A complete dictionary of the Greek and Roman antiquities explaining the obscure places in classic authors and ancient historians relating to the religion, mythology, history, geography and chronology of the ancient Greeks and Romans, their ... rites and customs, laws, polity, arts and engines of war : also an account of their navigations, arts and sciences and the inventors of them : with the lives and opinions of their philosophers / compiled originally in French ... by Monsieur Danet ; made English, with the addition of very useful mapps.

S. (Book s)

SIs a Consonant, and the 18th Letter in the Alphabet; it was a Numeral amongst the Ancients, which signified Seven. It's called a hissing Letter by reason of its Sound, and has met with a different Reception from the An∣cients, some having been much for rejecting it, while others affected the Use of it. Pindar calls it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, adulterinam, and has avoided the Use of it almost in all his Verses; Quintilian says, 'tis rough and makes an ill Sound in the Conjun∣ction of Words, which made it be often totally rejected, as dignu' omnibu' and the like are to be met with in Plautus and Terence. Some of the Latins also chang'd it into a T in Imitation of the Atheneans, saying Mertare for mersare, pultare for pulsare, &c. But others on the Con∣trary affected the Use of it every where, as Ca∣sinoenae for Camoenae, dusmosae for dumosae. And Quintilian says, that from Cicero's Time and so onward, they often doubled it in the Middle of Words, as in Caussa, Divissiones, &c.

SABAZIA;

the Feasts of Bacchus; see Bacchanalia.

SABAZIUS;

Bacchus, or according to some, the Son of Bacchus. See Bacchus.

SABATHUM;

the Sabbath; the Jeros reckoned their Years by Weeks, the Seventh whereof was the Sabbathick Year, wherein it was not lawful to till the Ground, and their Slaves then were made free: They had also their Year of Jubilee or Remission, which was every 50th Year, or as some will have 49th; insomuch that every Jubilee was also a Sabbathick Year, but more famous than the other, and the Years comprehending these Two Terms, i. e. the pro∣ceeding and following Jubilee were always com∣prized within the Number of Fifty, and then all

Estates, and whatever had been alienated, re∣turned to the Possession of the first Owner.

SACERDOS;

a Heathen-Priest, whereof there were different Orders consecrated to the Service of several Deities: There was a Society of Priests named Luperci, who were engag'd in the Worship of Pan Lycaeus, and on his Festival-Day, ran stark naked through the City, with Thongs in their Hands, which were made of the Skin of a Goat, that they had sacrificed to their God, and with which they lash'd the Women, who willingly received the Blows out of a super∣sticious Belief they had, that the same contribu∣ted to make them fruitful. Hercules his Priests, called Potitii and Pinarii, were instituted by Hercules, they being taken out of those Two Noble Families in Evander's Time, because they had assisted Hercules at a Sacrifice which he offe∣red to Jupiter, of the best Cow he had in his Herd. Fratres Arvales to the Number of 12 were appointed by Romulus to sacrifice to Ceres and Bacchus, and to pray to them to make the Earth fruitful; Romulus was their Institutor. Curiones, they were Priests establish'd with Su∣pream Power, as to Spiritual Matters, in the Curiae, to the Number of 30, into which the Three Tribes of the People of Rome were at first divided: Numa added Two Priests more in every Parish, to assist the Curiones, and these he called Sacerdotes publici: The Curiones had the Tenths and Parish-Offerings allowed them for their Maintenance; and this was called, aes Curionum, quod dabatur Curioni ob sacerdotium curionatûs, says Festus. Titii Sodales, the Titian Priests, to the Number of 25, whom Titus Ta∣tius introduced formerly to Rome, in order to retain somewhat of the Sabines Religion, as Ta∣citus says, L. 1. Annal. C. 7. However this Au∣thor seems to contradict himself when he attri∣butes the Instituting of this Priesthood to Romu∣lus, Titii Sodales faces Augustales subdidere, quod sacerdotium ut Romulus Tatio Regi, ita Caesar Ti∣berius Juliae genti sacravit. It may be said if Tatius instituted this Priesthood; Romulus, after his Death, having made the Sabines and Romans coalesce into one Body, ordered these Priests to offer an Yearly Sacrifice in Honour of Tatius, King of the Sabines. Varro will have these Priests to have been called Titii from some Birds of that Name, from which they took Auguries: Titiae aves quas in auguriis certis Sodales Titii ob∣servare solebant. They dwelt without the City of Rome, from whence they observed the Au∣gury of the said Birds. Flamines, Priests con∣secrated to the Worship of each particular Deity, every one of which bore the Name of his God, as Flamen Dialis, Martialis and Quirinalis, the Priests of Jupiter, Mars and Romulus. See Flamen. Salii, an Order of Priests instituted by Numa, who danced a Sacred Dance in Honour of Mars, carrying the Sacred Shields, named Ancilia, and striking upon them musically. This was a very ho∣nourable Priesthood at Rome, and held by the chiefest Men in the Empire. Augustales, 25 Priests instituted by the Emperor Tiberius, in Honour of Augustus, for whom they erected Temples and Altars, and instituted Sacrifices: The same was also done for other Emperors, who came afterwards to be deified thro' Flattery, for we find there were such as they called Sodales Flavii, Adrianales, Aeliani, Antonini, &c.

SACRIFICIA;

Sacrifices; they did not anciently sacrifice Animals, if we believe Porphy∣ry, but the Fruits of the Earth, or Perfumes which were altogether bloodless Sacrifices. Por∣phyry in his Books concerning Abstinence, treats of this Matter at large; he says, upon the Re∣lation of Theophrastus, that the Egyptians were the first who made an Offering of the First fruits to their Deity, and not of Incense and Perfume, much less of Animals, but of plain Herbs, which are the first Productions of the Earth. These first Sacrifices were consumed by Fire, and thence come those Greek Words 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which signifie to sacrifice, &c. They af∣terwards burnt Perfumes called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, from the Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to pray. They did not begin to sacrifice Animals till they had first eaten some Herbs or Fruits, that ought to be offered upon the Altar. Theophrastus adds, that before the sacrificing of Beasts, besides the Offerings made of Herbs and Fruits of the Earth; the Sacrifices of Libations were very common when they poured out Water, Honey, Oyl and Wine; and these were called Nephalia, Melitosponda, Elaeosponda, and Oenosponda. Ovid says, that the very Name of Victim imported, that the same was not killed till Victories were obtained over the Enemy; and that that of Hostia denoted that Hostilities had been committed: In short, while Men yet lived upon Pulse, they minded not the offering of Beasts in Sacrifice, since the Law of Sacrificing required that some Part of them should be eaten,

Ante Deos homini quod conciliare valeret, Far erat, & puri lucida mica Salis.

Qvid adds a fabulous Narration to this Historical Truth, viz. that Ceres was the first that sacri∣ficed a Hog, because he had spoiled the Corn: The same Poet in another Place brings in Pytha∣goras speaking against this Slaughtering of Beasts, whether the same were designed for Food or Sacrifice, he makes him say, that it might be very pardonable to sacrifice a Hog to Ceres, and a Goat to Bacchus, because of the Ha∣vock, made by those Animals in the Corn and Vineyards, but it must be extream Cruelty to offer innocent Sheep, and Oxen that are so useful for Tillage, though Men endeavoured to con∣ceal

their Fault in vain, under a Pretence of the Worship of the Gods.

Nec satis est quod tale nefas committitur, ipsos Inscripsere Deos sceleri; Numenque supernum Caede laboriferi credunt gaudere juvenci.

Horace also gives us to understand that the purest and plainest Way of appeasing the Gods, was to offer them Flower and Salt, and some Odoriferous Herbs.

Te nihil attinet Tentare multâ caede bidentium... Mollibit aversos Penates Farre pio & saliente micà,

Servius observes they threw Flower and Salt up∣on the Victims, the Fire and the Knives; for they roasted the Corn, and then mixed Salt there∣with, reducing the whole into salted Flower or Meal and this anciently was Mens Food, and the Matter of the ancient Sacrifices, which they sometimes continued to celebrate apart after the Instituting of Sanguinary Sacrifices, which was never used by the Ancients. Not but that Noah sacrificed Animals at his coming out of the Ark, as Moses ordered Sanguinary Sacrifices to be made at the Promulgation of the Law; but when Moses published the Law, all the World was overspread with Idolatry, and 'tis very probable that the Worship of false Deities was grown very common even before the Deluge. And thus it was convenient to offer Sanguinary Sa∣crifices to God, in order to hinder Men from doing the same to Idols or worshipping Beasts.

The Example of Abel may be objected here∣in, of whom the Scripture seems to say, that he sacrificed the best and fattest of his Lambs unto God from the Beginning of the World, but 'tis much more probable that he only offered his Lambs to God, without killing them; and Gro∣tius has made it appear, that since Sacrifices were offered only of such things as were in use among Men, it is by no means probable, that Abel offered unto God the Flesh of Animals, which Men did not yet make use of for their Food. That which Flutarch calls Immolation was the Ceremony of throwing the salted Flower, called Mola Salsa, and Wine upon the Victim before he was slain; Macrobius says, that the first Sacrifices of the Egyptians had no∣thing that was bloody in them, and that when they were even necessitated to receive the Wor∣ship of Serapis and Saturn, to whom Victims were to be sacrificed, they would not allow their Temples to be built within the City.

The most common Victims were Sheep, Lamb, Oxen, Cows and Bulls, because these were Mens most usual Food: Ovid observes that Perseus sacrificed Horses to the Sun; the Greeks an Hind to Diana, and the Arabians Dogs; and that an Ass was sacrificed to Priapus: He then goes on to Birds, which he says were offered in Sacrifice to the Gods, in Revenge for the Injuries they sometimes did them, or the Displeasure they conceived at their Discovering their Secrets by divers sorts of Auguries: Amongst the Birds that were sacrificed, there are no other menti∣oned than Doves: Goslings and Cocks were of∣fered in Sacrifice to none but Nox, and that even in the Night-time.

The most remarkable of all the Pagan Sacri∣fices were those wherein Men were offered. Pau∣sanias says, that Lycaon, the second of that Name King of Arcadia, built the first City in Greece, which he called Lycosura, that he there sacrificed Men to Jupiter; and that from thence they took occasion to say, that he made that God eat Hu∣mane Flesh; who to punish him for the said Crime, transformed him into a Wolf. Porphyry says, that these Humane Immolations continued in Arcadia till the Time of Theophrastus, that they also spread themselves into Peloponesus, and that they were abolished by Lycurgus at Sparta who changed this barbarous Custom, and brought the People to be content with the Blood of some young Men, that were whipped for this Purpose. Pausanias speaks of an annual Sacri∣fice made to Diana Triclaria of a young Boy and Girl by the Oracle's Command in order to ex∣piate the incestuous Familiarity that passed be∣tween a Virgin Priestess of this Temple and a young Man. Strabo gives an Account of the several Ways used by the Gauls in Respect to Humane Sacrifices, and says, that at Leucadia, in order to expiate the publick Sins, and avert the Misfortunes wherewith they were menaced, they every Year threw some Body down head-long from an high Rock, after they had first tied a great many Feathers and live Birds to him to keep him up in the Air, and that they received him below as gently as could be, for which End they made a Ring with their small Boats: Dio∣nysius of Hallicarnassus says, that there were Humane Sacrifices offered to Saturn in the first Ages, not only at Tyre and Carthage, but also in Italy; that Hercules abolished the said Custom, by perswading the People to substitute the Ef∣figies of Men instead of real Men, which they were wont to tie together to the Number of 30 and throw into the Tiber: And this was done afterwards on the Ides of May. Plutarch in his Book of Superstition treats of these Sacri∣fices offered to Saturn: The Fathers and the Mothers sacrificed their own Children and those that had none bought some: They imposed a Fine upon such as could not forbear shedding Tears at so horrible a Sight, play'd upon Flutes and beat Drums, that so the Cries of those in∣nocent Victims might not be heard: The same Historian in his Questiones Romanae, asks, why

