STADIUM.

feet 9 inches English. This standard prevailed throughout Greece, under the name of the Olympic stadium, so called because it was the exact length of the stadium or footrace course at Olympia, measured between the pillars at the two extremities of the course. The first use of the measure seems to be contemporaneous with the formation of the stadium at Olympia when the Olympic games were revived by Iphitus (B. c. 884 or 828). This distance doubled formed the δίαυλος, the inπikóv was 4 stadia, and the dóλixos is

differently stated at 6, 7, 8, 12, 20, and 24 stadia.

A day's journey by land was reckoned at 200 or 180 stadia, or for an army 150 stadia. The stadium at Olympia was used not only for the foot-race, but also for the other contests which were added to the games from time to time [OLYMPIA], except the horseraces, for which a place was set apart, of a similar form with the stadium, but larger: this was called the Hippodrome (ἱππόδρομος). The name stadium was also given to all other places throughout Greece, wherever games were celebrated.

The stadium was an oblong area terminated at one end by a straight line, at the other by a semicircle having the breadth of the stadium for its base. Round this area were ranges of seats rising above one another in steps. After the Roman conquest of Greece, the form of the stadium was often modified, so as to resemble the amphitheatre, by making both its ends semicircular, and by surrounding it with seats supported by vaulted masonry, as in the Roman amphitheatre. The Ephesian stadium still has such seats round a portion of it. A restoration of this stadium is given in the preceding wood-cut, copied from Krause.

A is the boundary wall at the aphesis, 77 feet deep; B C the sides, and D the semicircular end, of the same depth as A; FF the area; bb pieces of masonry jutting out into the area; ee the entrances; from o to P is the length of an Olympic stadium.

STANDARDS, MILITARY. [SIGNA MILITARIA.]

STATER (OTаTñp), which means simply a standard (in this case both of weight and more particularly of money), was the name of the principal gold coin of Greece, which was also called Chrysus (xpvoouç). The stater is said to have been first coined in Lydia by Croesus, and probably did not differ materially from the stater which was afterwards current in Greece, and which was equal in weight to two drachmae, and in value to twenty.

The Macedonian stater, which was the one most in use after the time of Philip and his son Alexander the Great, was of the value of about 11. 3s. 6d.

In calculating the value of the stater in our money the ratio of gold to silver must not be overlooked. Thus the stater of Alexander, which we have valued, according to the present worth of gold, at 11. 3s. 6d., passed for twenty drachmae, which, according to the present value of silver, were worth only 16s. 3d. But the former is the true worth of the stater, the difference arising from the

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302

STIPENDIARII.

now.

STATIONES. [CASTRA, p. 70.] STATOR, a public servant, who attended on the Roman magistrates in the provinces. The Statores seem to have derived their name from standing by the side of the magistrate, and thus being at hand to execute all his commands; they appear to have been chiefly employed in carrying letters and messages. STILUS or STYLUS is in all probability the same word with the Greek orvλoç, and conveys the general idea of an object tapering like an architectural column. It signifies,

1. An iron instrument, resembling a pencil in size and shape, used for writing upon waxed tablets. At one end it was sharpened to a point for scratching the characters upon the wax, while the other end, being flat and circular, served to render the surface of the tablets smooth again, and so to obliterate what had been written. Thus, vertere stilum

Stylus.

STIPENDIUM, a pension or pay, from stipem and pendo, because before silver was coined at Rome the copper money in use was paid by weight and not by tale. According to Livy, the practice of giving pay to the Roman soldiers was not introduced till B. c. 405, on the occasion of the taking of Tarracina or Anxur. It is probable, however, that they received pay before this time, but since it was not paid regularly, its first institution was referred to this year. In B. c. 403 a certain amount of pay was assigned to the knights also, or EQUITES, p. 139. This, however, had reference to the citizens who possessed an equestrian fortune, but had no norse (equus publicus) assigned to them by the state, for it had always been customary for the knights of the 18 centuries to receive pay out of the common treasury, in the shape of an allowance for the purchase of a horse, and a yearly pension of 2000 asses for its keep. [AES EQUESTRE; AES HORDEARIUM.] In the time of the republic the pay of a legionary soldier amounted to two oboli or 3 asses; a centurion received double, and an eques or horseman triple. Polybius states, that foot soldiers also received in corn every month an allowance (demensum) of of an Attic medimnus, or about 2 bushels of wheat: the horsemen 7 medimni of barley and two of wheat. The infantry of the allies received the same allowance as the Roman: the horsemen 14 medimni of wheat and 5 of barley. But there was this difference, that the allied forces received their allowances as a gratuity; the Roman soldiers, on the contrary, had deducted from their pay the money

