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

TEPIDARIUM.

368

TESTAMENTUM.

immense treasures contained in many of the
Greek temples, which were either utensils or
ornaments, and of the tithes of spoils, &c.,
the property of temples, from which they de-
rived a regular income, consisted of lands
(Tefxe'nj), either fields, pastures, or forests.
These lands were generally let out to farm,
unless they were, by some curse which lay
on them, prevented from being taken into
cultivation. Respecting the persons en-
trusted with the superintendence, keeping,
cleaning, &c, see Aeditui. In the earliest
times there appear to have been very few
temples at Rome, and on many spots the
worship of a certain divinity bad been estab-
lished from time immemorial, whue we hear
of the building of a temple for the same di-
vinity at a comparatively late period. Thus
the foundation of a temple to the old Italian
divinity Saturnus, on the Capitoline, did not
take place till b. c. 498. In the same manner,
Quirinus and Mars had temples built to them
at a late period. Jupiter also had no temple
till the time of Ancus Martins, and the one
then built was certainly very insignificant.
We may therefore suppose that the places of
worship among the earliest Romans were in
most cases simple altars or sacella. The
Roman temples of later times were con-
structed in the Greek style. As regards the
property of temples, it is stated that in early
times lands were assigned to each temple,
but these lands were probably intended for
the maintenance of the priests alone. [Sacer-
uos.] The supreme superintendence of the
temples of Rome, and of all things connected
with them, belonged to the college of pontiffs.
Those persons who had the immediate care of
the temples were the Aeditui.

TEl'IDAlUUM. [Balneum, p. 56.]
TERMINAL,!A, a festival in honour of the
god Terminus, who presided over boundaries.
His statue was merely a stone or post stuck
in the ground to distinguish between pro-
perties. On the festival the two owners of
adjacent property crowned the statue with
garlands, and raised a rude altar, on whicli
they offered up some corn, honeycombs, and
wine, and sacrificed a lamb or a sucking-pig.
They concluded with singing the praises of
the god. The public festival in honour of
this god was celebrated at the sixth mile-
stone on the road towards Laurentum, doubt-
less because this was originally the extent of
the Roman territory in that direction. The
festival of the Terminalia was celebrated on
the 23 rd of Eebruary, on the day before the
Regif'ugium. The Terminalia was cele-
brated on the last clay of the old Roman
year, whence some derive its name. We
know that February was the last month of the

Roman year, and that when the intercalary
month Mercedonius was added, the last five
days of February were added to the interca-
lary month, making the 23rd of February the
last day of the year.
TERUNCIUS. [As.]

TESSERA (kw'/3os), a square or cube; a
die; a token. The dice used in games of
chance were tesserae, small squares or cubes,
and were commonly made of ivory, bone, or
wood. They were numbered on all the six
sides, like the dice still in use ; and in this
respect as well as in their form they differed
from the tali. [Talus.] Whilst four tali were
used in playing, only three tesserae were an-
ciently employed. Objects of the same ma-
terials with dice, and either formed like
them, or of an oblong shape, were used as
tokens for different purposes. The tessera
hospitalis was the token of mutual hospi-
tality, and is spoken of under IIospitium.
This token was probably in many cases of
earthenware, having the head of Jupiter
Hospitalis stamped upon it. Tesserae fru-
mentariae and nummariae were tokens given
at certain times by the Roman magistrates
to the poor, in exchange for which they re-
ceived a fixed amount of corn or money.
From the application of this term to tokens
of various kinds, it was transferred to the
word used as a token among soldiers. This
was the tessera militaris, the crwOij^ia of the
Greeks. Before joining battle it was given
out and passed through the ranks, as a me-
thod by which the soldiers might be able tc
distinguish friends from foes.

TESTAMENTUM, a will. In order to be
able to make a valid Roman will, the Testa-
tor must have the Testamentifactio, which
term expresses the legal capacity to make a
valid will. The testamentifactio was the pri-
vilege only of Roman citizens who were pa-
tresfamilias. The following persons conse-
quently had not the testamentifactio : those
who were in the Potestas or Manus of an-
other, or in Mancipii causa, as sons and
daughters, wives In manu and slaves : La-
tini Juniani, Dediticii : Peregrini could not
dispose of their property according to the
form of a Roman will : an Impubes could
not dispose of his property by will even with
the consent of his Tutor ; when a male was
fourteen years of age, he obtained the testa-
mentifactio, and a female obtained the power,
subject to certain restraints, on the comple-
tion of her twelfth year : muti, surdi, furiosi,
and prodigi " quibus lege bonis intcrdictum
est " had not the testamentifactio. In order
to constitute a valid will, it was necessary
that a heres should be instituted, which
might be done in such terms as follow :—