the Romans has forbid the People of Blatonae to offer Humane Sacrifices any more, seeing they had themselves but a few Years before bu∣ried two Men and two Women alive, viz. Two Greeks and as many Gauls? To which he answers, 'tis not allowable to sacrifice Men to God; but that it was not the same Thing in respect to the Genii or Daemons, whose evil Designs they thought to avert by such Sacrifices. Plutarch says, when Gelon, King of Sicily, had overcome the Carthaginians, he would not grant them a Peace, but upon Condition that they should no longer offer their Children in Sacrifice to Saturn: This barbarous Custom was not disused at Rome, according to Pliny, till the Year 657, from the Building thereof. Porphyry in his Second Book concerning Abstinence, makes a long Enumera∣tion of the Places where they formerly offered Human Sacrifices, viz. Rhodes, Cyprus, Egypt, Phoenicia, Arabia, Thrace, Athens, and Megalopo∣lis: And he adds upon the Credit of Pallas the Historian, that the Emperor Adrian did almost abolish these abominable Sacrifices throughout the Empire; and he assures us, that as to Egypt, King Amasis was the first who forbad Humane Sacrifices, according to Manetho, and that the Representations of Men made in Wax were sub∣stituted in the room of them. Macrobius says, that at the Feasts called Compitalia, they sacri∣ficed Children to the Lares, and their Mother Mania, because Apollo had commanded that Heads should be offered to them; and that Bru∣tus the Consul, after the Expulsion of the Tar∣quins, offered the Heads of Garleek and Poppy instead of those of Children unto them: He says also, that the Pelasgi arriving in Italy, introdu∣ced a Custom thither of offering Humane Sacri∣fices to Pluto and Saturn, till such time as Her∣cules prevailed with their Descendants to sacri∣fice the Effigies of Men made of Clay, called Oscilla, Sigilla, to Pluto, and Wax-Tapers to Sa∣turn, instead of Men; for the Word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifies a Man and a lighted Taper.

The Pagans, says Vigenere, had Three sorts of Sacrifices, viz. Publick, Private and Foreign: The Publick ones were performed at the Charge of the Publick for the Good of the State, to ren∣der Thanks unto the Gods for some signal Favour, or to pray unto them for averting the Misfortunes and other Calamities wherewith a People or City were menaced or afflicted: The Private Sacrifices were made by each Family; of such sort were those of the Family of Clodia done for some particular Persons of it, and at their Charge, whereunto they many times obli∣ged their Heirs. Plautus also makes a Servant named Ergasilus, who had found a Kettle full of Gold, to say, that Jupiter had sent him so much Riches, without obliging him to offer any Sa∣crifice,

Sine sacris hereditatem sum adeptus effertissimam,

I have got a good Inheritance without being obliged to go the Charge of a private Sacrifice. Foreign Sa∣crifices were so named when the Tutelary Gods of Cities and conquered Provinces were brought to Rome, together with their Mysteries and Ce∣remonies. They were offered either for the Benefit of the Living, or Good of the Dead; these last, according to Festus, were called, Hu∣mana sacra, or humanum sacrificium quod mortui causâ fiebat: For the Ancients, as the Papists do now, had their Feast of the Dead in February, as Cicero says; Februario mense, qui tunc extre∣mus anni mensis erat, mortuis parentari volue∣runt.

The Matter of which the Sacrifices consisted, were, as before said, the Fruits of the Earth, or Animals, whose Flesh and Entrails they some∣times presented to the Gods, and at other times contented themselves to offer them only the Animal Power of the Victims, as Virgil makes Entellus do, who sacrificed a Bull to Eryx for the Death of Dares, and so gave Soul for Soul.

Hanc tibi, Eryx, meliorem animam pro morte Daretis Persolvo.

The Sacrifices varied according to the Diversity of Gods, worshipped by the Ancients; for there were those that were offered to the Coelestial, Infernal, Marine, Aerial and Terrestrial Gods, to the first of which they sacrificed white Victims of an odd Number; to the second, black ones, with a Libation of pure Wine and warm Milk, which were poured into the Gutters with the Victim's Blood; to the third they sacrificed black and white ones on the Sea-side, and threw their Entrails as far as they could into the Water, and poured some Wine on;

.... Candentem in littore taurum Constituam ante ar as voti reus, extaque salsos Porrtciam in fluctus, & vina liquentia fundam;

To the fourth they sacrificed white Victims, and raised Altars to them in the same Manner as to the Coelestial Gods: To the fifth they only offe∣red Wine and Honey. As for the Gods of the Air, they kindled a Fire upon their Altars where the Body of the Victim was burnt, the same be∣ing powder'd with salt Paste and Incense.

In chusing of the Victim, it was required it should be found and whole, without any blemish or Imperfection, his Tail was not to be too small at the End, his Tongue not black, nor Ears cleft, as Servius observes upon those Verses in the Aeneid,

Totidem lectas de more bidentes.

Idest, ne habeant caudam aculeatam, nec linguam ••gram, nec aurem fissam: And those Bulls were not to be such as had drawn in the Yoak. When the Victim was pitched upon, they gilded his Forehead and Horns, especially if they were Bulls, Heifers and Cows:

Et statuam ante ar as aur atâ fronte juvencum.

Macrobius, L. 1. Saturn. recites an Order of the Senate, whereby the Decemviri at the So∣lemnizing of the Ludi Apollinares, were ordered to sacrifice an Ox with gilded Horns, and Two white Goats with gilded Horns likewise to Apollo, and a Cow also with gilt Horns to Latona: They adorned their Heads with a Woollen Infula, from whence hung down two Rows of Chaplets with twisted Ribands; and in the middle of the Body a kind of a Stole, that was pretty large, and hung down on both sides: The lesser Victims were only adorned with Bundles of Flowers and Garlands, together with white Tufts or Gar∣lands. The Victims being thus made ready, were brought before the Altar, and this Action was exprest by the Greek Word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, agere, ducere: The Victim was called Agonia, and those that conducted it Agones. The lesser Victims were not lead in a String, but were only conducted to the Place by driving them gently before them; whereas the greater ones were brought in an Halter to the Place of Sacrifice: The Victim was not to struggle, or refuse to go, for the Resistance made by it, was taken for an ill Augury, the Sacrifice being required to be free: The Victim being brought before the Altar, was examined again and view'd very cir∣cumspectly, in order to see whether there was any defect in it; and this Action was called Pro∣batio hostiarum & exploratio. Then the Priest being clad in his Sacerdotal Habit, and accom∣panied with the Sacrificers and other Attendants, and being washed and purified according to the Ceremonies prescribed them, of which we have already spoken, began the Sacrifice with making a loud Confession of his Unworthiness, acknow∣ledging himself to be guilty of divers Sins, for which he begged Pardon of the Gods, hoping that without their having regard thereunto, they would be pleased to grant him his Re∣quests.

The Hebrews made also a like general Con∣fession, with this difference, that the Pagans con∣fessed the Frailty of Mankind, and owned their Faults; but the others consisted in a Confession of the Greatness of God, which was accompani∣ed with Hymns play'd upon Musical Instruments; Cum Dominum laudare coepissent, & dicere: Consi∣temini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saecu∣lum misericordia ejus, Paralipom. 2. C. 5.

This Confession being over, the Priest cried aloud, Hoc age, compose your selves and mind your Sacrifice; and presently a kind of an Usher holding a Rod in his Hand, called Commentacu∣lum, went thro the Temple, and made all those withdraw who were not instructed in the My∣steries of Religion, or such as were excommuni∣cated: For the Custom of the Greeks, from whom the Romans borrowed theirs, was that the Priest coming to the Altar should ask aloud, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Who is here? The People answered, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Many good Persons. Then the Usher or Verger went thro' the Temple, crying, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; that is, Away with the Wicked; or else, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Away with the Prophane. The Romans commonly made use of these Words, Nocentes, profani ab∣scedite. All those who were driven out of the Temples among the Greeks, were comprehended under these general Words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c.

Ovid comprizes a great many of those who were forbidden to assist at the Mysteries of the Gods in these Verses, L. 2. Fast.

Innocui veniant: procul binc, procul impius esto Frater, & inpartus mater acerba suos: Cui pater est vivax: quimatris digerit annos, Quae premit invisam socrus amica nurum. Tantalidae fratres absint, & Jasonis uxor, Et quae ruricolis semina tosta dedit: Et soror & Progne, Tereusque duabus iniquus, Et quicunque suas per scelus auget opes.

We understand by these Verses in general, that there were two sorts of Persons, who were for∣bidden to assist at Sacrifices, viz. The Prophane, that is, such as were not yet instructed in the Worship of their false Deities, and those who had committed some enormous Crime, as to kill or strike a Father or Mother: They had some kind of Sacrifices in Greece, whereat it was not allowed Virgins and Slaves to be present. The Priest at Cheronaea with a Whip in his Hand, stood at the Gate of the Temple of Matuta, and with a loud Voice forbad the Etolian Slaves to enter in: Those among the Magi, who had Red Spots in their Faces, must never draw near the Altars, as Pliny says, L. 30. C. 2. no more than those must do among the ancient Germans, who had lost their Shield in a Conflict; so also among the Scythians, he that had not killed an Enemy in Battle must not come: The Roman Ladies were to assist at the Sacrifices with Vails on.

When prophane and excommunicated Persons were withdrawn, they cried, Favete linguis, or animis, and pascite linguam, to require Silence

and Attention during the Sacrifice: The Egyp∣tians for the same End were wont to expose the Statue of Harpocrates, the God of Silence, whom they called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. As for the Romans, they placed the Statue of the Goddess Angeronia upon the Altar of Volupia, the said Goddess having her Mouth sealed up, to intimate that Men ought to be attentive both in Body and Mind at the Mysteries of Religion, and submit thereunto: In the mean time the Priest bleft the Water, in or∣der to sprinkle it with the ordinary Ceremonies, either to throw the Wood-Ashes into it, that had been used in burning the Sacrifice, or to ex∣tinguish the Taeda or Sacrificial Torch therein. He first sprinkled the Altars, and then all the Peo∣with this Lustral Water, while the Chorus of Musicians sung Hymns in Honour of the Gods: Then they perfumed the Altars, Statues of the Gods and Victims with Incense, and the Priest turning his Face to the East, and laying hold on the Horns of the Altar, read the Prayers out of the Book of Ceremonies, and began them with Janus and Vesta, as believing there could be no access had to the other Gods but by their Inter∣position: They also offered them Wine and In∣cense before all the rest.

The Emperor Antoninus, surnamed Helioga∣balus, ordered that the Preface of those Prayers should be addrest to the God Heliogabalus, as Lampridius says in his Life. Domitian would also have them begin with addressing themselves to Pallas, whose Son he called himself, as Philostra∣tus says: Nevertheless the Romans restored this Honour to Janus and Vesta, which was allowed them from all Antiquity. After this Preface addrest to Janus and Vesta, the Person that offi∣ciated began a long Prayer, which he directed to the God to whom the Sacrifice was made; and afterwards to all the rest of the Gods, whose chief Vertues he recounted, and whom he pray'd to be propitious and favourable to those for whom the Sacrifice was offered, according to the Institution of Orpheus, who ordered that in all Prayers they should summarily touch upon the principal Vertues of the Gods, and that at last they should be entreated to assist the Empire, Emperors, chief Ministers, particular Persons, and generally to relieve all the Necessities of the Publick. This is that which Virgil, L. 8. Aeneid. has religiously observed in the Prayer, which he makes the Salii put up to Hercules, adding after having recounted his glorious Actions,

Salve, vera Jovis proles, decus addite Divis, Et nos & tua dexter adi pede sacra secundo.