2. A sharp stake or spike placed in pitfalls before an entrenchment, to embarrass the progress of an attacking enemy.

STIPENDIA'RII. The stipendiariae urbes of the Roman provinces were so denominated, as being subject to the payment of a fixed money-tribute, stipendium, in contradistinction to the vectigales, who paid a certain portion as a tenth or twentieth of the produce of their lands, their cattle, or customs. The word stipendium was used to signify the tribute paid, as it was originally imposed for and afterwards appropriated to the purpose of furnishing the Roman soldiers with pay. The condition of the urbes stipendiariae is generally thought to have been more honourable than that of the vectigales, but the distinction be

mour or clothes. There was indeed a law passed by C. Gracchus, which provided that besides their pay the soldiers should receive from the treasury an allowance for clothes; but this law seems either to have been repealed or to have fallen into disuse. The pay was doubled for the legionaries by Julius Caesar before the civil war. He also gave them corn whenever he had the means, without any restrictions. Under Augustus it appears to have been raised to 10 asses a day (three times the original sum). It was still further increased by Domitian. The praetorian cohorts received twice as much as the legionaries.

STOLA, a female dress worn over the tunic; it came as low as the ancles or feet, and was fastened round the body by a girdle, leav~ ing above the breast broad folds. The tunic did not reach much below the knee, but the

STRATEGUS.

essential distinction between the tunic and stola seems to have been, that the latter always had an instita or flounce sewed to the bottom and reaching to the instep. Over the stola the palla or pallium was worn [PALLIM], as we see in the cut annexed.

Stola, Female Dress.

The stola was the characteristic dress of the Roman matrons, as the toga was of the Roman men. Hence the meretrices were not allowed to wear it, but only a dark-coloured toga; and accordingly Horace speaks of the matrona in contradistinction to the togata. For the same reason, women who had been divorced from their husbands on account of adultery, were not allowed to wear the stola, but only the toga.

STOVES. [DOмUS, p. 127.] STRATE GUS (σтратηуóç), general. This office and title seem to have been more especially peculiar to the democratic states of ancient Greece: we read of them, for instance, at Athens, Tarentum, Syracuse, Argos, and Thurii; and when the tyrants of the Ionian cities in Asia Minor were deposed by Aristagoras, he established strategi in their room, to act as chief magistrates.

The strategi at Athens were instituted after the remodelling of the constitution by Clisthenes, to discharge the duties which had in former times been performed either by the king or the archon polemarchus. They were ten in number, one for each of the ten tribes, and chosen by the suffrages (xeiρOṬovía) of the people. Before entering on their duties, they were required to submit to a docimasia, or examination of their character; and no one was eligible to the office unless he had legitiInate children, and was possessed of landed property in Attica. They were, as their name

denotes, entrusted with the command on military expeditions, with the superintendence of all warlike preparations, and with the regulation of all matters in any way connected with the war department of the state. They levied and enlisted the soldiers, either personally, or with the assistance of the taxiarchs. They were entrusted with the collection and management of the property taxes (ɛicpopaí) raised for the purpose of war; and also presided over the courts of justice in which any disputes connected with this subject or the trierarchy were decided. They nominated from year to year persons to serve as trierarchs. They had the power of convening extraordinary assemblies of the people in cases of emergency. But their most important trust was the command in war, and it depended upon circumstances to how many of the number it was given. At Marathon all the ten were present, and the chief command came to each of them in turn. The archon polemarchus also was there associated with them, and according to the ancient custom, his vote in a council of war was equal to that of any of the generals. Usually, however, three only were sent out; one of these (Tрíтоç avтÓC) αὐτός) was considered as the commander-in-chief, but his colleagues had an equal voice in a council of war.

The military chiefs of the Aetolian and Achaean leagues were also called strategi. The Achaean strategi had the power of convening a general assembly of the league on extraordinary occasions.

