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

MASTIGOPECORI.

249

MATRIMONIUM.

trate (rjyefitov SiKaemjpi'ou). The party in
whose favour he appeared, generally -wrote
the deposition at home upon a whitened hoard
or tahlet (KekevKiofievov •ypafXfiaTetoi'), which
he brought with him to the magistrate's
office, and, when the witness had deposed
thereto, put into the box (ex^os) in which
all the documents in the cause were depo-
sited. An oath was usually taken by the
witness at the ayaKpicns, where he was sworn
by the opposite party at an altar. The wit-
ness, whether he had attended before the
magistrate or not, was obliged to be present
at the trial, in order to confirm his testi-
mony. The only exception was, when he
was ill or out of the country, in which case
a commission might be sent to examine him.
[Ecmartyria.] All evidence was produced
by the party during his own speech, the
K\€>pvSpa being stopped for that purpose.
The witness was called by an officer of the
court, and mounted on the raised platform
(£>)/xa) of the speaker, while his deposition
was read over to him by the clerk; he then
signified his assent, either by express words,
or bowing his head in silence.—We conclude
by noticing a few expressions. Map-rvpelv
nvi is to testify in favour of a man, Kara.
IJ-aprvpeiv tii/os to testify against. Maprv.
pecrOa.1 to call to witness (a word used poeti-
cally), Siafiap-rupea-daL and sometimes e7rip.ap-
TVpeoSai toiis 7rapoi>Tas, to call upon those who
are present to take notice of what passes, with
a view to give evidence. 'trevSop.aLpTvpeiv and
eTTiopiceiv are never used indifferently, which
affords some proof that testimony was not
necessarily on oath. The p;aprvs (witness in
the cause) is to be distinguished from the
«cAr)ri7p or KkqTwp, who merely gave evidence
of the summons to appear.

MASTIGOPHOEI or MASTlGOXOMI
(p.<icmyor£6poi. or p.a.(TTiyov6noi), the name of
the lower police officers in the Greek states,
who carried into execution the corporal
punishments inflicted by the higher magis-
trates. In the theatre the mastigophori pre-
served order, and were stationed for this
purpose in the orchestra, near the thymele.
In the Olympic games the pa/3Soi)xot per-
formed the same duties. At Athens they
were discharged by the public slaves, called
bowmen (rofdrai), or Scythians (S/aJflai).
[Df.mosii.]

MATERF AMI LIAS. [Matrimonii:}!.]
MATRALIA, a festival celebrated at Rome
every year on the 11th of June, in honour of
the goddess Mater Matuta, whose temple
stood in the Forum Boarium. It was cele-
brated only by Roman matrons, and the
sacrifices offered to the goddess consisted of
fakes baked in pots of earthenware. Slaves

were not allowed to take part in the solem-
nities, or to enter the temple of the goddess.
One slave, however, was admitted by the
matrons, but only to be exposed to a humi-
liating treatment, for one of the matrons yave
her a blow on the cheek, and then sen. her
away from the temple. The matrons on this
occasion took with them the children of their
sisters, but not their own, held them in their
arms, and prayed for their welfare.

MATRONAE1A, a festival celebrated on
the Kalends of March in honour of Juno
Eucina. Hence Horace says, " Martiis cae-
Ichs quid agam Kalendis."

MATRIMONIUM NUPTIAE (wos),
marriage. (1) Greek. The ancient Greek
legislators considered the relation of marriage
as a matter not merely of private, but also of
public or general interest. This was par-
ticularly the case at Sparta, where proceed-
ings might be taken against those who mar-
ried too late or unsuitably, as well as against
those who did not marry at all. But inde-
pendent of public considerations, there were
also private or personal reasons, peculiar to
the ancients, which made marriage an obli-
gation. One of these was the duty incum-
bent upon every individual to provide for a
continuance of representatives to succeed
himself as ministers of the Divinity ; and
another was the desire felt by almost every
one, not merely to perpetuate his own name,
but to leave some one who might make the
customary offerings at his grave. We are
told that with this view childless persons
sometimes adopted children. The choice of
a wife among the ancients was but rarely
grounded upon affection, and scarcely ever
could have been the result of previous ac-
quaintance or familiarity. In many cases a
father chose for his son a bride whom the
latter had never seen, or compelled him to
marry for the sake of checking his extrava-
gances. By the Athenian laws a citizen was
not allowed to marry with a foreign woman,
nor conversely, under very severe penalties,
but proximity by blood (<iyxtCT"rc"1), or con-
sanguinity (cmyyeVeta), was not, with some
few exceptions, a bar to marriage in any
part of Greece ; direct lineal descent was.
At Athens the most important preliminary
to marriage was the betrothal (eyyuijcri?),
which was in fact indispensable to the com-
plete validity of a marriage contract. It was
made by the natural or legal guardian
(6 xvpios) of the bride elect, and attended by
the relatives of both parties as witnesses.
The wife's dowry was settled at the betrothal.
On the daj7 before the gamos, or marriage,
or sometimes on the day itself, certain sacri-
fices or offerings (7rpoTe'Aeia ydp.u>v or irpo.