call'd Bustum if separate from it Vstrina and there laid on the rogus or Pyra a Pile of Wood prepar'd to burn it on This Pile was built in the shape of an Altar differing in Heighth according to the Quality of the Deceas'd Thus Virgil in the Funeral of Misenus Aen. 6. Aramque sepulchri Congerere arboribus coeloque educere certant And Ovid against Ibis Et dare plebeio Corpus inane rogo The Trees which they made use of were commonly such as had most Pitch or Rosin in them and if they took any other Wood they split it for the more easie catching Fire Procumbunt piceae sonat icta securibus ilex Fraxineaeque trabes cuneis fissile robur Scinditur Virg. Aen. 6. Round about the Pile they us'd to set a parcel of Cypress-Trees perhaps to hinder the noisom Smell of the Corpse This Observation is owing to Virgil in the same Place Ingentem struxere pyram cui frondibus atris Intexunt latera ferales ante cupressus Constituunt That the Body was plac'd on the Pile not by it self but together with the Couch or Bed on which it lay we have the Authority of Tibullus Book 1. El. 1. Flebis arsuro positum me Delia lecto This being done the next of Blood perform'd the Ceremony of lighting the Pile which they did with a Torch turning their Face all the while the other way as if it was done out of Necessity and not willingly Thus Virgil Aen. 6. Subjectam more parentum Aversi tenuere facem As soon as the Wood took Fire they wish'd and pray'd for a Wind to assist the Flames and hasten the consuming of the Body which they look'd on as a fortunate Accident Thus Cynthia in Propertius Cur ventos non ipse rogis ingrate petisti And Plutarch in the Life of Sylla reports that the Day being Cloudy over Head they deferr'd carrying forth the Corpse 'till about Three in the Afternoon expecting it wou'd rain But a strong Wind blowing full against the Funeral-Pile and setting it all on a Flame his Body was consum'd in a Moment As the Pile shrunk down and the Fire was upon going out the Clouds shower'd down and continued raining till Night So that his good Fortune was firm even to the last and did as it were officiate at his Funeral At the Funerals of the Emperours or Renowned Generals as soon as the Wood was lighted the Soldiers and all the Company made a solemn Course Decursio three times round the Pile to show their Affection to the Deceas'd of which we have numerous Examples in History Virgil has not forgot to express this Custom Ter circum accensos cincti fulgentibus armis Decurrere rogos ter moestum funeris ignem Lustravere in equis ululatusque ore dedere Aen. 11. The Body never burnt without
curious Figures in Ivory Above this is plac'd another Frame of Wood much less indeed but set off with Ornaments of the same Nature and having little Doors or Gates standing open about it Over this are set a Third and a Fourth Pile every one being considerably less than that on which it stands and so others perhaps 'till they come to the least of all which forms the Top. The Figure of this Structure altogether may be compar'd to those Watch Towers which are to be seen in Harbours of Note and by the Fire on their Top direct the course of the Ships into the Haven After this hoisting up the Body into the second Frame of Building they get together a vast Quantity of all manner of sweet Odours and Persumes whether of Fruits Herbs or Gums and pour them in Heaps all about it There being no Nation or City or indeed any Eminent Men who do not rival one another in paying these last Presents to their Prince When the Place is quite sill'd with a huge Pile of Spices and Drugs the whole Order of Knights ride in a Solemn Procession round the Structure and imitate the Motions of the Pyrrhic Dance Chariots too in a very regular and decent Manner are drove round the Pile having the Coach-Men cloath'd in Purple and bearing the Images of all the Illustrious Romans renown'd either for their Command and Administration at Home or their Memorable Atchievements in War This Pomp being finish'd the Successor to the Empire taking a Torch in his Hand puts it to the Frame and at the same time the whole Company assist in lighting it in several Places when on a sudden the Chips and Drugs catching Fire the whole Pile is quickly consum'd At last from the highest and smallest Frame of Wood an Eagle is let loose which ascending with the Flames towards the Sky is suppos'd to carry the Princes Soul to Heaven CHAP. XI Of the Roman Entertainments THE peculiar Customs of the Romans in reference to