DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13855#0098
CISIUM.
90
CIVITAS.
start was then given by the person who pre-
sided at the panics, sometimes by sound of
trumpet, or more usually by letting fall a
napkin ; whence the Circensian games are
called spectacuta mappae. The alba linca
was then cast off, and the race commenced,
the extent of which was seven times round
the spina, keeping it always on the left. A
course of seven circuits was termed unus
missus, and twenty-five was the number of
races run in each day, the last of which was
called missus acrarius, because in early times
the expense of it was defrayed by a collection
of money (ars) made amongst the people.
The victor descended from his car at the con-
clusion of the race, and ascended the spina,
where he received his reward (brarium, from
the Greek Ppapelov), which consisted in a
considerable sum of money. The horse-
racing followed the same rules as the chariots.
The enthusiasm of the Romans for these
races exceeded all bounds. Lists of the
horses {libella), with their names and colours,
and those of the drivers, were handed about,
and heavy bets made upon each faction ; and
sometimes the contests between two parties
broke out into open violence and bloody quar-
rels, until at last the disputes which origin-
ated in the circus had nearly lost the Empe-
ror Justinian his crown.—II. Lvdvs Trojae,
a sort of sham-fight, said to have been in-
vented by Aeneas, performed by young men
of rank on horseback, and often exhibited by
the emperors. — III. Pugna eqx*estris et
pehestris, a representation of a battle, upon
which occasions a camp was formed in the
circus.—IV. Certamex Gymnicum. See Ath-
letae, and the references to the articles there
given.—V. [Yenatio.]—VI. [Naumachia.]
CISIUM, a light open carriage with two
wheels, adapted to carry two persons rapidly
from place to place. The cisia were quickly
drawn by mules.
Cicero mentions the
case of a messenger
who travelled 56
miles in 10 hours
in such vehicles,
which were kept for
hire at the stations
at [gel, near TrOTM.) along the great
roads ; a proof that
the ancients considered six Roman miles per
hour as an extraordinary speed.
CISTA OiVttj). (1) A small box or chest,
in which anything might be placed, but more
particularly applied to the small boxes which
were carried in procession in the festivals of
Demeter and Dionysus. These boxes, which
were always kept closed in the public proces-
sions, contained sacred things connected with
the worship of these deities. In the repre-
sentations of Dionysiac processions on ancient
vases women carrying cistae are frequently
introduced.—(2) The ballot-box, into which
Cista. (From a Painting on a Vase.)
those who voted in the comitia and in the
courts of justice cast their tabellae. It is re-
presented in the annexed cut, and
shTJ.ld not be confounded with the
situla or sitella, into which sortes
or lots were thrown. [Situla.]
CISTOPHORUS 0«rTo</>dpos), a silver coin,
which is supposed to belong to Rhodes, and
which was in general circulation in Asia
Minor at the time of the conquest of that
country by the Romans. It took its name
from the device upon it, which was cither the
sacred chest (cista) of Bacchus, or more pro-
bably a flower called kiotos. its value is
extremely uncertain : some writers suppose
it to have been worth in our money about
CITHARA. [Lyra.]
CIVIS. [Civitas.]
CIVITAS, citizenship. (1) Greek (rroAi-
Tet'a). Aristotle defines a citizen (TroAt'nj;) to
be one who is a partner in the legislative and
judicial power (hactoxos KpcVecus kcu. apx'js).
Xo definition will equally apply to all the
different states of Greece, or to any single
state at different times ; the above seems to
comprehend more or less properly all those
whom the common use of language entitled
to the name. A state in the heroic ages was
the governmen t of a prince; the citizens were
his subjects, and derived all their privileges,
civil as well as religious, from their nobles
and princes. The shadows of a council and
assembly were already in existence, but their
business was to obey. Upon the whole the
90
CIVITAS.
start was then given by the person who pre-
sided at the panics, sometimes by sound of
trumpet, or more usually by letting fall a
napkin ; whence the Circensian games are
called spectacuta mappae. The alba linca
was then cast off, and the race commenced,
the extent of which was seven times round
the spina, keeping it always on the left. A
course of seven circuits was termed unus
missus, and twenty-five was the number of
races run in each day, the last of which was
called missus acrarius, because in early times
the expense of it was defrayed by a collection
of money (ars) made amongst the people.
The victor descended from his car at the con-
clusion of the race, and ascended the spina,
where he received his reward (brarium, from
the Greek Ppapelov), which consisted in a
considerable sum of money. The horse-
racing followed the same rules as the chariots.
The enthusiasm of the Romans for these
races exceeded all bounds. Lists of the
horses {libella), with their names and colours,
and those of the drivers, were handed about,
and heavy bets made upon each faction ; and
sometimes the contests between two parties
broke out into open violence and bloody quar-
rels, until at last the disputes which origin-
ated in the circus had nearly lost the Empe-
ror Justinian his crown.—II. Lvdvs Trojae,
a sort of sham-fight, said to have been in-
vented by Aeneas, performed by young men
of rank on horseback, and often exhibited by
the emperors. — III. Pugna eqx*estris et
pehestris, a representation of a battle, upon
which occasions a camp was formed in the
circus.—IV. Certamex Gymnicum. See Ath-
letae, and the references to the articles there
given.—V. [Yenatio.]—VI. [Naumachia.]
CISIUM, a light open carriage with two
wheels, adapted to carry two persons rapidly
from place to place. The cisia were quickly
drawn by mules.
Cicero mentions the
case of a messenger
who travelled 56
miles in 10 hours
in such vehicles,
which were kept for
hire at the stations
at [gel, near TrOTM.) along the great
roads ; a proof that
the ancients considered six Roman miles per
hour as an extraordinary speed.
CISTA OiVttj). (1) A small box or chest,
in which anything might be placed, but more
particularly applied to the small boxes which
were carried in procession in the festivals of
Demeter and Dionysus. These boxes, which
were always kept closed in the public proces-
sions, contained sacred things connected with
the worship of these deities. In the repre-
sentations of Dionysiac processions on ancient
vases women carrying cistae are frequently
introduced.—(2) The ballot-box, into which
Cista. (From a Painting on a Vase.)
those who voted in the comitia and in the
courts of justice cast their tabellae. It is re-
presented in the annexed cut, and
shTJ.ld not be confounded with the
situla or sitella, into which sortes
or lots were thrown. [Situla.]
CISTOPHORUS 0«rTo</>dpos), a silver coin,
which is supposed to belong to Rhodes, and
which was in general circulation in Asia
Minor at the time of the conquest of that
country by the Romans. It took its name
from the device upon it, which was cither the
sacred chest (cista) of Bacchus, or more pro-
bably a flower called kiotos. its value is
extremely uncertain : some writers suppose
it to have been worth in our money about
CITHARA. [Lyra.]
CIVIS. [Civitas.]
CIVITAS, citizenship. (1) Greek (rroAi-
Tet'a). Aristotle defines a citizen (TroAt'nj;) to
be one who is a partner in the legislative and
judicial power (hactoxos KpcVecus kcu. apx'js).
Xo definition will equally apply to all the
different states of Greece, or to any single
state at different times ; the above seems to
comprehend more or less properly all those
whom the common use of language entitled
to the name. A state in the heroic ages was
the governmen t of a prince; the citizens were
his subjects, and derived all their privileges,
civil as well as religious, from their nobles
and princes. The shadows of a council and
assembly were already in existence, but their
business was to obey. Upon the whole the