Apuleius makes a Prayer to the Goddess Isis, consisting of Thanksgiving, for her having re∣stored unto him his former Shape, and which I shall relate here for the Benefit of the curious Reader. Tu quidem sancta & humani generis sos∣pitatrix perpetua, semper fovendis mortalibus muni∣fica, dulcem matris affectionem miserorum casibus tribuis, nec dies, nec quies ulla, ac ne momentum quidem tenue tuis transcurris beneficiis otiosum, quâ mari, terrâque protegas homines, & depulsis vitae procellis salutarem porrigas dexteram, quâfa∣torum etiam inextricabiliter contorta retractas licia, & fortunae tempestates mitigas, & stellarum varios meatus cohibes. Te superi colunt, observant inferi, tu rotas orbem, luminas Solem, regis Mundum, cal∣cas Tartarum, tibi respondent sidera, redeunt tem∣pora, gaudent Numina, serviunt elementa, tuo nutu spirant flamina, nutriunt nubila, germinant semi∣na, crescunt gramina. Tuam Majestatem perbor∣rescunt aves coelo meantes, ferae montibus errantes, serpentes solo latentes, belluae ponto natantes. At ego referendis laudibus tuis exilis ingenio, & adhiben∣dis Sacrificiis tenuis patrimonio: Nec mihi vocis ubertas ad dicenda quae de tuâ Majestate sentio, sufficit; nec ora mille, linguaeque totidem, vel inde∣fessi sermonis aeternaseries. Ergo quod solum potest religiosus quidem, sed p••••per, alioqum efficere cura∣bo, divinos tuos vultus numenque sanctissimum in∣tra pectoris mei secreta conditum porpetuò custodiens imaginabor.

These Prayers were usually made standing, sometimes with a low, and sometimes with a loud Voice, unless it were at the Sacrifices of the Dead, when they were performed sitting:

Multis dum precibus Jovem salutat Stans summos resupinus usque in ungues. Mart. L. 12. Epigr. 78.

And Virgil, L. 9. Aeneid.

—Luco tum fortè parentis Pilumni Turnus sacratá valle sedebat.

There was a kind of an Oration made with the Prayers for the Prosperity of the Emperor and Government, as Apuleius L. 11. of his Golden Ass informs us,

After, says he, the Procession was come back to the Temple of the Goddess Isis, one of the Priests, called Grammateus, standing up before the Door of the Quire, brought together all the Pastophori, and getting up to a high Place like a Pulpit, took his Book and read several Orations aloud, and made Prayers for the Emperor, Senate, Roman Knights and People, adding some Things by way of Instruction in Religion: Tunc ex iis, quem cuncti Grammateum vocabant, pro fo••ibus assistens, coetu Pastophorum (quod sacro-sancti Collegii nomen est) velut in concionem vocato, indidem de sublimi suggestu, de libro, de litteris faustâ voce praefatus Principi magno, Senatuique, Equiti, totique populo, nauticis navibus, &c.

These Ceremonies being ended the chief Sa∣crificer being set down, and the rest of them standing, the Magistrates or private Persons who offered Sacrifice, came before him and pre∣sented him with the first Fruits and Victime, and made sometimes a short Discourse or kind of Complement, as we find Homer makes Ʋlysses do, when he presented the High Priest Chryses with Iphigenia Agamemnon's Daughter to be sa∣crificed.

I come to you, said he, in Agamem∣non my Master's Name, who gives his Daugh∣ter a Sacrifice to Apollo, whose Displeasure the Greeks have but too much felt, in order to ap∣pease him.

These Words being over, he de∣livered her into his Hands, and Chryses received her: We have also such another Speech in Lu∣cian, which he makes Phalaris his Embassador deliver to the Priests at Delphi, as he made them a Present from him of a brasen Bull, that for Workmanship was a Master-piece.

As every one came to present his Offering, he went to wash his Hands in a Place appointed in the Temple for that Purpose, that he might the better crepare himself for the Sacrifice he was to make, and to thank the Gods for being pleased to accept of the Victims. Lastly, When the Offering was made the Priest that officiated, perfumed the Victims with Incense, and sprink∣led them with Lustral Water; and having washed his Hands, and got up again to the Altar, he prayed to the God whom he presented the Sacrifice to, with a loud Voice, that he would ac∣cept of those Offerings, and be pleased with the Victims he went to sacrifice to him, for the pub∣lick Good, and for such and such Things in par∣ticular: Thus the Priest Chryses, in Homer, L. 1. Iliad. when he had received Iphigenia, and the other Sacrifices, lift up his Hands to Heaven, and made loud Prayers to Apollo, earnestly be∣seeching him to pardon the Greeks, and accept of his Petitions.

In the close of the Offertory and Prayer made by the Priests to the Gods, he came down the Steps of the Altar, and from the Hand of one of his Assistants received the Sacred Paste called Mola salsa, that was made of Barley or Wheat Flour, mixed with Salt and Water, which he threw upon the Head of the Victim, sprink∣ling a little Wine upon it, and this was called Immolatio, quasi molae illatio, being as it were the Diffusion of this Paste: Mola salsa, says Festus, vocatur far tostum & sale sparsum, quòd eo molito hostiae aspergantur. Virgil has exprest this Cere∣mony in several parts of his Poem; one of which take from Aeneid. 2.

Jamque dies infanda aderat mihi sacra parari, Et salsaefruges, & circam tempora vittae.

Upon which Servius says, that the Priest scatte∣red little bits of this Paste upon the Head of the Victim, the Altars where the Sacred Fire burnt, and Knives, as by way of Consecration. The Priest having scattered the Crumbs of this salt∣ed Paste upon the Head of the Victim, which made the first part of the Consecration; he took some Wine in a Vessel called Simpulum, which was a kind of a Cruel; and having tasted it him∣self first, and then made his Assistants do the same, to shew that they partaked of the Sacri∣fice, he poured it between the Horns of the Vi∣ctim, pronouncing these Words of Consecrati∣on, Mactus hoc vino inferio esto; that is, Let this Victim be improved and honoured by this Wine, that it may be the more pleasing to the Gods: I have explained the Word Mactus elsewhere, which you may see: This done, they pulled off the Hair from between the Horns of the Victim, and threw them into the Fire, as Virgil says,

Et summas carpens media inter cornua setas, Ignibus imponit sacris.

He then commanded the Sacrificer, who asked him Agon', Shall I strike? To knock down the Victim with a great Blow on the Head with a Hammer or Ax; and presently another of the Assistants named Popa, thrust a Knife into his Throat, while another received the Blood of the Animal, that gushed out, wherewith the Priest sprinkled the Altar.

Supponunt alii cultro••, tepidumque cruorem Suscipiunt pateris. Virg.

When the Victim was slain, they flead him, if the same were not a Burnt-offering, which was burnt Skin and all: They took the Flesh off of the Head, and then adorning it with Garlands and Flowers, fasten'd it to the Pillars of the Temples, as well as the Skins, as Ensigns of Re∣ligion, which they carried about in Procession in some publick Calamity; and this we learn from that Passage in Cicero against Piso: Ecquid recor∣daris cùm omni totius provinciae pecore compulso, pel∣lium nomine, omnem quaestum illum domesticum pae∣ternumque renovasti? And again from this other in Festus: Pellom habere Hercules fingitur, ut ho∣mines cultûs antiqui admoneantur: Lugentes quo∣que diebus luctûs in pellibus sunt. Not but that the Priests oftentimes wore the Skins of the Victims, and that others went to sleep upon them in the Temples of Aescu••••pius and Faunus, that they might receive favourable Responses in their Dreams, or be cured of their Maladies, as Virgil says, L. 7. Aen. v. 87.

—Et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti Pellibus incubuit strais, somnosque petivit: Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris, Et varias audit voces, fruiturque Deorum

Colloquio, atque imis Acheronta affatur Avernis. Hic & tum pater ipse petens responsa Latinus, Centum lanigeras mactabat ritè bidentes, Atque harum effultus tergo, stratisque jacebat Velleribus.

And Capadox, a Merchant that dealt in Slaves complains in that Comedy of Plautus, entituled, Curculio, that having lain in Aesculapius his Temple, he saw that God in his Dream remove far from him, which made him resolve to leave it, as having no hopes left of a Cure,

Migrare certu'st jam nunc è fano foras, Quando Aesculapî ita sentio sententiam: Ʋt qui me nihili faciat, nec salvum velit.

They opened the Victim's Entrails, and after they had circumspectly view'd them in order to draw good or bad Presages therefrom, according to the Art of the Auruspices; they floured them with Meal, and sprinkled them with Wine, and made a Present of them to the Gods, reddebant exta Diis, by throwing them into the Fire in small bits boiled or parboiled. Thus Alexander Neapolitanus, L. 4. C. 17. speaks of it:

As soon as the Entrails were floured over, he put them into Basons upon the Altars of the Gods, sprinkling them with Wine, and perfuming them with Incense, and then threw them into the Fire that was upon the Altar.

And this made the Entrails to be called Porriciae, quae in arae foco ponebantur, Diisque porrigebantur: Inso∣much, that this ancient Form of Speech, porrici∣as inferre signified to present the Entrails: Ignis, says Solinus, in hanc congeriem adponitur, cùm por∣icias intulerint. They often also sprinkled the En∣trails with Oil, as we read, Aen. 6.

Et solida imponit taurorum viscera flammis, Pingue super oleum fundens ardentibus extis;

And sometimes with Milk and the Blood of the Victim, particularly in the Sacrifices of the Dead; which we learn from Stacius, Theb. L. 6.

Spumantesque mero paterae verguntur, & atri Sanguinis, & rapti gratissima cymbia lactis.

The Entrails being burnt, and all the other Ce∣remonies finished, they believed the Gods to be fully satisfied, and that they could not fail to find their Vows accomplished, which they ex∣prest by this Verb Litare, that is, all is finish'd, and well done; whereas non Litare on the con∣trary intimated there was something wanting for the Perfection of the Sacrifice, and that the Gods were not appeased. Suetonius speaking of Julius Caesar, says he could not sacrifice one fa∣vourable Victim on the Day he was slain in the Senate; Caesar victimis caesis litare non potuit, that is, says Macrobius, sacrificio facto placare numen. The Priest afterwards dismist the People with these Words, I licet, which were also made use of at the End of Funeral Solemnities and Come∣dies for dismissing the People, as you may see in Terence and Plautus: The Greeks made use of this Expression upon the same account 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and the People answered feliciter: Then they made a Sacred Feast of the Flesh of the offered Victims; an Account of which is given under the Word Epulum.

From what has been said, you may see, that the Sacrifices consisted of Four principal Parts; the first of which was called Libatio, or the pour∣ing a little Wine upon the Victim; the second Immolatio, when after they had scattered the Crumbs of salted Paste thereon, they killed it; the third Redditio, when they offered the En∣trails to the Gods; and the fourth was called Litatio, when the Sacrifice was perfected and accomplished, without any Fault: Among the publick Sacrifices, there was one sort called Stata, fixed, immovable, which was annually performed on the same Day, and other extraordinary ones named Indicta, because they were appointed ex∣traordinarily upon some important Occasion: You'll find these Sacrifices described in their Al∣phabetical order, or under the Months of the Year.

SACROS;

Arabian Weights consisting of an Ounce, worth Seven Denarii.

SAGUM;

a sort of Coat or Habit for Sol∣diers, which the Greeks and Romans used, and was peculiar to the Gauls, according to the Te∣stimony of Varro and Diodorus Siculus: It was made of Wool, and of a Square Form; they had one for Winter and another for Summer.