Greek writers on Roman affairs give the name of strategi to the praetors.

STRENA, a present given on a festive day, and for the sake of good omen. It was chiefly applied to a new year's gift, to a present made on the calends of January. In accordance with a senatusconsultum, new year's gifts had to be presented to Augustus in the capitol, even when he was absent.

STRIGIL. [BALNEUM, p. 49.]

STROPHIUM (ταινία, ταινίδιον, ἀπό dɛoμoç), a girdle or belt worn by women round the breast and over the inner tunic or chemise. It appears to have been usually made of leather.

STUPRUM. [ADULTERIUM.]

SUBSIGNA'NI, privileged soldiers in the time of the empire, who fought under a standard by themselves, and did not form part of the legion. They seem to have been the same as the vexillarii.

SUFFRA GIA SEX. [EQUITES. p. 137.] SUFFRA GIUM, a vote. At Athens the voting in the popular assemblies and the courts of justice was either by show of hands

(xeipotovía) or by ballot (ños). It is commonly supposed that at Rome the people were always polled in the comitia by word of mouth, till the passing of the leges tabellariae about the middle of the second century before Christ, when the ballot by means of tabellae was introduced. [TABELLA.] It appears, however, that the popular assemblies voted by ballot, as well as by word of mouth, long before the passing of the leges tabella- | riae, but that instead of using tabellae, they employed stones or pebbles (the Greek yñpoi), and that each voter received two stones, one white and the other black, the former to be used in the approval and the latter in the condemnation of a measure. The voting by word of mouth seems to have been adopted in elections and trials, and the use of pebbles to have been confined to the enactment and repeal of laws. The word suffragium may possibly be allied with suffrago, and have signified originally an ankle-bone or knucklebone. On the passing of the leges tabellariae the voting with stones or pebbles went out of

use.

For further particulars with respect to the voting in the comitia, see COMITIA; DIRIBITORES; SITULA; Tabella; LEGES TA

BELLARIAE.

Those who had the jus suffragii, or the right of voting in the comitia, as well as the capacity of enjoying magistracies, were citizens optimo jure.

SYCOPHANTES.

command. The number of days during which it was to last was proportioned to the importance of the victory. Sometimes it was decreed for only one day, but more commonly for three or five days. A supplication of ten days was first decreed in honour of Pompey at the conclusion of the war with Mithradates, and one of fifteen days after the victory over the Belgae by Caesar, an honour which had never been granted to any one before. Subsequently a supplicatio of twenty days was decreed after his conquest of Vercingétorix. A supplicatio was usually regarded as a prelude to a triumph, but it was not always followed by one. This honour was conferred upon Cicero on account of his suppression of the conspiracy of Catiline, which had never been decreed to any one before in a civil capacity (togatus).

2. A supplicatio, a solemn supplication and humiliation, was also decreed in times of public danger and distress, and on account of prodigies, to avert the anger of the gods. SWORDS. [GLADIUS.]

SYCOPHANTES (σvкopávтns). At an early period in Attic history a law was made prohibiting the exportation of figs. Whether it was made in a time of dearth, or through the foolish policy of preserving to the natives the most valuable of their productions, we cannot say. It appears, however, that the law continued in force long after the cause of its enactment, or the general belief of its utility, had ceased to exist; and Attic fig-growers exported their fruit in spite of prohibitions and penalties. To inform against a man for so doing was considered harsh and vexatious; as all people are apt to think that obsolete statutes may be infringed with impunity. Hence the term σvкoḍavтεiv, which original

SUN-DIAL. [HOROLOGIUM.] SUOVETAURI'LIA. [SACRIFICIUM, p. 277; LUSTRATIO, p. 206; and wood-cut on p. 296.]

SU'PPARUM. [NAVIS, p. 224.] SUPPER. [COENA; DEIPNON.] SUPPLICATIO, a solemn thanksgiving or supplication to the gods, decreed by the senate, when all the temples were opened, and the statues of the gods frequently placed in public upon couches (pulvinaria), to which the people offered up their thanksgivings and [LECTISTERNIUM.] A supplicatio was decreed for two different reasons.

prayers.

1. As a thanksgiving, when a great victory had been gained: it was usually decreed as soon as official intelligence of the victory had been received by a letter from the general in

for exporting figs, came to be applied to all illnatured, malicious, groundless, and vexatious accusations.

