ĀRA (βωμός, θυτήριον), an altar. _Ara_ was a general term denoting any structure elevated above the ground, and used to receive upon it offerings made to the gods. _Altare_, probably contracted from _alta ara_, was properly restricted to the larger, higher, and more expensive structures. Four specimens of ancient altars are given below; the two in the former woodcut are square, and those in the latter round, which is the less common form. At the top of three of the above altars we see the hole intended to receive the fire (ἐσχαρίς, ἐσχάρα): the fourth was probably intended for the offering of fruits or other gifts, which were presented to the gods without fire. When the altars were prepared for sacrifice, they were commonly decorated with garlands or festoons. These were composed of certain kinds of leaves and flowers, which were considered consecrated to such uses, and were called _verbenae_. The altars constructed with most labour and skill belonged to temples; and they were erected either before the temple or within the cella of the temple, and principally before the statue of the divinity to whom it was dedicated. The altars in the area before the temple were altars of burnt-offerings, at which animal sacrifices (_victimae_, σφάγια, ἱερεῖα) were presented: only incense was burnt, or cakes and bloodless sacrifices offered on the altars within the building. [Illustration: Arae, Altars.] ĂRĀTRUM (ἄροτρον), a plough. Among the Greeks and Romans the three most essential parts of the plough were,--the plough-tail (γύης, _buris_, _bura_), the share-beam (ἔλυμα, _dens_, _dentale_), that is, the piece of wood to which the share is fixed, and the pole (ῥυμός], ἱστοβοεύς, _temo_). In the time and country of Virgil it was the custom to force a tree into the crooked form of the _buris_, or plough-tail. The upper end of the _buris_ being held by the ploughman, the lower part, below its junction with the pole, was used to hold the _dentale_ or share-beam, which was either sheathed with metal, or driven bare into the ground, according to circumstances. The term _vomer_ was sometimes applied to the end of the _dentale_. To these three parts, the two following are added in the description of the plough by Virgil:--1. The _earth-boards_, or _mould-boards_ (_aures_), rising on each side, bending outwardly in such a manner as to throw on either hand the soil which had been previously loosened and raised by the share, and adjusted to the share-beam (_dentale_), which was made double for the purpose of receiving them. 2. The _handle_ (_stiva_). Virgil describes this part as used to turn the plough at the end of the furrow; and it is defined by an ancient commentator on Virgil as the “handle by which the plough is directed.” It is probable that as the _dentalia_, the two share-beams, were in the form of the Greek letter Λ, which Virgil describes by _duplici dorso_, the _buris_ was fastened to the