DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13855#0143
DIES.
135
DIONYSIA.
proclaimed the time of mid-day. The divi-
sion of the day into twelve equal spaces,
which were shorter in winter than in summer,
Ivas first adopted when artificial means of
measuring time were introduced among the
Romans from Greece. This was about the
year b. c. 291, when L. Papirius Cursor, after
the war with Pyrrhus in southern Italy,
brought to Rome an instrument called sola-
rium horologium, or simply solarium. But
as the solarium had been made for a different
latitude, it showed the time at Rome very
incorrectly. Scipio Nasica, therefore, erected
in b. c. 159 a public clepsydra, which indi-
cated the hours of the night as well as of the
day. Even after the erection of this clep-
sydra it was customary for one of the subor-
dinate officers of the praetor to proclaim the
third, sixth, and ninth hours ; which shows
that the day was, like the night, divided into
four parts, each consisting of three hours.—
All the days of the year were, according to
different points of view, divided by the Ro-
mans into different classes. For the purpose
of the administration of justice all days were
divided into dies fasti and dies nefasti. Dies
fasti were the days on which the praetor
was allowed to administer justice in the pub-
lic courts ; they derived their name from
fari [fari tria verba; do, dico, addico). On
some of the dies fasti comitia could be held,
hut not on all. The regular dies fasti were
marked in the Roman calendar by the letter
F, and their number in the course of the year
was 38.-—Besides these there were certain
days called dies intercisi, on which the prae-
tor might hold his courts, but not at all
hours, so that sometimes one half of such a
day was fastus, while the other half was ne-
fastus. Their number was G5 in the year.
—Dies nefasti were days on which neither
courts of justice nor comitia were allowed to
be held, and which were dedicated to other
purposes. The term dies nefasti, which
originally had nothing to do with religion,
but simply indicated days on which no courts
were to be held, was in subsequent times
applied to religious days in general, as dies
nefasti were mostly dedicated to the worship
of the gods.—In a religious point of view all
days of the year were either dies festi, or
dies profesti, or dies intercisi. According to
the definition given by Macrobius, dies festi
were dedicated to the gods, and spent with
sacrifices, repasts, games, and other solemni-
ties ; dies profesti belonged to men for the
administration of their private and public
affairs. Dies intercisi were common between
gods and men, that is, partly devoted to the
worship of the gods, partly to the transaction
of ordinary business. Dies profesti were
either dies fasti, or dies comitiales, that is,
days on which comitia were held, or dies
comperendini, that is, days to which any ac-
tion was allowed to be transferred ; or dies
stati, that is, days set apart (or causes
between Roman citizens and foreigners ; or
dies proeliales, that is, all days on which re-
ligion did not forbid the commencement of a
war.
DIFFARREATIO. [Divortivm.]
DIIPULEIA (SuTroAeta), also called Ai™-
Xeia or Ai7rdAia, a very ancient festival cele-
brated every year on the acropolis of Athens
in honour of Zeus, surnamed IfoAtevs.
DIMACHAE (Stuavai), Macedonian horse-
soldiers, who also fought on foot when occa-
sion_required, like our dragoons.
DIMIXUT'TO CAPITIS. [Caput.]
D1UCLEIA (StoxAeia), a festival celebrated
by the Megarians in honour of an ancient
Athenian hero, Diocles, around whose grave
young men assembled on the occasion, and
amused themselves with gymnastic and other
contests. We read that he who gave the
sweetest kiss obtained the prize, consisting
of a garland of flowers.
DIONYSiA (Sioi/wia), festivals celebrated
in various parts of Greece in honour of Dio-
nysus, and characterised - by extravagant
merriment and enthusiastic joy. Drunken-
ness, and the boisterous music of flutes, cym-
bals, and drums, were likewise common to
all Dionysiae festivals. In the processions
called SiWoi (from Sct'afw), with which they
were celebrated, women also took part in the
disguise of Bacchae, Lenae, Thyadcs, Naiades,
Nymphs, &c., adorned with garlands of ivy,
and bearing the thyrsus in their hands, so
that the whole train represented a population
inspired, and actuated by the powerful pre-
sence of the god. The choruses sung on the
occasion were called dithyrambs, and were
hymns addressed to the god in the freest
metres and with the boldest imagery, in
which his exploits and achievements were
extolled. [Chorx-s.] The phallus, the sym-
bol of the fertility of nature, was also carried
in these processions. The indulgence in
drinking was considered by the Greeks as a
duty of gratitude which they owed to the
giver of the vine; hence in some places it
was thought a crime to remain sober at the
Dionysia. The Attic festivals of Dionysus
were four in number : the Rural or Loser
Dionysia (Aioitio-ta ko.t a-ypov?, or p-ixpa), the
Lenaea (Arji-aia), the Anthesteria ('Av6e-
o-njpia), and the City or Great Dionysia
(Aioi'i'o'ia cis acrret, aort/ca, or p.eyaAa). The
season of the year sacred to Dionysus was
during the months nearest to the shortest
day; and the Attic festivals were accord-
135
DIONYSIA.