eating and drinking will easily fall under the Three Heads of the Time the Place and the Manner of their Entertainments As to the First the Romans had no proper Repast besides Supper for which the ordinary Time was about their Ninth Hour or our Three a Clock Thus Martial reckoning up the Business of every Hour â—mperat exstructos frangere nona toros But the more frugal made this Meal a little before Sun-set in the declension of the Day Nunc eadem labente die convivia quâ—erit Virg. Aen. 4. On the other side the Voluptuous and Extravagant commonly began their Feasts before the ordinary Hour Thus Horace Book 1. Od. 1. Nec partem solido demere de die Spernit And Juvenal Sat. 10. Exul ab octavà Marius bibit Those that cou'd not hold out 'till Supper us'd to break their Fast in some other part of the Day some at the Second Hour some at the Fourth answering to our Eighht and Ten some at the Sixth or about Noon others at the Eight or our Two as their Stomachs requir'd or their Employments gave them leave At this time they seldom eat any thing but a bit of Dry-bread or perhaps a few Raisins or Nuts or a little Honey From the different Hours of taking this Breakfast 't is likely that the jentaculum prandium merenda c. had their Original being really the same Repast made by several Persons at several times (a) Dacier on Horace Book 1. Od. 1. The PLACE in which the Romans eat was anciently call'd coenaculum Seneca Suetonius and others stile it coenatio But the most common Appellation which they borrow'd from the Graecians was Triclinium Servius on the first of the Aeneids to that Verse Auneâ composuit Spondâ mediumque locavit takes an Occasion to reprehend those Grammarians who will have Triclinium to signifie a Room to sup in and not barely a Table Yet to omit a tedious Number of Citations from other Authors Tully himself useth the Word in that Sence For in one of his Epistles he tells Atticus (b) Lib. 15. Epist 50. that when Caesar came to Philippi the Town was so full of Soldiers as to leave Caesar scarce a Triclinium to sup in Anciently the Romans us'd to sup sitting as the Europeans at present making use of a long Table Perpetuis soliti patres consistere mensis Virg. Aen. 8. Afterwards the Men took up a Custom of lying down but the Women for sometime after still kept to sitting as the more decent Posture (c) Val. Max. lib. 2. cap. 1. The Children too of Princes and Noblemen for the same Reason us'd to sit at the Backs of the Couches (d) Tacitus Ann. 13. Suetonius Claud. cap. 32. whence after a Dish or Two they withdrew without causing any Disturbance Yet as to the Women 't is evident that in after-times they us'd the same Posture at the Table as Men. Thus Cicero in an Epistle to Paetus relling him of one Clyteris a Gentlewoman that was lately at a Treat with him makes use of the Word accubuit And Ovid in his Fourth Love-Elegy of the First Book adviseth his Mistress about her Carriage at the Table before her Husband Cùm premit ille torum vultu comes ipse modesto Ibis ut accumbas And Suetonius relates that at an entertainment of the Emperour Caligula he plac'd all his Sisters one by one below himself uxore supra cubante his Wife lying above him When they began thus to lay down in stead of sitting at Meat they contriv'd a sort of Beds or Couches of the same nature with those on which they slept but distinguish'd from them by the Name of lecti tricliniorum or tricliniares the other being call'd lecti cubicularii They were made in several forms but commonly foursquare sometimes to hold Three or Four sometimes Two Persons or only one Yet in the same Entertaining-Room it was observ'd to have all the Couches of the same Shape and Make. After the round Citron-Tables grew in Fashion they chang'd the Three Beds which denominated the Triclinium for the Stibadium one single large Couch in the Shape of a Half-Moon or of the Graecian Sigma from which it sometimes borrow'd its Name as in Martial Aceipe lunatâ scriptum testudine sigma These Stibadia took their several Names from the Number of Men that they held as the Hexaclinon for Six the Heptaclinon for Seven and so on The higher the Beds were the more Noble and Stately and the more Decent too they were thought Hence Virgil Aen. 2. Inde toro pater Aencas sie oâ—sus ab alto And again Aen. 6. I ucent genialibus altis Aurea fulera toris On the contrary low Couches were look'd on as so extremely Scandalous that as Valerius Maximus tells the Story one Aelius Tubero a Man of great Integrity and of very Noble Progenitors being a Candidate for the Praetorship lost the Place only for making use of a low sort of Supping-Beds when he gave the
