A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

Name: A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
Author: Smith, William

Smith, William

Classical dictionaries; Greece -- Antiquities; Rome -- Antiquities

DUUMVĬRI, or the two men, the name of various magistrates and
functionaries at Rome, and in the coloniae and municipia. (1)
DUUMVIRI JURI DICUNDO were the highest magistrates in the municipal
towns. [COLONIA.]--(2) DUUMVIRI NAVALES, extraordinary magistrates,
who were created, whenever occasion required, for the purpose
of equipping and repairing the fleet. They appear to have been
originally appointed by the consuls and dictators, but were first
elected by the people, B.C. 311.--(3) DUUMVIRI PERDUELLIONIS.
[PERDUELLIO.]--(4) DUUMVIRI QUINQUENNALES, were the censors in the
municipal towns, and must not be confounded with the _duumviri juri
dicundo_. [COLONIA.]--(5) DUUMVIRI SACRORUM originally had the charge
of the Sibylline books. Their duties were afterwards discharged by
the _decemviri sacris faciundis_. [DECEMVIRI.]--(6) DUUMVIRI were
also appointed for the purpose of building or dedicating a temple.




ECCLĒSĬA (ἐκκλησία), the name of the general assembly of the citizens
at Athens, in which they met to discuss and determine upon matters
of public interest, and which was therefore the sovereign power
in the state. These assemblies were either _ordinary_ (νόμιμοι or
κυρίαι), and held four times in each prytany, or _extraordinary_,
that is, specially convened, upon any sudden emergency, and therefore
called σύγκλητοι. The place in which they were anciently held was
the _agora_. Afterwards they were transferred to the Pnyx, and at
last to the great theatre of Dionysus, and other places. The most
usual place, however, was the Pnyx, which was situated to the west
of the Areiopagus, on a slope connected with Mount Lycabettus, and
partly at least within the walls of the city. It was semicircular in
form, with a boundary wall part rock and part masonry, and an area of
about 12,000 square yards. On the north the ground was filled up and
paved with large stones, so as to get a level surface on the slope.
Towards this side, and close to the wall, was the _bema_ (βῆμα), a
stone platform or hustings ten or eleven feet high, with an ascent
of steps. The position of the _bema_ was such as to command a view
of the sea from behind, and of the Propylaea and Parthenon in front,
and we may be sure that the Athenian orators would often rouse the
national feelings of their hearers by pointing to the assemblage of
magnificent edifices, “monuments of Athenian gratitude and glory,”
which they had in view from the Pnyx.--The right of convening
the people was generally vested in the prytanes or presidents of
the council of Five Hundred [see BOULÉ], but in cases of sudden
emergency, and especially during wars, the strategi also had the
power of calling extraordinary meetings, for which, however, the
consent of the senate appears to have been necessary. The prytanes
not only gave a previous notice of the day of assembly, and published
a programme of the subjects to be discussed, but also, it appears,
sent a crier round to collect the citizens. All persons who did not

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman AntiquitiesSmith, William

History

A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

Smith, William

Classical dictionaries; Greece -- Antiquities; Rome -- Antiquities

DUUMVĬRI, or the two men, the name of various magistrates and
functionaries at Rome, and in the coloniae and municipia. (1)
DUUMVIRI JURI DICUNDO were the highest magistrates in the municipal
towns. [COLONIA.]--(2) DUUMVIRI NAVALES, extraordinary magistrates,
who were created, whenever occasion required, for the purpose
of equipping and repairing the fleet. They appear to have been
originally appointed by the consuls and dictators, but were first
elected by the people, B.C. 311.--(3) DUUMVIRI PERDUELLIONIS.
[PERDUELLIO.]--(4) DUUMVIRI QUINQUENNALES, were the censors in the
municipal towns, and must not be confounded with the _duumviri juri
dicundo_. [COLONIA.]--(5) DUUMVIRI SACRORUM originally had the charge
of the Sibylline books. Their duties were afterwards discharged by
the _decemviri sacris faciundis_. [DECEMVIRI.]--(6) DUUMVIRI were
also appointed for the purpose of building or dedicating a temple.




ECCLĒSĬA (ἐκκλησία), the name of the general assembly of the citizens
at Athens, in which they met to discuss and determine upon matters
of public interest, and which was therefore the sovereign power
in the state. These assemblies were either _ordinary_ (νόμιμοι or
κυρίαι), and held four times in each prytany, or _extraordinary_,
that is, specially convened, upon any sudden emergency, and therefore
called σύγκλητοι. The place in which they were anciently held was
the _agora_. Afterwards they were transferred to the Pnyx, and at
last to the great theatre of Dionysus, and other places. The most
usual place, however, was the Pnyx, which was situated to the west
of the Areiopagus, on a slope connected with Mount Lycabettus, and
partly at least within the walls of the city. It was semicircular in
form, with a boundary wall part rock and part masonry, and an area of
about 12,000 square yards. On the north the ground was filled up and
paved with large stones, so as to get a level surface on the slope.
Towards this side, and close to the wall, was the _bema_ (βῆμα), a
stone platform or hustings ten or eleven feet high, with an ascent
of steps. The position of the _bema_ was such as to command a view
of the sea from behind, and of the Propylaea and Parthenon in front,
and we may be sure that the Athenian orators would often rouse the
national feelings of their hearers by pointing to the assemblage of
magnificent edifices, “monuments of Athenian gratitude and glory,”
which they had in view from the Pnyx.--The right of convening
the people was generally vested in the prytanes or presidents of
the council of Five Hundred [see BOULÉ], but in cases of sudden
emergency, and especially during wars, the strategi also had the
power of calling extraordinary meetings, for which, however, the
consent of the senate appears to have been necessary. The prytanes
not only gave a previous notice of the day of assembly, and published
a programme of the subjects to be discussed, but also, it appears,
sent a crier round to collect the citizens. All persons who did not

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

No reviews yet