SALACIA;

the Wife of Neptune, the God of the Sea, according to the Poets.

SALAPITIUM;

Die magni Salicipplum disertum, Catul. Epigr. 54. Some said it ought to have been called Salaputium, others Salpitici∣um, and some Saliiputum. Vossius in his Com∣ment upon Pomponius Mela, declares himself in favour of Salicippium; but he forsakes it for Sa∣lapicium, and thereupon informs us that Salappita, in the best Glossaries signifies a Blow or Buffet; and hence it was that the Buffoons, who recei∣ved a thousand Blows upon their Heads and Faces, in order to divert the Company, were called Salpitones, salvitones, and salutiones: He took these Words to be derived from the Greek Verb 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which signifies to sound a Trum∣pet, and that the Buffoons who suffered them∣selves to be buffetted as aforesaid, were called Salpittones, i. e. Trumpeters, because that like Trumpeters they blew out their Cheeks as much as they could, that so the Blows they received might make the more noise, and afford greater Diversion; from this Remark he deduces the E∣tymology of Buffoon; for he pretends that the

Title of Buffoon was not given to those, who to make others laugh, acted and said a thousand Fooleries, but upon account among other things, that they suffered themselves to be struck on the Face; and to the end that the Blow might make the more noise, they blew out their Cheeks as much as they could.

SALARIA;

one of the Gates of old Rome, so called because Salt was brought thro' it into the City; it was named also Quirinalis, Agonalis and Collina.

SALII;

they were the Priests' of Mars; they wore round Bonnets on their Heads, with Two Corners standing up, and a particoloured Tunick: They also wore a kind of a Coat of Arms, of which nothing could be seen but the Edges, which was a Purple-coloured Band fast∣ned with Copper Buckles, carrying a small Rod in the Right-hand, and a little Buckler in the Left: These Salii confisted of young Noble Men, of whom there were Two very ancient Colleges in Rome: They began their Ceremo∣nies with Sacrifices, and so we find a Trivet pla∣ced near a Salian upon a Medal, which Trivet was commonly made use of at Sacrifices.

When the Sacrifices were over, they walked along the Streets, one while dancing together, other whiles separately at the Sound of some Wind-musick; they used a great many Gestures and set Postures, striking musically upon one a∣nothers Bucklers with their Rods, and singing Hymns in Honour of Janus, Mars, Juno and Minerva, who were answered by a Chorus of Virgins drest like themselves, that were made choise of to assist at that Solemnity.

Authors give divers Originalls to this Word, those who are for having the same to have been instituted before Romulus, say, that the Salii were so called from one Salius of Arcadia whom Aeneas brought from Mantinea into Italy; where he taught the Youth of the Country a sort of Dance which they performed in Arms, called by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: Critolaus will have it to proceed from one Saon, who transported the Dii Penates from Samothracia to Lavinium, and in∣stituted this sacred Dance; but Varro says, that the Salii took their Name a Saltando and Saliendo, from the Dances and Capers they made: There were Two sorts of Salii, viz. Salii Palatini, and Collini: The Institution of the first is owing to Numa, according to Livy and Dionysius of Halli∣carnassus, who appointed Twelve of them to at∣tend the Service of Mars upon Mount Palatine; the Occasion of this Institution was that the City of Rome being afflicted with a great Plague in Numa's Reign, he made his People believe, that a Brass-shield was sent him from Heaven, as a sure Pledge of the Gods Protection, and Af∣fection to the Romans. He assured them that the Nymph Egeria and the Muses advised him to keep it carefully, the Fate of the Empire de∣pending upon it; and to the end that it might not be stolen, he caused Veturius Mammurius to make Eleven more so like it, that the sacred Shield could never be distinguished from the rest. Thus Numa erected a Colledge of Twelve Priests taken out of the Patritian Order, to whom he entrusted the Care of those Bucklers, which he laid up in Mars his Temple, and which were carried yearly with Dancing and Capering thro' the City at the Feast of Mars. This Priesthood was very august in Rome, and officiated by the chief Persons in the Empire, who were assumed into the Number of the Twelve: For we read in History that several Great Captains among the Romans made themselves of the Order of the Salii, such as Appius Claudius, the Emperor Titus, Antoninus and Scipio Africanus, who, Livy says, left the Army because he was of the Or∣der of the Salii, and that their Festival Day drew near; and this was the Reason that the Army continued for some time incamped at the Heliespont, till the Return of Scipio who staied in some Place in order to perform his Devotion on the Day of the said Feast. Stativa deinde ad Heliespontum aliquandiu habuerunt, quia dies fortè quibus Ancylia moventur, religiosi ad iter incide∣rant: iidem dies P. Scipionem propiore etiam reli∣gione, quia Salius erat, disjunxerant ab exer∣citu, causaque & is ipse morae erat dum conse∣queretur.

The Salians called Collini were also to the Number of Twelve instituted by Tullius Hosti∣lius, and all of the Patrician Order; for the said King fighting against the Fidenates, as Livy says, and finding he had the Worst of it, made a Vow to Mars that he would increase the Num∣ber of the Salii, if he won the Victory, who when he had so done, created Twelve Salians more.

SALINAE,

Salt-houses. Pliny says, that Ancus Martius was the first that erected Salt∣houses near Ostia towards the Tiber's Mouth; Rex Ancus Salinas primus instituit. There were Granaries of Salt at Rome which stood near the Gate called Trigemina.

SALTATIO;

a Dance; Lucian in his Dia∣logue concerning Dancing, says, 'tis as ancient as the World, and took it's Original with Love; witness, adds he, the various Motions of the Stars and the different Conjunctions of those fixed and wandring Bodies; 'tis from the Mo∣tion of the Heavens and their Harmony that this Divine Art took it's Origin, which has been improved in Time: It's said, that Rhea was the first who took Delight in this Exercise, and that she taught it her Priests both in Creet and Phrygia; and this Invention was not useless to them, for by Leaping and Dancing they sa∣ved Jupiter's Life, whom his Father intended to devour, insomuch, that the King of the Heavens owed his Safety to Dancing; but in those Times

it was a Military Exercise, which consisted in striking their Swords and Javelins upon their Shields: Pyrrhus invented the Pyrrhica, which was a Dance performed in Arms: The Lacedae∣monians, after they had learnt this Art of Castor and Pollux; improved it with that Care, that they never went to War without dancing to the Flute, insomuch, that it may be said they owed part of their Glory to Dancing; and their Youth accustomed themselves as much to the Exercise of Dancing as they did to that of Arms, for a Player upon the Flute fixing himself in the Midst of them, began the Motion with Piping and Dancing, and they followed him ma∣king a Thousand warlike Postures, in good order: The same Thing was practised at the Dance cal∣led Hormus, which was a Mixture composed of Boys and Girls, wherein the Boys lead the Dance with manly and warlike Postures, and the Girls followed with a gentler and more mo∣dest Pace, with a Design to compose a Harmony of Strength and Moderation: They had also a∣nother Dance which they performed bare-foot, to say nothing of that which Homer represents in Achilles his Shield, wherein Daedalus instructed the fair Ariadne, nor of the Caperers and great Dancers that went before, who cut dangerous Capers: The Thessalians esteemed it so much, that their chief Magistrates borrowed the Name from it, and called themselves Proorquestres, that is, those who lead the Dance, for this Inscripti∣on was to be met with under their Statues, as well as that, To the Honour of such an one, for having danced well in Fight, that is, for having been valliant in Battel.

They offered no Sacrifice at Delos without a Dance, and here they had young Boys, the Chief whereof lead a Dance by the Sound of the Flute and Harp: But what need we speak of the Greeks since the Indians themselves worship the Sun, not by kissing their Hands, but dancing, as if thereby they meant to imitate the Motion of that admirable Planet, and they have no other Divine Worship, since that same is performed at Sun-setting and Rising: The Ethiopians went dancing to Battle, and before they let fly their Arrows, which were set in order about their Heads in the Form of Sun-beams, they leaped and danced to terrifie the Enemy; let us now go into Egypt, where the Story of Proteus repre∣sents an excellent Dancer, making a Thousand different Postures, and who with his supple Body and Ingenuity of Mind knew how to counterfeit and imitate every thing.

The Three Sorts of noblest Dances, are the Cordacismus, Syncinnis, and Emmaelia, who took their Names from the Satyrs.

I'll pass by se∣veral other sorts of Dances with their Names and Authors, says Lucian, my Design being no other than to shew the Pleasure and Benefit that may be got by this Exercise, especially, since the Time of Augustus. I have not spoken of the Phrygian Dance, which was done for Debauchery, where you might see the Peasants jumping and tumbling about while the Flute play'd, and the same is a painful and labori∣ous Dance, still practised in the Country.

SALUS,

Livy mentions the Goddess Salus; by it was meant the Publick Weal: Aedes, Ce∣reris Salutis, de caelo tactae.

SANCTUS or SANCUS and SAN∣GUS, and SEMO-SANCTUS and FI∣DIUS.

Ovid informs us, that all these Names meant one Thing, and that this was a God pecu∣liar to the Sabines, which they communicated to the Romans:

Quaerebam Nonas Sancto, Fidio-ne referrem, An tibi, Semo Pater; tunc mihi Sanctus ait Cuicumque ex istis dederis, ego munus habebo; Numina ternafero, sic voluêre Cures: Hunc igitur veteres donarunt aede Sabini, Inque Quirinali constituere jugo.

St. Augustine L. 18. de Civ. Dei. C. 9. belie∣ved that he was the first King of the Sabines, who was communicated to the Romans, he ha∣ving been deified after his Death. Varro and Festus believed the Contrary, and that he was the same God as Hercules: These are Varro's Words: Putabant hunc esse Sanctum à Sabinâ lin∣guâ, & Herculem à Graecâ; and for Festus he says: Fit sacrificium Herculi aut Sanco, qui sci∣licet idem est Deus. This Contradiction may be removed in the same manner as that con∣cerning the Father of Picus, which some said was Stercetius: They often gave unto Kings the very Names of the Gods; and so Stercetius was called Saturn, and Sanchus Hercules, as Encas was also named Jupiter: Dionysius of Halicarnas∣sus shews how the Sabines were originally de∣scended from the Lacaedemonians: The Name also of Sabines came from the Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, colere: Livy likewise mentions the God Sancus: In old Inscriptions these Words are to be met with, Semoni Sanco Deo Fidio Sacrum.

SANDALIUM,

a Sandal, being a rich kind of Wear for the Feet made of Gold, Silk, or some valuable Stuff, and parti∣cularly used by Ladies, consisting of a Sole, and hollow above the Foot; Terence speaks of this Sandal, Ʋtinam tibi commitigari videam san∣dalio caput, I wish she would strike thee with her Sandal. Aulus Gellius call Apollo Sandalarium, because he had a Temple in one of the Streets of Rome, where Sandals were made.

SANDAPILA;

a Bier, or Coffin to bear the Bodies of poor People, and such as were exe∣cuted to be buried, and those who carried the Corps were also called Sandapilarii.

SANGUS.

See Sanctus.

SANITAS;

Health, of which the Anci∣ents made a Deity: Pausanias shews us, that the Worshipping of the Goddess of Health was very common in Greece. Posita sunt Deorum signa Hygiae, quam filiam Aesculapii fuisse dicunt: & Minervae, cui itidem Hygiae, id est, Sospitae cogno∣mentum. by the first was plainly meant the Health of the Body, and by the other that of the Mind: He says elsewhere, that there was an Altar for Iason, Venus, Panacer, Health, and Minerva in the Temple of Amphiaraus: lason comes from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Sanatio; and Panacea in Greek is the same as Sanatio: They also make her to be Aesculapius his Daughter: Pliny in like manner says very well, that the Name of Panacea implies the Cure of all Distempers: The Pagans herein pretended to no more than to worship the Deity that bestowed and preserved Health. The Romans worshipped Health upon Mount Quirinal; by her Statue she is repre∣sented like a Roman Lady holding a Serpent crowned with medicinal Herbs in her Right-hand: She was covered with Hair which Women cut off in Honour of her; her Temple, as Pub∣lius Victor says, stood in the Sixth Division of the City of Rome, and Domitian erected a little Temple for her (after he had been freed from the Danger he was in upon Vitellius his coming to Rome) with this Inscription:

SALUTI AUGUSTI.