Sycophantes in the time of Aristophanes and Demosthenes designated a person of a peculiar class, not capable of being described by any single word in our language, but well understood and appreciated by an Athenian. He had not much in common with our sycophant, but was a happy compound of the common barretor, informer, pettifogger, busybody, rogue, liar, and slanderer. The Athenian law permitted any citizen (ròv Bovλóμɛvov) to give information against public offenders, and prosecute them in courts of justice. It was the policy of the legislator to encourage the detection of crime, and a reward (such as half the penalty) was frequently given to the successful accuser. Such a power, with

such a temptation, was likely to be abused, unless checked by the force of public opinion, or the vigilance of the judicial tribunals. Unfortunately, the character of the Athenian democracy and the temper of the judges furnished additional incentives to the informer. Eminent statesmen, orators, generals, magistrates, and all persons of wealth and influence were regarded with jealousy by the people. The more causes came into court, the more fees accrued to the judges, and fines and confiscations enriched the public treasury. The prosecutor therefore in public causes, as well as the plaintiff in civil, was looked on with a more favourable eye than the defendant, and the chances of success made the employment a lucrative one. It was not always necessary to go to trial, or even to commence legal proceedings. The timid defendant was glad to compromise the cause, and the conscious delinquent to avert the threat of a prosecution, by paying a sum of money to his opponent. Thriving informers found it not very difficult to procure witnesses, and the profits were divided between them.

SYMPOSIUM (σvμπóσιov, comissatio, convivium), a drinking-party. The symposium must be distinguished from the deipnon (δεῖπνov), for though drinking almost always followed a dinner-party, yet the former was regarded as entirely distinct from the latter, was regulated by different customs, and frequently received the addition of many guests, who were not present at the dinner. For the Greeks did not usually drink at their dinner, and it was not till the conclusion of the meal that wine was introduced.

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flowers. A master of the revels (apxwvV TÕS πόσεως, συμποσίαρχος, οι βασιλεύς) was usually chosen to conduct the symposium, whose commands the whole company had to obey, and who regulated the whole order of the entertainment, proposed the amusements, &c. The same practice prevailed among the Romans, and their symposiarch was called Magister, or Rex Convivi, or the Arbiter Bibendi. The choice was generally determined by the throwing of astragali or tali. The proportion in which the wine and water were mixed was fixed by him, and also how much each of the company was to drink, for it was not usually left to the option of each of the company to drink as much or as little as he pleased.

The cups were always carried round from right to left (ènì dɛğıú), and the same order was observed in the conversation, and in every thing that took place in the entertainment. The company frequently drank to the health of one another, and each did it especially to the one to whom he handed the same cup.

Respecting the games and amusements by which the symposia were enlivened, it is unnecessary to say much here, as most of them are described in separate articles in this work. Enigmas or riddles (αἰνίγματα or γρίφοι) were among the most usual and favourite modes of diversion. Each of the company proposed one in turn to his right-hand neighbour; if he solved it, he was rewarded with a crown, a garland, a cake, or something of a similar kind, and sometimes with a kiss; if he failed, he had to drink a cup of unmixed wine, or of wine mixed with salt water, at one draught. The cottabus was also another favourite game at symposia, and was played at in various ways. [COTTABUS.]

Representations of symposia are very common on ancient vases. Two guests usually reclined on each couch (kλívŋ), as is explain

persons on one couch, as in the annexed cut.

The wine was almost invariably mixed with water, and to drink it unmixed (aкparov) was considered a characteristic of barbarians. The mixture was made in a large vessel called the CRATER, from which it was conveyed into the drinking-cups.

The guests at a symposium reclined on couches, and were crowned with garlands of

The guests are represented reclining with their left arms resting on striped pillows. Three of them are holding the small drinkingcup called calix by the Romans (kúλ by the Greeks), suspended by one of the handles to the fore-finger; the fourth holds a phiala (piá2n), and the fifth a phiala in one hand and a drinking-horn or rhyton (pvróv) in the other. In the middle, Comos is beating the tympanum.

A drinking-party among the Romans was sometimes called convivium, but the word comissatio more nearly corresponds to the Greek symposium. [COMISSATIO.] The Romans, however, usually drank during their dinner