Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

DIVISOR.

139

DOLABRA.

word dirinatio was used in a particular man-
ner by the Romans as a law term. If in any
ease two or more accusers came forward
against one and the same individual, it was,
as the phrase ran, decided by divination, who
should he the chief or real accuser, whom the
others then joined as subscriptores; i. e. by
putting their names to the charge brought
against the offender. This transaction, by
which one of several accusers was selected to
conduct the accusation, was called dirinatio,
as the question here was not about facts, but
about something which was to be done, and
which could not be found out by witnesses or
written documents ; so that the judiees had,
as it were, to divine the course which they
had to take. Hence the oration of Cicero, in
which he tries to show that he, and not
Q. Caecilius Niger, ought to conduct the ac-
cusation against Verres, is called Dirinatio in
Caeeilinm.
DIVISOR.. [Ambitus.]
DIVORTITJM (dirdAen/us, aTroTrejii/as), di-
vorce. (1) Greek. The laws of Athens per-
mitted either the husband or the wife to call
for and effect a divorce. If it originated with
the wife, she was said to leave her husband's
house (a?roAeiVeiv); if otherwise, to be dis-
missed from it (a7ro7ren7reVai). After divorce,
the wife resorted to her male relations, with
whom she would have remained if she had
never quitted her maiden state; and it then
became their duty to receive or recover from
her late husband all the property that she
had brought to him in acknowledged dowry
upon their marriage. If, upon this, both
parties were satisfied, the divorce was final
and complete : if otherwise, an action a-n-oAei-
<|/ews, or an-on-ciu1/"^, would be instituted, as
the case might be, by the party opposed to
the separation. A separation, however, whe-
ther it originated from the husband or the
wife, was considered to reflect discredit on the
latter.—(2) Roman. Divorce always existed
in the Roman polity. As one essential part
of a marriage was the consent and con-
jugal affection of the parties, it was consi-
dered that this affection was necessary to its
continuance, and accordingly either party
might declare his or her intention to dissolve
the connection. No judicial decree, and no
interference of any public authority, was
requisite to dissolve a marriage. The first
instance of divorce at Rome is said to have
occurred about b. c. 234, when Sp. CarvUius
Ruga put away his wife, on the ground of
barrenness : it is added, that his conduct was
generally condemned. Towards the latter
part of the republic, and under the empire,
divorces became very common. Pompey di-
vorced his wife Mucia for alleged adultery;

and Cicero divorced his wife Terentia, after
living with her thirty years, and married a
j-oung woman. Cato the younger divorced
his wife Marcia, that his friend Ilortensius
might marry her, and have children by her;
for this is the true meaning of the story
that he lent his wife to Ilortensius. If a
husband divorced his wife, the wife's dowry,
as a general rule, was restored; and the
same was the case when the divorce took
place by mutual consent. Corresponding to
the forms of marriage by confarreatio and
coemtio, there were the forms of divorce by
diffarreatio and remancipatio. In course of
time, less ceremony was used ; but still some
distinct notice or declaration of intention was
necessary to constitute a divorce. The term
repudium, it is said, properly applies to a
marriage only contracted, and dirortium to an
actual marriage ; but sometimes divortium
and repudium appear to be used indifferently.
The phrases to express a divorce are, rtun-
tium remittere, dirortium facerc; and the
form of words might be as follows—Tuas res
tibi habeto, tuas res tibi ayito. The phrases
used to express the renunciation of a mar-
riage contract were, renuntiare repudium, re-
pudium remittere, dicere, and repudiare ; and
the form of words might be, Conditione tua
non utor.

DOCANA (t<z Soxava, from Sokos, a beam)
was an ancient symbolical representation of
the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), at Sparta.
It consisted of two upright beams with others
laid across them transversely.

DOCIMASIA (ooKijua<na).' When any citi-
zen of Athens was either appointed by lot,
or chosen by suffrage, to hold a public office,
he was obliged, before entering on its duties,
to submit to a docimasia, or scrutiny into his
previous life and conduct, in which any per-
son could object to him as unfit. The doci-
masia, however, was not confined to persons
appointed to public offices ; for we read of
the denouncement of a scrutiny against ora-
tors who spoke in the assembly while leading
profligate lives, or after having committed
flagitious crimes.

DODRANS. [As.]

DOLABRA, dim. DOLABELLA (o/u'At),
dim. oiuXiov), a chisel, a celt, was used for a
variety of purposes in ancient as in modern
times. Celtes is an old Latin word for a
chisel, probably derived from coelo, to en-
grave. Celts, or chisels, were frequently
employed in making entrenchments and in
destroying fortifications ; and hence they are
often found in ancient earth-works and en-
campments. . They are for the most part of
bronze, more rarely of hard stone. The sizes
and forms which they present, are as various