There is a Medalion in Relidro of Mar∣cus Aurelius, whereon is represented a Sacrifice made to Aesculapius under the Form of a Ser∣pent by Minerva, who holds a Cup covered with an Olive-Tree in her Hand, and before her ap∣pears Victory, holding a Basket full of Fruit.

SARCOPHAGUS

and SARCO∣PHAGUM: It was a Stone-Tomb, wherein those Dead were laid, they had no mind to burn. The Word Sarcophagus, which is derived from the Greek, signifies in strictness of Sence, one that eats Flesh, because at first they used a sort of Stones for the making of Tombs, which quickly consumed the Bodies: The Quarries from whence they dug them were in a City of Troas, named Assum: They had the Virtue to waste away a Body to nothing, save the Teeth, in Forty Days: This Stone was like unto a reddish Pumice-stone, and had a saltish taste; they made Vessels of it to cure the Gout, into which they put the Feet, not suffering them to continue there too long.

D. M.
CUSPIA AEGLA-
LIS HOC SARCO
PHAG. APERIRI
N. LIC.

To the Manes; Cuspia Aeglalis rests here; its not lawful to open this Coffin.

SATURNALIA.

See after Saturnus.

SATURNUS;

Saturn; all idolatrous Na∣tions in general had a Saturn of their own, as they had also their Jupiter: Its certain in re∣spect to Saturn as well as Jupiter, that the first of all of them was he of Babylon, or Assyria, who was no other than Noah, as we shall shew, whose Son they made to be Jupiter Belus. The Egyp∣tians and Phoenicians receiving their Religion as well as their Colonies, and peopling from As∣syria, dignified also their Countries with a Sa∣turn and Jupiter of their own: The Religion and Worship of Saturn passed from Egypt and Phoeni∣cia into Greece; and the Greeks likewise framed a Saturn and Jupiter to themselves, in Imitation of those of the Eastern People: At last the same Superstition was carried from Greece into Italy; and this is that which Tertullian calls post multas expeditiones, post Attica hospitia: For these Mili∣tary Expeditions consisted in no more, than that Progress made by the Worship of Saturn, which successively ran thro' all the Provinces from the East to the West; and by that Hospitia or En∣tertainment which Greece gave to Saturn, is meant the long abode which that Religion had in Greece, before it was carried into Italy. Ter∣tullian adds, that the Reason, upon Saturn's land∣ing in Italy, why he was taken there for the Son of Heaven and Earth, was because they did not know his Descent: As Noah was the Saturn of the Assyrians, and the Original from which all the other Saturns were copied, its not to be wondered that those Things which appertained more peculiarly to him, have been attributed to others; for he with the Ark coming out of the Waters of the Deluge, that had drown'd all his Predecessors, gave Men some Pretence to believe, that he had no other Father nor Mo∣ther, besides the Heaven and the Earth.

Lactantius was of Opinion, that Saturn being a very potent King, did in order to eternize the Memory and Glory of his Father and Mother, give their Names to the Heaven and Earth as many others did theirs to Rivers and Mountains, from which afterwards they feigned themselves to be descended: Hence 'tis, that Trismegistus makes Saturn to be the Son of Ʋranus, who was a Man that had the same Name as that of Hea∣ven. The same Lactantius, after having refuted the Allegorical explication given by the Stoicks, concerning the maiming of Caelum, by his Son Saturn, concludes they were the real Enterprizes of Men against one another; and as to what he says concerning Saturn's devouring his own Chil∣dren; he relates out of Euhemerus his History how that Men in Saturn's Days, fed indifferently upon Humane Flesh, which came afterwards to be forbidden by an Edict of Jupiter: The same Sacred History of Euhemerus, as recited by La∣ctantius, imports that Ʋranus was the first King upon Earth; and that Titan his Eldest Son pre∣tending

to the Crown after his Death, was how∣ever perswaded by his Mother and Sisters, to yield the Empire to Saturn, on Condition that all Saturn's Male Children should be put to Death, that so the Empire might return to Titan and his Children: They killed Saturn's eldest Son, but Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto, and such as were born afterwards, were deliver'd from Titan's Cruelty, and brought up in remote places. Titan coming to understand the News, took up Arms with his Children the Titanes, made War upon Saturn, took him with his Wife Ops, and put them in Prison. Jupiter in the mean time was brought up in Crete, from whence with an Army he came and defeated Titan, de∣liver'd his Father out of Prison, re-establish'd him on his Throne, and then returned again in∣to Crete; Saturn understanding that his Son had a mind to dethrone him, was willing to prevent it, and so laid Ambushes for him: Jupiter per∣ceiving the Design, made himself Master of the Empire, by the Expulsion of his Father Saturn, who fled, and went and reigned in Italy. This is the Story as Lactantius has borrowed it from Eubemerus. Diodorus Siculus recounts the ancient Tradition of the Egyptians, who would have Sa∣turn to have been married to Rhea his Sister, and to have Osiris and Isis by her; or else Jupiter and Juno, of whom Osiris, Isis, Typhon, Apollo and Ve∣nus were born.

Saturn, according to the Poets, was the Fa∣ther and King of the Golden Age; that was the Age of Bliss wherein Adam lived in the De∣lights of a Terrestrial Paradice: The Name of Saturn agrees admirably well with the first Man, who for his Sin went to hide himself, as not da∣ring to appear before God; for Satar in Hebrew signifies to bide ones self; whence also 'tis, that the Poets having made Saturn to pass into Italy, gave the Name of Latium to the Country where he landed, and reigned, according to their Re∣lation: And so Saturnalia Tellus and Latium was but the same Country, these two Names bearing the same Signification, tho' the one was Hebrew and the other Latin. The Poets make Saturn to be the Son of Heaven and Earth; so Adam was formed of the Earth, and the God of Heaven was he that made him: The Empire of Saturn and the Golden Age ended together; after which Saturn applied himself to Agriculture: Adam also, after he had sinned, was driven out of the Ter∣restrial Paradice, and from a King as he was, was reduced to the Condition of a Labourer: Lastly, All prophane Authors, as well Histori∣ans as Poets, have recorded, that all Men lived free in the Reign of Saturn, without any men∣tion yet made amongst them of Vassalage or Ser∣vitude. And so during the Saturnalia, or Feasts of Saturn, Servants and Masters eat together; and this was a Resemblance of the first Age un∣der Adam.

Noah's History has been also applied to Sa∣turn; for Noah was the Father of all Mankind after the Deluge; he was also the King and Au∣thor of another Golden Age: There were no Slaves in the first Age after the Deluge; all the Race of Men that were in the World making yet as it were but one numerous Family: As Noah, according to Scripture, was the first who plant∣ed a Vineyard, and began the Use of Wine; the Pagans also gave unto Saturn the Glory of having taught Men the Way to cultivate Vine∣yards and the Earth, and the Use of the Sickle. Plutarch says, Saturn taught Icarus the Use of Wine, and dressing the Vineyards. Athaenaeus, after Berosus, says, that the Saturnalia were ce∣lebrated at Babylon, as well as in Greece and Ita∣ly: In short, all the Ancients observe, that the Saturnalia were Days appointed for Debauchery and Drunkenness; as if the Pagans had had a mind to keep in Remembrance the Drunkenness of Noah, which he unadvisedly fell into, he ha∣ving not yet tried the Strength of Wine; of which the Babylonians, as being nighest, might he best informed.

Plato in his Timaeus says, that Saturn and Rhea his Wife proceeded from the Ocean and Tetbys; and so Saturn's Symbol at Rome was a Ship: They feigned the Ocean to be the Father, and Tethys the Mother of Saturn, because he came out of the Waters of the Deluge; and this Ship was no other than Noah's Ark.

As Noah left all Mankind to perish in the Wa∣ters of the Deluge, except his Three Sons, the Poets have imitated the History herein, by say∣ing that Saturn had devoured all his Children, but Three.

Lucian in his Saturnalia brings in a Minister speaking to God Saturn in this manner:

Minister.

Do but tell me whether what they say is true, that you devoured your Children, and would have done as much by Jupiter, if your Wife had not convey'd him away, and put a Stone in his room, which you swallow'd down like a Pill: But when he grew up he dethroned you, and threw you Head-long into Hell, with all those who took your part.

Saturn.

Tho' I should have been so cruel as to devour my Children, could I eat a Stone with∣out being choaked, or breaking my Teeth? Nei∣ther did Jupiter dispossess me at all, but I have voluntarily resigned him the Throne, and am not in Hell, as you see.

Minister.

But what moved you to relinquish your Dominion?

Saturn.

It was because I was Old and Gouty, which has given them occasion to say, that my Feet were put into Irons; insomuch, that I was incapable to take care of every thing, and to pu∣nish the Wicked, whole Number increases daily.—Besides, I thought it the Duty of a good Father to part with his Estate to his Children in

his Life-time, to avoid Quarrels after his Death: I'll live at Ease, without having my Head tor∣mented with a thousand importunate Petitions that are contradictory to each other, to say no∣thing of the Trouble I was continually put to by causing Thunder, Rain, Wind and Hail: Now I live easily, and solace my self with Nectar and Ambrosia, in the Company of Japetus and other Old Men like my self; without being incumbred with the Affairs of the World, as Jupiter is; for he has no rest any longer than while my Feast lasts, when I re-assume the Empire for some Days, to the End I may not be despised, and to put Men in mind of the Gentleness of my Reign, when Corn grew without sowing, Rivers flowed with Milk, and Fountains with Wine and Ho∣ney: All Things were then in common; there were neither Rich nor Poor, none cheated nor betrayed; in short, it was the Golden Age.

Saturn was represented like an old Man grown crooked with Age, pale, sad, and with his Head covered; in his Right Hand he held a Sickle, and a Serpent biting her Tail, and a Child which he endeavoured to devour in his Left. The first Temple that was built to him at Rome, was that of Tatius, King of the Sabines, upon Mons Ca∣pitolinus; the second was consecrated by Tullius Hostilius; and the third dedicared by the Con∣suls A. Sempronius Atratinus and M. Minutius. Valerius Publicola made it to be the Place where the publick Treasure was kept, and 'twas in this Temple that Foreign Embassadors caused their Names to be writ down in the publick Registers by the general Treasures: Here also it was that they kept the Minutes and Registers of Con∣tracts, and all such Actions as Parents did. Those who had recovered their Freedom, were discharg'd out of Prison, or freed from the Hands of their Enemies, went to consecrate their Chains in that Place: The Statue even of Saturn himself were Chains made of Wool, in Comme∣moration of those which Jupiter his Son put up∣on him; which Chains at the Saturnalia were taken off, to denote the great Liberty Men en∣joy'd at that time. They sacrificed anciently a Man to him; but Hercules abolished this cruel Custom, and instead thereof appointed them to offer little Statues made of Plaister unto him.

Saturn is also one of the Seven Planets, and the farthest from the Earth, who appears to move flower than the rest: Its placed between the Firmament, and the Orbit of Jupiter; and tho' it appears to be the least of the Planets, yet 'tis the greatest, for its Diameter contains 97 times that of the Earth: It performs its Re∣volution in the Zodiac in 29 Years, 157 Days, and 22 Hours. It has two Satellites about it; there is something new daily discovered concern∣ing it: The Astrologers call it the Great Infor∣tune: Its Nature is cold and dry; and its accu∣sed of being the Cause of all the Evil that hap∣pens upon Earth; its two Houses are Capri∣corn and Aquarius, and its Exaltation is in Libra.

