DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13855#0377
TESTIS.
369
TESTUDO.
Titius heres esto, Titium heredem esse jubeo.
[Heres (Roman.)] Originally there were
two modes of making wills ; either at Calata
Comitia, which were appointed twice a year
for that purpose ; or in procinetu, that is,
when a man was going to battle. A third
mode of making wills was introduced, which
was effected per aes et libram, whence the
name of Testamentum per aes et libram. If
a man had neither made his will at Calata
Comitia nor In procinetu, and was in immi-
nent danger of death, he would mancipate
(mancipio dnbat) his Familia, that is, his
Patrimonium to a friend and would tell him
what he wished to be given to each after his
death. There seems to have been no rule of
law that a testament must be written. The
heres might either be made by oral declara-
tion (nuneupatio) or by writing. Written
wills however were the common form among
the Romans at least in the later republican
and in the imperial periods. They were
written on tablets of wood or wax, whence
the word " cera " is often used as equivalent
to " tabella ;" and the expressions prima,
seconds cera are equivalent to prima, secun-
da pagina. The will must have been in
some way so marked as to be recognized, and
the practice of the witnesses (testes) sealing
and signing the will at last became common.
It was necessary for the witnesses both to
seal (signare), that is, to make a mark with
a ring (annuhts) or something else on the
wax and to add their names (arhcribere).
Wills were to be tied with a triple thread
(li)ium) on the upper part of the margin
which was to be perforated at the middle
part, and the wax was to be put over the
thread and sealed. Tabulae which were pro-
duced in any other way had no validity.
A man might make several copies of his will,
which was often done for the sake of caution.
When sealed, it was deposited with some
friend, or in a temple, or with the Vestal
Virgins ; and after the testator's death it
was opened (rcsignare) in due form. The
witnesses or the major part were present,
and after they had acknowledged their seals,
the thread (linum) was broken and the will
was opened and read, and a copy was made ;
the original was then sealed with the public
seal and placed in the archium, whence a
fresh copy might be got, if the first copy
should ever be lost.
TESTIS, a witness.—(1) Greek. [Mar-
ttria.]—(2) Roman. [Jusjurandtjm.]
TESTUDO (xeA<",'l), a tortoise, was the
name given to several other objects.—(1) To
the Lyra, because it was sometimes made oi
a tortoise-shell.—(2) To an arched or vaulted
roof.—(3) To a military machine moving;
upon wheels and roofed over, used in be-
sieging cities, under which the soldiers
worked in undermining the walls or otherwise
destroying them. It was usually covered
with raw hides, or other materials which
could not easily be set on fire. The batter-
ing-ram [Aries] was frequently placed under
a testudo of this kind, which was then called
Testudo Arictaria.—(4) The name of testudo
was also applied to the covering made by a
close body of soldiers who placed their shields
over their heads to secure themselves against
the darts of the enemy. The shields fitted so
Testudo. (From the Antonine Column.)
closely together as to present one unbroken
surface without any interstices between them,
and were also so firm that men could walk
upon them, and even horses and chariots be
driven over them. A testudo was formed
(testudinem.facere) either in battle to ward
off the arrows and other missiles of the ene-
my, or, which was more frequently the ease,
to form a protection to the soldiers when
they advanced to the walls or gates of a town
for the purpose of attacking them. Some-
times the shields were disposed in such a
way as to make the testudo slope. The sol-
diers in the first line stood upright, those in
the second stooped a little, and each line suc-
cessively was a little lower than the prece-
ding down to the last, where the soldiers
rested on one knee. Such a disposition of
the shields was called fastigata testudo, on
account of their sloping like the roof of a
2 B
369
TESTUDO.
Titius heres esto, Titium heredem esse jubeo.
[Heres (Roman.)] Originally there were
two modes of making wills ; either at Calata
Comitia, which were appointed twice a year
for that purpose ; or in procinetu, that is,
when a man was going to battle. A third
mode of making wills was introduced, which
was effected per aes et libram, whence the
name of Testamentum per aes et libram. If
a man had neither made his will at Calata
Comitia nor In procinetu, and was in immi-
nent danger of death, he would mancipate
(mancipio dnbat) his Familia, that is, his
Patrimonium to a friend and would tell him
what he wished to be given to each after his
death. There seems to have been no rule of
law that a testament must be written. The
heres might either be made by oral declara-
tion (nuneupatio) or by writing. Written
wills however were the common form among
the Romans at least in the later republican
and in the imperial periods. They were
written on tablets of wood or wax, whence
the word " cera " is often used as equivalent
to " tabella ;" and the expressions prima,
seconds cera are equivalent to prima, secun-
da pagina. The will must have been in
some way so marked as to be recognized, and
the practice of the witnesses (testes) sealing
and signing the will at last became common.
It was necessary for the witnesses both to
seal (signare), that is, to make a mark with
a ring (annuhts) or something else on the
wax and to add their names (arhcribere).
Wills were to be tied with a triple thread
(li)ium) on the upper part of the margin
which was to be perforated at the middle
part, and the wax was to be put over the
thread and sealed. Tabulae which were pro-
duced in any other way had no validity.
A man might make several copies of his will,
which was often done for the sake of caution.
When sealed, it was deposited with some
friend, or in a temple, or with the Vestal
Virgins ; and after the testator's death it
was opened (rcsignare) in due form. The
witnesses or the major part were present,
and after they had acknowledged their seals,
the thread (linum) was broken and the will
was opened and read, and a copy was made ;
the original was then sealed with the public
seal and placed in the archium, whence a
fresh copy might be got, if the first copy
should ever be lost.
TESTIS, a witness.—(1) Greek. [Mar-
ttria.]—(2) Roman. [Jusjurandtjm.]
TESTUDO (xeA<",'l), a tortoise, was the
name given to several other objects.—(1) To
the Lyra, because it was sometimes made oi
a tortoise-shell.—(2) To an arched or vaulted
roof.—(3) To a military machine moving;
upon wheels and roofed over, used in be-
sieging cities, under which the soldiers
worked in undermining the walls or otherwise
destroying them. It was usually covered
with raw hides, or other materials which
could not easily be set on fire. The batter-
ing-ram [Aries] was frequently placed under
a testudo of this kind, which was then called
Testudo Arictaria.—(4) The name of testudo
was also applied to the covering made by a
close body of soldiers who placed their shields
over their heads to secure themselves against
the darts of the enemy. The shields fitted so
Testudo. (From the Antonine Column.)
closely together as to present one unbroken
surface without any interstices between them,
and were also so firm that men could walk
upon them, and even horses and chariots be
driven over them. A testudo was formed
(testudinem.facere) either in battle to ward
off the arrows and other missiles of the ene-
my, or, which was more frequently the ease,
to form a protection to the soldiers when
they advanced to the walls or gates of a town
for the purpose of attacking them. Some-
times the shields were disposed in such a
way as to make the testudo slope. The sol-
diers in the first line stood upright, those in
the second stooped a little, and each line suc-
cessively was a little lower than the prece-
ding down to the last, where the soldiers
rested on one knee. Such a disposition of
the shields was called fastigata testudo, on
account of their sloping like the roof of a
2 B