BARBA (πώγων, γένειον, ὑπήνη), the beard. The Greeks seem generally to have worn the beard till the time of Alexander the Great; and a thick beard was considered as a mark of manliness. The Greek philosophers in particular were distinguished by their long beards as a sort of badge. The Romans in early times wore the beard uncut, and the Roman beards are said not to have been shaved till B.C. 300, when P. Ticinius Maena brought over a barber from Sicily; and Pliny adds, that the first Roman who is said to have been shaved every day was Scipio Africanus. His custom, however, was soon followed, and shaving became a regular thing. In the later times of the republic there were many who shaved the beard only partially, and trimmed it, so as to give it an ornamental form; to them the terms _bene barbati_ and _barbatuli_ are applied. In the general way at Rome, a long beard (_barba promissa_) was considered a mark of slovenliness and _squalor_. The first time of shaving was regarded as the beginning of manhood, and the day on which this took place was celebrated as a festival. There was no particular time fixed for this to be done. Usually, however, it was done when the young Roman assumed the toga virilis. The hair cut off on such occasions was consecrated to some god. Thus Nero put his up in a gold box, set with pearls, and dedicated it to Jupiter Capitolinus. Under the emperor Hadrian the beard began to revive. Plutarch says that the emperor wore it to hide some scars on his face. The practice afterwards became common, and till the time of Constantine the Great, the emperors appear in busts and coins with beards. The Romans let their beards grow in time of mourning; the Greeks, on the other hand, on such occasions shaved the beard close. BARBĬTUS (βάρβιτος), or BARBĬTON (βάρβιτον), a stringed instrument, the original form of which is uncertain. Later writers use it as synonymous with the lyra. [LYRA.] BASCAUDA, a British basket. This term, which remains with very little variation in the Welsh “basgawd” and the English “basket,” was conveyed to Rome together with the articles denoted by it.