SATURNALIA;

they were Solemn Feasts instituted in Honour of Saturn, and kept at Rome Decemb. 17, or on the 16 Calends of Ja∣nuary, the same lasting a Week: This Feast was instituted long before the Foundation of Rome. Macrobius, L. 1. Saturn. relates Three Opini∣ons concerning the Original thereof: Some say, that Janus appointed it by way of Acknowledg∣ment for the Art of Agriculture, which he had learnt of Saturn: Others attribute the Origin thereof to Hercules his Companions, for their having been kept from Robbers by Saturn, to whom they put up their Prayers for that Pur∣pose: And lastly, Others maintain that the Pe∣lasgi of Greece landing in the Isle of Delos, learnt of the Oracle that they ought to erect an Altar to Saturn, and celebrate a Feast in Honour of him: This Feast was therefore instituted at Rome, according to the Relation of the said Au∣thor, in the Reign of Tullus Hostilius, after he had triumphed over the Albans. This Opinion is opposed by Varro, who says Tarquinius Super∣bus built Saturn a Temple, and that T. Largius the Dictator dedicated the same to the Satur∣nalia. Livy shews us, that they dedicated a Temple to Saturn, and instituted Saturnalia, Three Years after the Victory which Posthumius the Dictator won over the Latins, near the Lake Regillium, which happen'd in the Year 257, in the Consulship of Aulus Sempronius, and M. Mi∣nutius Augurinus: His consulibus, says he, Aedes Saturno dedicata: Saturnalia, institutus festus dies. This Feast lasted but for one Day at first, and this continued to the Reign of Augustus, who ordered it to continue for three; and afterwards they intermixed the Saturnalia with the Sigillaria, which made the Feast last sometimes five, and sometimes seven Days, as Martial says.

Lucian in his Saturnalia brings in Saturn him∣self speaking in this manner concerning the said Feast.

During my whole Reign, which lasts but for one Week, no publick nor private Business is to be done, but only to drink, sing, play, create imaginary Kings, place Servants with their Ma∣sters at Table, smut them with Soot, or make them leap into the Water with Head foremost, when they do not perform their Duty well.

He afterwards recites the Laws of the Saturnalia.

They shall do no publick nor private Business during my whole Reign; and of all Trades, none but common Cooks, Pastry-Cooks, and the like shall follow their Occupation: All Exercises of Body and Mind shall be banish'd, saving such as are for Recreation, and nothing shall be read or recited but what is conforma∣ble to the Time and Place: The Rich, Poor, Masters, Slaves, all shall be equal; there shall be

neither Disputes, nor Quarrels, Reproaches, In∣juries, nor Menaces, nay, Men shall not be al∣lowed to be so much as angry: No Accompt shall be kept of Income or Expence; no Inven∣tory taken of Moveables and Plate used at my Feast. The Rich before-hand shall take an Ac∣count of all such as they are minded to treat, or ought to send Presents to, and for that End lay aside the Tenth part of their Income, with∣out being permitted to apply it to any other use under any Pretence whatsoever: They shall also lay by their Superfluities, whether the same be Moveables or Cloaths, and that which is of no use to them, in order to make a Pre∣sent of the same to their necessitous Friends. After they have on the Eve before cleared the House of all Pollution, and expelled Pride, Ambi∣tion, and Covetousness from thence, in order to sacrifice to Sweetness of Temper, Courtesie and Liberality, they shall read over the List they have made, and having laid every ones Portion by it self; they shall towards Night send their Presents to them by the Hands of some trusty Persons, with Orders to take no∣thing of them, unless a Cup of Drink; and for the surer delivery of the said Present, mention shall be made thereof in a Letter writ for that Purpose: When the Master of the House shall treat his People according to Custom, his Friends shall serve at Table with him, and Li∣berty shall be given them to jest, provided the Raillery be neatly done, and that he who is Raillied laughs first.

Thus Slaves had Liberty to say what they would at this Feast, and to ridicule their Ma∣sters to their Faces for their Faults, as Horace says, Sat. 7. L. 2.

Age libertate Decembri, Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere, narra.

They sacrificed at the Saturnalia bare-headed, contrary to the Custom of other Sacrifices.

SATYRI;

Satyrs; they were fabulous Demi-Gods among the Pagans, who with the Fauni and Sylvani preside over Forests. They were re∣presented with Horns on their Heads, erected Ears, a Tail, Goat's Feet, and hairy all over, and the Hair standing an end in their Foreheads: Its thought this Word comes from Sathen, which in the old Greek signified a Man's Genital; be∣cause the Satyrs were naturally very lascivi∣ous: They were usually Bacchus his Companions.

SATYRA,

or rather SATIRA; a Satyr; its a Word that signifies all manner of Discourse, wherein any Person is reprehended: But a Satyr is commonly a Poem that wittily reproves Mens Vices. Casaubon makes a Distinction between the Satyrical Poetry of the Greeks, and the Sa∣tyr of the Romans, which was peculiar to them∣selves only; and this is justified by Quintilian, L. 1. C. 10. Satira quidem tota nostra est; for which Reason Horace calls it, Graecis intactum carmen, a sort of Poetry unknown to the Greeks. See Cau∣sabon upon the Word: A Satyr ought to be lively, pleasant, moral and full of variety; wherein Juvenal and Horace excelled, though their Satyrs ought to be read with Precaution.

SCABILLA, SCABELLA, SCA∣MILLA, and SCAMELLA;

a sort of Castianets, which were like a little Joint-stool, or Foot-stool, and which they beat after diffe∣rent ways, with Wooden or Iron Shoes: It was a kind of Sandal made of two Soles, between which a Castianet was tied.

SCALAE GEMONIAE;

to which they fastned the Bodies of Criminals after their Exe∣cution, and from whence they dragged them with Hooks into the Tiber, after they had expo∣sed them for some time.

SCELERATA;

Porta is understood; otherwise called the execrable Gate, was one of the Gates of Rome; being so named from the Misfortune which befell the Three hundred and six Fabii there.

SCENA;

a Scene; the Theater whereon were represented the Dramma, and other pub∣lick Shews: According to Vitruvius, L. 5. C. 8. there are Three sorts of Scenes, viz. the Tragi∣cal, Comick and Satyrical: Their Decorations vary, in that the Tragical Scene hath Columns, raised Cornishes, Statues, and such other Orna∣ments as appertain to a King's Palace: In the Decoration of the Comick Scene are represent∣ed private Houses, with their Balconies and cross Bars, like common and ordinary Buildings: The Satyrical is adorned with Groves, Caverns, Moun∣tains, and whatever is represented in Land∣skips.

SCENE;

by this Word is also meant the Parts of a Drammatick Poem, when a fresh Actor enters upon the Stage, or that one that was thereon, goes off: A Drammatick Poem is divided into Acts, and Acts into Scenes.

SCHOENOBATES;

a kind of a Rope∣dancer, who tumbled about a Rope as a Wheel does round the Axle-tree, and hung by the Feet or Neck. Nicephorus Gregoras says, that these sorts of Tumblers or Rope-dancers lived in his time at Constantinople.

SCHOLASTICI;

those who assisted the Governours and Intendants of Provinces in the Exercise of their Office, and were as Councel∣lors, who drew up Petitions, and instructed them in Matters of Law.

SCRIBA;

a Secretary, who was an Officer appeartaining to the Publick or Magistrate, that wrote Acts or Decrees, and gave out Dispatches. Every Magistrate had his Secretary, so that there were Secretaries, whom they called Scribae Aedi∣litii, Praetorii, Quaestorii: They were not admit∣ted to the Management of the principal Offices

of the Republick, unless they relinquished their Profession, as we have an Instance of it in the Person of Cn. Flavius, a Libertine's Son, who was Secretary to an Aedilis Curulis, who ha∣ving sued for and obtain'd the Office of Aedile, was opposed therein, and not allowed to enter upon it, as Livy says, before he was first obliged by Oath to exercise the Profession of Secretary no more: They were called by other Names in the Time of the Emperors, viz. Notarii, be∣cause they made use of Abbreviations, and short Notes in writing, insomuch that they writ as fast as one could speak, of which Martial informs us, L. 14. Epigr. 208.

Currant verba licet, manus est velocior illis: Nondum lingua, suum dextra peregit opus.

SCRINIUM;

it was a Desk or Cub∣board to put Papers in, but we may call it an Office or Chamber.

SCRINIUM MEMORIAE;

a Place where Minutes were kept, to put a Person in remembrance of the Prince's Order, to the End he might afterwards dispatch Letters Patents at large for the same: There were 62 Secretaries, who were called Scriniarii Memoriae and Memo∣riales, belonging to this Office; 12 of whom served the Chancery; and 7 more named Anti∣quarii, whose Business it was to transcribe old Books, in order to transmit them to Posterity: The first of these Officers was called Magister Scrinii Memoriae, and received a Golden Belt from his Prince at the Time of his Creation.

SCRINIUM EPISTOLARUM;

the Office of those who wrote the Emperor's Letters; Augustus Caesar wrote his own Letters, and gave them afterwards to Maecenas and Agrippa to cor∣rect them, as Dio says, L. 35. Other Emperors commonly made use of Secretaries, to whom they dictated, or only contented themselves to tell them the Substance of such Things as they should write, and only subscribed underneath Vale with their own Hand.

SCRINIUM LIBELLORUM;

the Office of Requests, where the Petitions present∣ed to the Emperor to beg some Favour of him, were kept: In Pancirolus his Notiriâ Imperii, C. 96. we have the Copy of a Petition presented to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, by Arrius Alphius, the Freedman of Arria Fadilla, the Emperor's Mo∣ther, importing his begging leave to lay up the Bones of his Wife and Son in a Marble-Coffin, which before he had laid in an Earthen one, till such time as the Place which he had bought to erect a Monument for them, was ready: The Words are these: Cùm ante hos dies conjugem & silium amiserim, & pressus necessitate corpora eorum sarcophago fictili commendaverim, donec quietis lo∣cus quem emeram aedificaretur viâ Flaminiâ inter milliare secundum & tertium euntibus ab urbe parte laevâ, custodia monumenti Flam. Tymeles Amelosae M. Signii Orgili. Rogo, Domine, permittas mihi in eodem loco, in marmoreo sarcophago quem mihi modò comparavi, ea corpora colligere, ut quando & ego esse desiero, pariter cum iis ponar. The Answer below was: Decretum fieri placet. Jubentius Cel∣sus Promagister subscripsi.

SCRINIUM DISPOSITIONUM,

was the Office or Chamber where the Orders and Commands of the Emperor were dispatched, and he that was the chief Officer here was called Comes dispositionum.

SCRINIUM

VESTIMENTO∣RUM; the Wardrobe where the Emperor's Cloaths were kept.

SCRIPTURA;

a Tribute paid for Wood and Pasturage, and secured to him that bid most.

SCRUPULUS;

a Scruple; the least of the Weights used by the Ancients, and among the Romans was the 24th part of an Ounce.