Strumpets who ran up and down naked sometimes dancing sometimes fighting or acting the Mimicks However it came to pass the wisest and gravest Romans were not for discontinuing this Custom tho' the most indecent imaginable For Porcius Cato when he was present at these Games and saw the People asham'd to let the Maids strip while he was there immediately went out of the Theatre to let the Ceremony have its Course (a) Valer. Maxim lib. 2. cap. 5. LVDI MARTIALES instituted to the Honour of Mars and held twice in the Year on the fourth of the Ides of May and again on the Kalends of August the Day on which his Temple was consecrated They had no particular Ceremonies that we can meet with besides the ordinary Sports in the Circo and Amphitheatre LVDI APOLLINARES celebrated to the Honour of Apollo They owe their Original to an old Prophetical sort of a Poem casually found in which the Romans were advis'd that if they desir'd to drive out the Troops of their Enemies which infested their Borders they should institute yearly Games to Apollo and at the time of their Celebration make a Collection out of the publick and private Stocks for a Present to the God appointing ten Men to take care they were held with the same Ceremonies as in Greece (b) Liv. lib. 25. Macrobius relates that the first time these Games were kept an Alarm being given by the Enemy the People immediately march'd out against them and during the Fight saw a Cloud of Arrows discharg'd from the Sky on the adverse Troops so as to put them to a very disorderly Flight and secure the Victory to the Romans (c) Saturn lib. 1. cap. 17. The People sat to see the Circensian Plays all crown'd with Lawrel the Gates were set open and the Day kept Sacred with all manner of Ceremonies These Games at first were not fix'd but kept every Year upon what Day the Praetor thought fit 'till about the Year of the City 545. a Law pass'd to seule them for ever on a constant Day which was near the Nones of July This Alteration was occasion'd by a grievous Plague then raging in Rome which they thought might in some measure be allay'd by that Act of Religion (d) Liv. lib. 28. LVDI CAPITOLINI instituted to the Honour of Jupiter Capitolinus upon account of his preserving his Temple from the Gauls A more famous sort of Capitoline Games were brought up by Domitian to be held every five Years with the Name of Agones Capitolini in imitation of the Graecians In these the Professors of all sorts had a publick Contention and the Victors were crown'd and presented with Collars and other Marks of Honour LVDI ROMANI the most ancient Games instituted at the first building of the Circus by Tarquinius Priscus Hence in alstrict Sence Ludi Circenses is often us'd to signifie the same Solemnity They were design'd to the Honour of the three great Deities Jupiter Juno and Minerva 'T is worth observing that tho' they were usually call'd Circenses yet in Livy we meet with the Ludi Romani Scenici (e) Liv. lib. 3. intimating that they were celebrated with new Sports The old Fasti make them to be kept nine Days together from the Day before the Nones to the Day before the Ides of September In which too we find another sort of Ludi Romani celebrated five Days together within two Days after these P. Manutius thinks the last to have been instituted very late not 'till after the Prosecution of Verres by Cicero (f) P. Manut. in Verrin LVDI CONSVALES instituted by Romulus with design to surprize the Sabine Virgins the Account of which is thus given us by Plutarch He gave out as if he had found an Altar of a certain God hid under Ground the God they call'd Consus the God of Counsel This is properly Neptune the Inventer of Horse-riding for the Altar is kept cover'd in the great Circo only at Horse-Races then it appears to publick view And some say it was not without reason that this God had his Altar hid under Ground because all Counsels ought to be secreâ— and conceal'd Upon discovery of this Altar Romulus by Proclamation appointed a Day for a splendid Sacrifice and for publick Games and Shews to entertain all sorts of People and many flock'd thither he himself sat uppermost among his Nobles clad in Purple Now the sign of their falling on was to be whenever he arose and gather'd up his Robe and threw it over his Body his Men stood all ready arm'd with their Eyes intent