proclaimed the time of mid-day. The divi-
sion of the day into twelve equal spaces,
which were shorter in winter than in summer,
Ivas first adopted when artificial means of
measuring time were introduced among the
Romans from Greece. This was about the
year b. c. 291, when L. Papirius Cursor, after
the war with Pyrrhus in southern Italy,
brought to Rome an instrument called sola-
rium horologium, or simply solarium. But
as the solarium had been made for a different
latitude, it showed the time at Rome very
incorrectly. Scipio Nasica, therefore, erected
in b. c. 159 a public clepsydra, which indi-
cated the hours of the night as well as of the
day. Even after the erection of this clep-
sydra it was customary for one of the subor-
dinate officers of the praetor to proclaim the
third, sixth, and ninth hours ; which shows
that the day was, like the night, divided into
four parts, each consisting of three hours.—
All the days of the year were, according to
different points of view, divided by the Ro-
mans into different classes. For the purpose
of the administration of justice all days were
divided into dies fasti and dies nefasti. Dies
fasti were the days on which the praetor
was allowed to administer justice in the pub-
lic courts ; they derived their name from
fari [fari tria verba; do, dico, addico). On
some of the dies fasti comitia could be held,
hut not on all. The regular dies fasti were
marked in the Roman calendar by the letter
F, and their number in the course of the year
was 38.-—Besides these there were certain
days called dies intercisi, on which the prae-
tor might hold his courts, but not at all
hours, so that sometimes one half of such a
day was fastus, while the other half was ne-
fastus. Their number was G5 in the year.
—Dies nefasti were days on which neither
courts of justice nor comitia were allowed to
be held, and which were dedicated to other
purposes. The term dies nefasti, which
originally had nothing to do with religion,
but simply indicated days on which no courts
were to be held, was in subsequent times
applied to religious days in general, as dies
nefasti were mostly dedicated to the worship
of the gods.—In a religious point of view all
days of the year were either dies festi, or
dies profesti, or dies intercisi. According to
the definition given by Macrobius, dies festi
were dedicated to the gods, and spent with
sacrifices, repasts, games, and other solemni-
ties ; dies profesti belonged to men for the
administration of their private and public
affairs. Dies intercisi were common between
gods and men, that is, partly devoted to the
worship of the gods, partly to the transaction
of ordinary business. Dies profesti were
either dies fasti, or dies comitiales, that is,
days on which comitia were held, or dies
comperendini, that is, days to which any ac-
tion was allowed to be transferred ; or dies
stati, that is, days set apart (or causes
between Roman citizens and foreigners ; or
dies proeliales, that is, all days on which re-
ligion did not forbid the commencement of a
war.
DIFFARREATIO. [Divortivm.]
DIIPULEIA (SuTroAeta), also called Ai™-
Xeia or Ai7rdAia, a very ancient festival cele-
brated every year on the acropolis of Athens
in honour of Zeus, surnamed IfoAtevs.
DIMACHAE (Stuavai), Macedonian horse-
soldiers, who also fought on foot when occa-
sion_required, like our dragoons.
DIMIXUT'TO CAPITIS. [Caput.]
D1UCLEIA (StoxAeia), a festival celebrated
by the Megarians in honour of an ancient
Athenian hero, Diocles, around whose grave
young men assembled on the occasion, and
amused themselves with gymnastic and other
contests. We read that he who gave the
sweetest kiss obtained the prize, consisting
of a garland of flowers.
DIONYSiA (Sioi/wia), festivals celebrated
in various parts of Greece in honour of Dio-
nysus, and characterised - by extravagant
merriment and enthusiastic joy. Drunken-
ness, and the boisterous music of flutes, cym-
bals, and drums, were likewise common to
all Dionysiae festivals. In the processions
called SiWoi (from Sct'afw), with which they
were celebrated, women also took part in the
disguise of Bacchae, Lenae, Thyadcs, Naiades,
Nymphs, &c., adorned with garlands of ivy,
and bearing the thyrsus in their hands, so
that the whole train represented a population
inspired, and actuated by the powerful pre-
sence of the god. The choruses sung on the
occasion were called dithyrambs, and were
hymns addressed to the god in the freest
metres and with the boldest imagery, in
which his exploits and achievements were
extolled. [Chorx-s.] The phallus, the sym-
bol of the fertility of nature, was also carried
in these processions. The indulgence in
drinking was considered by the Greeks as a
duty of gratitude which they owed to the
giver of the vine; hence in some places it
was thought a crime to remain sober at the
Dionysia. The Attic festivals of Dionysus
were four in number : the Rural or Loser
Dionysia (Aioitio-ta ko.t a-ypov?, or p-ixpa), the
Lenaea (Arji-aia), the Anthesteria ('Av6e-
o-njpia), and the City or Great Dionysia
(Aioi'i'o'ia cis acrret, aort/ca, or p.eyaAa). The
season of the year sacred to Dionysus was
during the months nearest to the shortest
day; and the Attic festivals were accord-