SCULPTURA;

Sculpture; its an Art, whereby in taking from or adding to some Mat∣ter, are form'd all sorts of Figures, made of Earth, or Wax, or else of Wood, Stones or Met∣tals. Its very difficult, by reason of the Obscu∣rity of former Ages to find out who were the first Inventors of Sculpture; the Antiquity whereof is apparent to us from the Holy Scrip∣tures, by the Idols of Laban, which Rachel stole, and the Golden Calf made by the Children of Israel in the Wilderness: As to prophane Au∣thors who have written hereof, some will have it, that a Potter of Sicyone, whose Name was Dubitadus, was the first Sculptor; and that his Daughter first began Portraiture, by drawing her Lover's Picture upon the Shadow, which the Light of a Lamp marked upon a Wall: Others maintain that this Art had its Origin in the Isle of Samos, where Ideocus and Theodorus who were the Inventors of it, made some Pieces long be∣fore any mention was made of Dibutadus; that Demaratus, the Father of Tarquinius Priscus, was he that brought it into Italy, upon his reti∣ring thither; for having brought Eucirapus and Eutigrammus, who were excellent Artists in this kind, along with him, they communicated the same more especially to the Tuscans, who applied themselves to it, and went on with it to Perfecti∣on; that Tarquin caused one Taurianus after∣wards to come thither, who was one of the most famous of them, to make an Earthen Statue of Jupiter, and Four Horses of the same Mat∣ter to be placed in the Frontispiece of that God's. Temple: Its also thought, the same Sculptor made a Figure of Hercules, which was for a long time to be seen at Rome, and named upon ac∣count of the Matter whereof it was made Her∣cules of baked Earth.

There were several Sculptors in those Times, both in Greece and Italy, who wrought in Earth: There is mention made of Calcostenes, an Athe∣nian, who made his Name and House famous, upon account of the many Earthen Figures wherewith he adorned it; of Demophiles and Gorsanus, who were also Painters, and beautified the Temple of the Goddess Ceres with Pictures and Earthen Images; and so the Representati∣ons of all the Heathen Gods, were at first no o∣therwise than in Earth and Wood; and 'twas not so much because of the Brittleness of the Matter, and the little Value thereof, as from the Luxu∣ry and Riches of People, that they proceeded to make of Marble, and the most precious Met∣tals: In the mean time how rich soever the Mat∣ter was which Sculptors used, they never laid Earth aside, which they always used to make their Models of; and whether they went about to make them Statues of Marble, or cast them in Met∣tal, they never undertook these laborious Works, before they had first made a Model of Earth of them; and this without doubt gave Praxiteles occasion to say, that the Art of making Earthen Figures, was the Mother that as it were brought forth the Art of making Marble and Brass Fi∣gures; which began not to appear in its Perfecti∣on, till about 300 Years after the Building of Rome.

Phidias of Athens, who lived at that time, excelled all those that went before him, either in working in Marble, Ivory, or Mettals; but quickly after there came up a great Number of excellent Artists, who advanced Sculpture to the highest Pitch, it arrived to: For in Sicyone ap∣pear'd Polycletus, whose Figures were admired by all the World, and a Model for all those that studied the Art. Afterwards Myron came on, who was inimitable in all he did; Lysippus, whose Name will live as long as Alexander's, and who alone had the Reputation to cast that Prince his Statue in Brass; Praxiteles and Scopas, who made admirable Figures, and the Horses which are still to be seen at Rome before the Pope's Palace at Monte-Cavallo: This Scopas had Briaxis, Timo∣theus and Leochares for Competitors, who wrought at the famous Tomb of Mausolus, King of Ca∣ria: Fisodorus, Canachus, Daedalus, Buthireus, Myro's Disciple, Nyceratus, Euphranor, Theodo∣rus, Xenocrates, Phyromachus, and Stratonicus Anti∣gonus, who wrote a Treatise concerning his Art. Those excellent Persons, who made the Laocoon, viz. Agesander, Polydorus and Athenodorus, are all Three worthy of immortal Praise for such curi∣ous Workmanship; and an infinite Number more, the Names of some of whom have been trans∣mitted to Posterity, and others have perish'd with their Works. For, tho' there were so great a Number of Statues in Asia, Greece and Italy, and that in Rome alone, there were more, as was reported, than there were living Persons; yet at this Day there are but very few remaining, especially of any value. In the Time that Mar∣cus Scaurus was Edile, as he was obliged by his Place to provide for what was requisite towards the publick Rojoycings, he adorned the stately Theater, which he erected with 3000 brazen Statues; and tho' L. Mummius and Lucullus brought away a great Number out of Asia and Greece, yet there were still above 3000 remain∣ing in Rhodes, as many at Athens, and more at Delphi; but what is most strange, is the Big∣ness of the Figures, which those ancient Artists had the Courage to undertake: Amongst those which Lucullus caused to be transported to Rome, there was a Statue of Apollo 30 Cubits high; the Collossus of Rhodes, made by Cares of Lyndos, the Disciple of Lycippus, far exceeded it. Nero's Statue made by Xenodcrus after that of Mercu∣ry, was also of an extraordinary size, as being 110 Feet high. In the mean time 'tis to be observed, that Sculpture, after Phidias his Time, continued not in any great Perfection but for about 150 Years, and that then it began insen∣sibly to decline; not but that after the said time there were still some fine Pieces of Workmanship both in Greece and Italy, tho' not performed with so great a Fancy and exquisite Beauty: Be∣sides the Greek Statues are more esteemed for the Excellency of the Work: There is a special Difference between them and those of the Ro∣mans; in that the greatest part of the first are almost always naked, like those who wrestle or perform some other bodily Exercise, wherein the Youth of those Times placed all their Glo∣ry, whereas the others are clad or armed, parti∣cularly have the Toga on, which was the great∣est Mark of Honour among the Romans.

SECESPITA,

was the Knife wherewith they killed the Victims appointed for Sacrifices.

SECULUM;

an Age. This Word which is often used comprehends the Space of 100 Years compleat, according to Festus. Servius observes that an Age is also taken for the Space of 30 Years, sometimes for 110 and sometimes for 1000: The Ancients divided Time into Four Ages, which they called the Golden Age, that is attributed to Saturn's Reign, the Silver Age, to that of Jupiter, and the Brazen and Iron Ages, under which they comprehend that of the present Time.

SECULARES LUDI;

Secular Games, were formerly one of the most solemn Feasts kept at Rome: Several ancient Authors have writ concerning it; but their Works being lost, we should have remained ignorant of the chief Ceremonies thereof, if Zozimus, who lived to∣wards the End of the fourth Century, had not taken Care to give us an abridged Account thereof, in the second Book of his History, and what he says thereupon, we find confirmed and ex∣plained by some Medals of those Secular Plays still

in being, especially by those of Domitian: The O∣riginal therefore of the said Plays take as follows.

The City of Rome being afflicted with a great Plague, the very same Year wherein they ex∣pelled the Tarquins, Valerius Publicola, who was then Consul, in order to appease the Wrath of the Gods, ordered them to celebrate this So∣lemnity, the Ceremonies whereof were found in the Oracles of the Sibylls, which they kept with great Care; 'twas the Year after the Foun∣dation of Rome 245. according to the Calculati∣on of Varro, which is the best and most followed, that is 509, Years before our Saviour's Nativity. These Plays were called Secular, because they were obliged to renew them from Age to Age; that is every 100 Years, according to the most received Opinion; or every 110 Years, as the 15 Officers, called Quindecim-viri, pretended in Augu∣stus his Time, who at Rome were to look after the Ceremonies of Religion, and by the said Ex∣cuse found a Way to clear themselves before that Emperor, who accused them for not having celebrated the said Plays at the Time appointed, as you may see in Father Tassin the Jesuite's Treatise concerning the Secular Plays: Augustus having celebrated them under the Consulship of Furnius and Silanus in the Year of Rome 737. the Emperor Claudius would renew them Anno 800. because it was the Beginning of a Centu∣ry: But Domitian without any Respect to Clau∣dius, conformed himself to what Augustus had done, and celebrated them 103 Years after that Prince had done them, that is, in the Year of Rome 840. Some time before it was published over all the Empire, according to ancient Cu∣stom, That every one might come and see those Plays, which he never had seen nor never should again. They opened those Games thus. To∣wards the Beginning of Harvest, the Emperor, as sovereign Pontiff, haranged the People in the Capitol, and exhorted them to prepare them∣selves for so solemn a Feast, by purifying both their Bodies and Minds. The like Exhortati∣ons were made at the great Feasts, and parti∣cularly at the Mysteries of Ceres Eleusina, whose Ceremonies were very like those of the Secular Plays, as Herodian observes: The Emperor be∣ing seated on a Tribunal before a Temple, which was that of Jupiter Capitolinus, gave some Per∣fumes to be distributed to the People, and these Perfumes consisted of Sulphur and Bitumen; the Quindecim-viri received them of the Emperor, and afterwards distributed them among the Peo∣ple, adding thereunto a little Piece of Fir-wood, called Taeda; they-lighted it at one End, and threw some of the said Perfume upon it, the Smoak whereof every one caused to go round him, in order to purifie himself: They also gave of the same to Children, who were at Years of Understanding.

The Days whereon these Plays were to be celebrated being come, they began with a Pro∣cession, whereat the Priests of all the Colleges assisted; the Senate and all the Magistrates were present, the People being clad in White, crowned with Flowers, and every one having a Lawrel in his Hand. As they went along the Streets they sung some Verses made on Purpose for this Feast, and as they went into the Tem∣ples and Cross-ways worshipped the Statues of the Gods, which were exposed to view upon Beds of State, and these were called Lectisternia Deorum. They met in the Temples on the Three following Nights to watch there, and put up their Prayers and Sacrifices, and this was cal∣led Pervigilium; and to the end that nothing that was undecent might be committed in these pub∣lick Assemblies, the Youth of both Sexes assisted hereat under the Inspection of their Parents, or some Person at Years of Discretion of their Family, who might be responsible for their Be∣haviour, as Augustus had ordered it; and be∣cause this Feast was chiefly instituted to appease the Gods of Darkness, that is, Pluto, Proserpina, Ceres, the Destinies and Lucina; there were no other than black Victims offered to them, and that in the Night Time, which was then illu∣minated by the Fires made in the Streets and an infinite Number of Lamps lighted upon that Occasion. They then sacrificed a black Bull to Pluto, and a black Cow to Proserpina. On the Morrow during Day-light they offered the like Victims, but such as were white, to Jupiter and Juno. And this we learn from a Medal of Do∣mitian, where the said Emperor powers a Cup of Wine upon the Ashes of the Altar: Here you have Two Musitians also, one playing upon the Harp, and the other upon Two Flutes; a Man upon his Knees holding a Bull, to which, he that was to sacrifice him, whom they called the Vi∣ctimary, seemed to give a Blow on the Head with an Ax.

At these Sacrifices they brought the Victims washed and drest with Garlands of Howers, to the Altar, then Orders were given that all pro∣phane Persons should withdraw, and others be silent, and attentive to what was done. After this the Pontiff, who was the Emperor himself, put a little Flower mixed with Salt upon the Victim's Head and then poured a little Wine on, which he gave to the Assistants to taste: Then the Sacrificer presently gave the Victim a great Blow on the Head with his Ax, and his Throat being cut at the same Time by the other Offi∣cers, they presented his Blood to the grand Pontiff, who immediately powred it upon the Fire of the Altar: This being done, they nar∣rowly observed the Entrails of the Animal, from the different Disposition and Colour of which the Aruspices drew good or bad Omens; where∣in the Romans were so circumspect, and had so much Faith, that Julius Caesar himself, as Macro∣bius

says, at least writ Sixteen Books upon that Subject. They afterwards burnt the same En∣trails, when they had taken Three Turns round the Altar, offering this Sacrifice to the God or Goddess for whom the same was designed; and this they never did but they invoked all the other Gods at the same Time, as if they could do nothing but altogether; they usually reser∣ved the Victim for the Feast which was made; after the People were dismissed, with these Words, Iicet, that is, you may withdraw: These Sacrifices being over, they assisted at the pub∣lick Plays, which were more particularly conse∣crated to Apollo and Diana, and went to the Theater where Comedies were acted; and to the Circus, where they were entertained with Foot, Horse and Chariot Races: The Athletes also signalized themselves at Wrestling and o∣ther Exercises: In the Amphitheater they saw the Combats of the Gladiators, and wild Beasts fight, the last of which were brought thither on purpose from all Parts.