upon him and when the Sign was given drawing their Swords and falling on with a great Shout bore away the Daughters of the Sabines they themselves flying without any lett or hindrance These Games were celebrated yearly on the twelfth of the Kalends of September consisting for the most part of Horse-Races and Encounters in the Circâ—â—s LVDI COMPITALITII so call'd from the Compita or Cross-Lanes where they were instituted and celebrated by the rude Multitude that was got together before the building of Rome They seem to have been laid down for many Years 'till Servius Tullius reviv'd them They were held during the Compitalia or Feast of the Lares who presided as well over Streets as Houses Suetonius tells us that Augustus order'd the Lares to be crown'd twice a Year at the Compitalitian Game with Spring-Flowers and Summer-Flowers (g) Aug. cap. 31. cap 58 This crowning the Houshold-Gods and offering Sacrifices up and down in the Streets made the greatest part of the Solemnity of the Feast LVDI AVGVSTALES and PALATINI both instituted to the Honour of Augustus after he had been enroll'd in the number of the Gods the former by the common consent of the People and the other by his Wife Livia which were always celebrated in the Palace (h) Die lib. 56. Suct Colig 56. They were both continued by the succeeding Emperours LVDI SAECVLARES the most remarkable Games that we meet with in the Roman Story The common Opinion makes them to have had a very odd Original of which we have a tedious Relation in Valerius Maximus (l) Lib. 2. cap. 4. of the Ancients and Augelus Politianus (k) Mâ—sâ—â—llan of the Moderns Monsieur Dacier in his excellent Remarks on the Secular Poem of Horace passes by this old Conceit as trivial and fabulous and assures us that we need go no farther for the rise of the Custom than to the Sibylline Oracles for which the Romans had so great an Esteem and Veneration In these sacred Writings there was one famous Prophecy to this effect That if the Romans at the beginning of every Age should hold solemn Games in the Campus Martius to the Honour of Pluto Proserpine Juno Apollo Diana Ceres and the Parcae or three fatal Sisters their City should ever flourish and all Nations be subjected to their Dominion They were very ready to obey the Oracle and
in all the Ceremonies us'd on that occasion conform'd themselves to its Directions The whole manner of the Solemnity was as follows In the first place the Heralds receiv'd Orders to make an invitation of the whole World to come to a Feast which they had never seen already and should never see again Some few Days before the beginning of the Games the Quindecemviri taking their Seats in the Capitol and in the Palatine Temple distributed among the People Parcels of purifying Stuff as Flambeaus Brimstone and Sulphur From hence the People pass'd on to Diana's Temple on the Aventine Mountain carrying Wheat Barley and Beans as an Offering and after this they spent whole Nights in Devotion to the Destinies At length when the time of the Games was actually come which continu'd three Days and three Nights the People assembled in the Campus Martius and sacrificed to Jupiter Juno Apollo Latona Diana the Parcae Ceres Pluto and Proserpine On the first Night of the Feast the Emperour accompanied by the Quindecemviri commanded three Altars to be rais'd on the Bank of Tyber which they sprinkled with the Blood of three Lambs and then proceeded to burn the Offerings and the Victims After this they mark'd out a Space which serv'd for a Theatre being illuminated by an innumerable multitude of Flambeaus and Fires here they sung some certain Hymns compos'd on this occasion and celebrated all kinds of Sports On the Day after when they had been at the Capitol to offer the Victims they return'd to the Campus Martius and held Sports to the Honour of Apollo and Diana These lasted 'till the next Day when the noble Matrons at the hour appointed by the Oracle went to the Capitol to sing Hymns to Jupiter On the third Day which concluded the Feast twenty seven young Boys and as many Girls sung in the Temple of Palatine Apollo Hymns and Verses in Greek and Latin to recommend the City to the Protection of those Deities whom they design'd particularly to honour by their Sacrifices The famous Secular Poem of Horace was compos'd for this last Day in the Secular Games held by Augustus Dacier has given his Judgment on this Poem as the Master-piece of Horace and believes that all Antiquity cannot furnish us