DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13855#0355
SOPHRONISTAE.
347
SPOLIA.
SOPHRONISTAE. [Gymnasium.] plate covered at the back with a thin leaf of
SORTES, lots. It was a frequent practice metal. They were manufactured as early as
among the Italian nations to endeavour to the time of Pliny at the eelebi-att d glass-
ascertain a knowledge of future events by houses of Sidon, but they must have t een in-
drawing lots (sortes) : in many of the ancient , ferior to those of metal, since they never
Italian temples the will of the gods was con- | came into general use, and are never men-
suited in this way, as at Praeneste, Caere, j tioned by ancient writers among costly
&c. These sortes or lots were usually little pieces of furniture, whereas metal mirrors
tablets or counters, made of wood or other j frequently are. Looking-glasses were gene-
materials, and were commonly thrown into i rally small, and such as could be carried in
a sitella or urn, filled with water, as is ex-
plained under Situla. The lots were some-
times thrown like dice. The name of sortes
the hand. Instead of their being fixed so as
to be hung against the wall or to stand upon
the table or floor, they were generally held
was in fact given to anything used to deter- j by female slaves before their mistresses when
mine chances, and was also applied to any I dressing.
verbal response of an oracle. Various things
were written upon the lots according to cir-
cumstances, as for instance the names of the
persons using them, &c. : it seems to have
been a favourite practice in later times to
write the verses of illustrious poets upon
little tablets, and to draw them out of the
urn like other lots, the verses which a person
thus obtained being supposed to be applicable
to him.
SPECULARIA. [Domus.]
SPECULATORES, or EXPLORATORES,
were scouts or spies sent before an army, to
reconnoitre the ground and observe the
movements of the enemy. Under the em-
perors there was a body of troops called Spe-
eulatores, who formed part of the praetorian
cohorts, and had the especial care of the em-
peror's person.
SPECULUM (koltotttpov, eaonrpov, ivoir-
rpov), a mirror, a looking-glass. The look-
ing-glasses of the ancients were usually made
of metal, at first of a composition of tin and
copper, but afterwards more frequently of
silver. The ancients seem to have had glass
mirrors also like ours, consisting of a glass
7
i
JL
Lnokmg-glass held bv a Nymph. (From a Pamting at
Herculaneam.)
SPECUS. [Aquaeductus.]
SPHAERISTERIUM. [Gymnasium.]
SPICULUM. [Hasta.]
SPIRA (o-Treipa), dim. SPIRULA, the base
of a column. This member did not exist in
the; Doric order of Greek architecture, but
was always present in the Ionic and Co-
rinthian, and, besides the bases properly
belonging to those orders, there was one
called the Attic, which may be regarded as a
variety of the Ionic [Atticukgks]. In the
Ionic and Attic the base commonly consisted
of two ton (torus superior and torus inferior)
divided by a scotia (rpoviAos), and in the
Corinthian of two tori divided by two scotiae.
The upper torus was often fluted (pa£6u)Tos),
and surmounted by an astragal [Astragalus],
as in the left-hand figure of the annexed
woodcut, which shows the form of the base
Spirae (bases) of Columns. (From ancient Columns.)
in the Ionic temple of Panops on the Uissus.
The right-hand figure in the same woodcut
shows the corresponding part in the temple
of Minerva Polias at Athens. In this the
upper torus is wrought with a plaited orna-
ment, perhaps designed to represent a rope
or cable. In these two temples the spira
rests not upon a plinth (j)linthus, 7jAi.V0os), but
on a podium.
SPOLIA. Four words are commonly em-
ployed to denote booty taken in war, Praeda,
347
SPOLIA.
SOPHRONISTAE. [Gymnasium.] plate covered at the back with a thin leaf of
SORTES, lots. It was a frequent practice metal. They were manufactured as early as
among the Italian nations to endeavour to the time of Pliny at the eelebi-att d glass-
ascertain a knowledge of future events by houses of Sidon, but they must have t een in-
drawing lots (sortes) : in many of the ancient , ferior to those of metal, since they never
Italian temples the will of the gods was con- | came into general use, and are never men-
suited in this way, as at Praeneste, Caere, j tioned by ancient writers among costly
&c. These sortes or lots were usually little pieces of furniture, whereas metal mirrors
tablets or counters, made of wood or other j frequently are. Looking-glasses were gene-
materials, and were commonly thrown into i rally small, and such as could be carried in
a sitella or urn, filled with water, as is ex-
plained under Situla. The lots were some-
times thrown like dice. The name of sortes
the hand. Instead of their being fixed so as
to be hung against the wall or to stand upon
the table or floor, they were generally held
was in fact given to anything used to deter- j by female slaves before their mistresses when
mine chances, and was also applied to any I dressing.
verbal response of an oracle. Various things
were written upon the lots according to cir-
cumstances, as for instance the names of the
persons using them, &c. : it seems to have
been a favourite practice in later times to
write the verses of illustrious poets upon
little tablets, and to draw them out of the
urn like other lots, the verses which a person
thus obtained being supposed to be applicable
to him.
SPECULARIA. [Domus.]
SPECULATORES, or EXPLORATORES,
were scouts or spies sent before an army, to
reconnoitre the ground and observe the
movements of the enemy. Under the em-
perors there was a body of troops called Spe-
eulatores, who formed part of the praetorian
cohorts, and had the especial care of the em-
peror's person.
SPECULUM (koltotttpov, eaonrpov, ivoir-
rpov), a mirror, a looking-glass. The look-
ing-glasses of the ancients were usually made
of metal, at first of a composition of tin and
copper, but afterwards more frequently of
silver. The ancients seem to have had glass
mirrors also like ours, consisting of a glass
7
i
JL
Lnokmg-glass held bv a Nymph. (From a Pamting at
Herculaneam.)
SPECUS. [Aquaeductus.]
SPHAERISTERIUM. [Gymnasium.]
SPICULUM. [Hasta.]
SPIRA (o-Treipa), dim. SPIRULA, the base
of a column. This member did not exist in
the; Doric order of Greek architecture, but
was always present in the Ionic and Co-
rinthian, and, besides the bases properly
belonging to those orders, there was one
called the Attic, which may be regarded as a
variety of the Ionic [Atticukgks]. In the
Ionic and Attic the base commonly consisted
of two ton (torus superior and torus inferior)
divided by a scotia (rpoviAos), and in the
Corinthian of two tori divided by two scotiae.
The upper torus was often fluted (pa£6u)Tos),
and surmounted by an astragal [Astragalus],
as in the left-hand figure of the annexed
woodcut, which shows the form of the base
Spirae (bases) of Columns. (From ancient Columns.)
in the Ionic temple of Panops on the Uissus.
The right-hand figure in the same woodcut
shows the corresponding part in the temple
of Minerva Polias at Athens. In this the
upper torus is wrought with a plaited orna-
ment, perhaps designed to represent a rope
or cable. In these two temples the spira
rests not upon a plinth (j)linthus, 7jAi.V0os), but
on a podium.
SPOLIA. Four words are commonly em-
ployed to denote booty taken in war, Praeda,