with any thing more happily compleat There has been much Controversie whether these Games were celebrated every hundred or every hundred and ten Years For the former Opinion Censorinus (l) De Die Natali cap. 17. alledges the Testimony of Valerius Antias Varro and Livy and this was certainly the space of time which the Romans call'd Saeculum or an Age. For the latter he produceth the Authority of the Registers or Commentaries of the Quindecemviri and the Edicts of Augustus besides the plain Evidence of Horace in his Secular Poem Certus undenos decies per annos c. This last Space is expresly enjoin'd by the Sibylline Oracle it self the Verses of which relating to this purpose are transcrib'd by Zozimus in the second Book of his History 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Yet according to the ancient Accounts we have of their Celebration in the several Ages neither of these Periods are much regarded The first were held A. V. C. 245. or 298. The second A. 305. or 408. The third A. 518. The fourth either A. 605. or 608. or 628. The fifth by Augustus A. 736. The sixth by Claudius A. 800. The seventh by Domitian A. 841. The eighth by Severus A. 957. The ninth by Philip A. 1000. This Disorder without question was owing to the Ambition of the Emperours who were extreamly desirous to have the Honour of celebrating these Games in their Reign and therefore upon the slightest Pretence many times made them return before their ordinary Course Thus Claudius pretended that Augustus had held the Games before their due time that he might have the least excuse to keep them within sixty four Years afterwards On which account Suetonius tells us that the People scoffed his Cryers when they went about proclaiming Games that no Body had ever seen nor would see again whereas there were not only many Persons alive who remembred the Games of Augustus but several Players who had acted in those Games were now again brought on the Stage by Claudius (m) Sueton. Claud. 21. We may conclude our Enquiry into this celebrated Subject with two excellent Remarks of the French Critick The first is that in the number Three so much regarded in these Games they had probably an Allusion to the Triplicity of Phoebus of Diana and of the Destinies The other Observation which he obliges us with is that they thought the Girls which had the honour to bear a part in singing the Secular Poem should be the soonest married This Superstition they borrow'd from the Theology of the Graecians who imagin'd that the Children who did not sing and dance at the coming of Apollo should never be married and should certainly die young To this purpose Callimachus in his Hymn to Apollo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Horace encouraging the Chorus of Girls to do their best in singing the Secular Poem tells them how proud they would be of it when they were well married Nupta jam dices Ego diis amicum Seculo festas referente luces Reddidi carmen docilis modorum Vatis Horatî All those Games of what sort soever had the common Name of Votivi which were the effect of any Vow made by the Magistrates or Generals when they set forward on any Expedition to be perform'd in case they return'd successful These were sometimes occasion'd by advice of the Sibylline Oracles or of the South-sayers and many times proceeded purely from a Principle of Devotion and Piety in the Generals Such particularly were the Ludi Magni often mention'd in Historians especially by Livy Thus he informs us That in the Year of the City 536. Fabius Maximus the Dictator to appease the Anger of the Gods and to obtain Success against the Carthaginian Power upon the Direction of the Sibylline Oracles vowed the Great Games to Jupiter with a prodigious Summ to be expended at them besides three hundred Oxen to be sacrificed to Jupiter and several others to the rest of the Deities (n) Liv. lib 22. M. Acilius the Consul did the same in the War against Antiochus (o) Idem lib. 36. And we have some Examples of these Games being made Quinquennial or to return every five Years (p) Liv. lib. 27. lib. 30. They were celebrated with Circensian Sports four Days together (q) Ibid. To this Head we may refer the Ludi Victoriae mention'd by Vell. Paterculus (r) Lib. 2. cap. 27. and Asconius (s) In Verrâ—â— 2. They were instituted by Sylla upon his concluding the Civil War It seems probable that there were many other Games with the same Title celebrated on account of some remarkable Success by several of