They resumed their Prayers and Sacrifices the second Night, which they addrest to the Destinies, and to whom they sacrificed a Sheep and a Goat, both black: Next Day such Wo∣men as were free and no Slaves, went to the Capitol and other Temples, where they made their Prayers to Jupiter and the other Gods be∣fore mentioned: There they sung Hymns, to intreat them to prosper the Empire and People of Rome, they also prayed for what related to their own particular Occasions, and among o∣ther things for Ease in Child-bearing: The rest of the Day was spent in publick Rejoycings, and much the same as those used the preced∣ing Day.

The third Night they sacrificed a Hog to the Earth, which the Ancients esteemed as one of their chief Goddesses, and adored under diffe∣rent Names; they believed this Animal to be the most pleasing Victim they could offer her, as well because it always looked towards the Earth, as by reason, they said, a Hog former∣ly eat the first Corn that was sowed: This Sa∣crifice was offered upon the Banks of the Tiber at a Place in Campus Martius, called Terentum, from the Verb Tero, to use, because the Bank of the River was there worn away, and as it were consumed by the Water. On the Day following which was the third and last of the Secular Games, they had Two Consorts of Musick, one consist∣ing of Boys, and the other of Girls, all of them of the best Families in Rome, and whose Parents were yet alive; a Circumstance observed, that there might be no Occasion administred for Mourning and Sadness at a Feast, where there should be nothing found but Joy: They sung an Hymn composed on Purpose for the Secular Plays; we have that extant which was sung in Augustus his Time, and composed by Horace, which is to be found in the End of his Book of Epods. It was undoubtedly, the same Day that was appointed for the Mystick Dance of the Salii, instituted formerly by Numa, second King of Rome; we should not have known that this Dance made one of the chief Ceremonies of the Secular Plays, if we had not learnt it from two Medals, one of Augustus, and the other of Domitian, which were stamped on purpose for these Plays, and upon which may be seen the Figure of a Salian, as re∣presented by the Ancients: He has a round Bon∣net on his Head, ending with two very long Corners; upon his particoloured Tunick, he wears a kind of a Coat of Arms, of which nothing but the Edges is to be seen, which consisted of Purple Bands fastned with Brass Buckles; he holds a small Rod in his Right Hand, and a Buck∣ler in the Left, in the midst whereof Minerva's Head is to be seen, she being the Goddess chosen by Domitian to be his Protectress: They assisted the same Day at the Shews, in the same manner as on the preceding Days. This Feast being o∣ver, the Emperor gave the Offerings to such Officers, as were to take care of these Ceremo∣nies, who distributed part of the same amongst the People. They afterwards recorded these Plays in the publick Registries, and inscribed them on Marble.

They were called Secular Games, because the Time prescribed between the Celebration of one and the other of them had the same Extent as the longest Life of Man, which is that called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 by the Greeks, but Seculum by the Romans. In short, this Solemnity contributed very much to the Diverting of the Plague, Morality, and other Epidemical Distempers; and now we will give you the Occasion of the Institution of them. Valesius, from whom the Family of the Valefii among the Sabines was descended, having a Wood before his House, the tall Trees whereof were reduced to Ashes by Thunder, he was troubled that he could not understand the Rea∣son of such a Prodigy. In a short Time after, his Children happening to fall sick of a dange∣rous Distemper, against which no medicinal Remedies could prevail, he had Recourse to the Aruspices, who telling him, that the manner of the Thunder denoted that the Gods were very angry, he went in the Way of his Duty to ap∣pease them, by Sacrifices; and being both him∣self and his Wife extreamly concerned for the Safety of his Children, of which they had no Hopes, he prostrated himself at the Feet of a Statue of Vesta, making a Tender to that God∣dess of his own, and their Mother's Life to re∣deem theirs; then turning his Eyes towards the Wood that had been burnt, he thought he had heard a Voice commanding him to go to Taren∣tum, and there give them some of the Water of the Tiber to drink, after he had warmed it upon the Fire of Pluto and Proserpina's Altar: At

these Words he despaired still the more of the Lives of his sick Children; for how should he find the Water of the Tiber at Tarentum, which was a little Town scituated in the farther Part of Italy; besides he took it for an ill Augury, for him to heat that Water upon the Altar of the Infernal Gods: The Aruspices had no better Opinion of it than he, however they advised him to obey, wherefore he embarked with his Children upon the Tiber, and took care to carry Fire along with him, but finding he could do it no longer because of its excessive Heat, he caused the Men to row toward a Place on the Shore, where the Stream was not so rapid, and having stopped near a Shepherd's Cottage; he came to know of the said Shepherd that the Name of the Place was Tarentum or Terentum, as well as the City scituate in the Promontory of Iapyx: He gave God Thanks for this good News, caused the Water of the Tiber to be warmed upon the Fire he had lighted, and no sooner gave it his Children to drink but they fell asleep; and when they awoke, found them∣selves well. They told their Father, that while they were asleep, a Man of an extraordinary Size appeared to them, who had an Air all Di∣vine, and commanded them to offer black Vi∣ctims to Pluto and Proserpina, and to spend Three Nights successively in singing and dancing to the Honour of those Deities in a Place in Campus Matrius, appointed for the exercising of Horses: Vaicsius going about to lay the Foun∣dations of an Altar there, had not dug very far, but he found one to his Hand with this In∣scription:

TO PLUTO AND PROSERPINA.

And having then his Doubts fully cleared to him, he sacrificed black Victims on the said Al∣tar, and spent Three Nights in this Place as 'twas ordered him to do: Now this ••ar had been erected for those Gods upon a remarkable Occasion during the War of the Romans against the Albans; whea their Armies were just going to engage, all on a sudden there appeared a Man with a monstrous Aspect and clad in black Skins, crying out with a loud Voice, That Fluto and Proserpina commanded them before they en∣gaged, to sacrifice to them under Ground, after which he vanished: The Romans being astoni∣shed at this Apparition, immediately built an Altar 20 Foot deep under Ground, and after having sacrificed according to Order, they co∣vered it, to the end no Body but themselves might have Knowledge of it: Valesius having found it, after he had offered Victims thereon, and spent the Nights in the Rejoycings prescri∣bed by the Gods, he was called Manius Valerius Terentinus; Manius in Commemoration of the Infernal Gods called Manes by the Latins, Vale∣rius from the Word valeo which signifies to be in Health, and Terentinus, in respect to the Place where he had offered Sacrifices.

Sometime after this Adventure, that is, the first Year after the Expulsion of the Tarquins, the City of Rome being afflicted with the Plague, Publius Valertus Publicola, who was then Con∣sul, freed the People from this Evil, by offer∣ing in the same Place a black Ox to Pluto, and a black Cow to Proserpina, and he caused this Inscription to be graven on the same Altar;

Publius Valerius Publicola hath conse∣crated a Fire to Pluto and Proserpina in Campus Martius; and celebra∣ted Games in Honour of the said Gods, for the Deliverance of the People of Rome.

Rome being after that afflicted with Wars and Pestilence in the Fourth Consulship of Marcus Potitus, 352 Years after the Foundation there∣of, the Senate ordered the Sibyll's Books to be consulted by those whose Business it was: They answered, that those Evils would be at an end, if they did but offer Sacrifices to Pluto and Pro∣serpina: They presently sought out the Place where the Altar of these Gods was buried, found it, and consecrated it anew, and they had no sooner finish'd their Sacrifices thereon, but the Romans found themselves freed from the Evils they laboured under; after which they buried the said Altar again, and the same is in a certain Place at the End of Campus Martius; but these Sacrifices having been neglected from the Consulship of Lucius Cénsorinus, and Manli∣us Puelius, and new Misfortunes befalling them in Augustus his Reign, the said Prince renew'd those Plays under the Consulship of Lucius Cen∣sormus, and Caius Sabinus, after Ateius Capito had informed them of the Ceremonies they were to observe thereat, and that the Quindecim-viri, in whose Custody the Sibyll's Books were, had found out the Place where the Sacrifices and Shews ought to be performed. The Emperor Claudius, after Augustus caused the same Games to be celebrated, without any regard had to the Law, that required they should not be per∣formed, but once every Age. Afterwards Do∣mitian not minding what Claudius had done, celebrated them at the full Revolution of an Age from the time of Augustus his solemnizings of them: Lastly, Severus assisted by his Sons Caracalla and Geta, renewed the same Games un∣der the Consulship of Chilo and Libo.

Here follows the Manner how these Plays are set down in the publick Registers; the He∣ralds went about to invite the People to a Shew

which they had never seen, and should never see again but this once: Harvest-time being come a few Days before this Feast, the Quinde∣cim-viri, whose Business it was to look after the Ceremonies of Religion, sate upon a Tribunal before the Capitol and Apollo's Temple, from whence they distributed Torches of Sulphur, and Bitumen, to the People which every one used to purifie himself with: They gave none to the Slaves, but only to such as were free: After∣wards all the People went to the Temples we have mentioned, and to that of Diana upon Mount Aventine; every one of which carried some Wheat, Barley and Beans thither, and kept the sacred Eve there all Night in Honour of the Destinies with a great deal of Company: Last∣ly, They solemnized this ••east for Three Days and Three Nights, beginning with offering Sa∣crifices in Campus Martius upon the Banks of the Tiber in a Place named Terentum: The Gods to whom they offered, were Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, Latona and Diana, as also the Destinies, Lucina, Ceres, Pluto and Proserpina. The first Night Two Hours after Sun-set, the Emperor being assisted by the Quidecim-viri, of whom before, sacrificed Three Lambs upon Three Altars raised upon the Banks of the Tiber, and when he had sprinkled the Altars with the Victims Blood, he burnt them all whole, during which Time the Mu∣sicians who were set upon an advanced Place, sung an Hymn made for that Purpose: They lighted Fires and Lamps every where, and gave Shews that agreed with those Sacrifices: Those who were to provide for Ceremonies, by way of Recompence receiv'd the first Fruits of the Earth; after some of them had been distribu∣ted to all the People: In the Morning they met in the Capitol, from whence after they had sacrificed the usual Victims, they went to the Theater to celebrate Games there in Honour of Apollo and Diana: On the second Day the Wo∣men of Quality went to the Capitol, at the Hour assigned them in the Sibyll's Books, and there sacrificed to Jupiter, and sung Hymns in his Praise. Lastly, On the third Day, a Com∣pany of Youths of good Birth, to the Num∣ber of 27, and as many young Girls, all whose Parents were alive, in fix Chorus's, sung Hymns in Greek and Latin, and Sacred Songs, for the obtaining all manner of Prosperity to the Cities of Rome. There were moreover many other Things done according to the Prescription of the Gods, and as long as these Ceremonies were observed, the Roman Empire remained entire; but to the end you may know the Truth of what has been said, I'll here recite the Oracle of the Sibylle her self, as others have already done.

Roman, remember every 110th Year, which is the longest Time of the Duration of a Man's Life; I say, remember to offer Sacrifice to the immortal Gods, in the Field, that is watered by the Tiber. When the Night is come, and that the Sun is set, then offer Goats and Sheep to the Destinies; afterwards offer proper Sacrifices to Lucina, who presides over Child-bearing; next sacrifice a Hog and a black Sow to the Earth; and this done, offer white Oxen on Ju∣piter's Altar; and this must be performed in the Day-time, and not by Night; for those Sacrifices that are made in the Day-time please the Coelestial Gods; by the same Reason thou shall offer to Juno a young Cow that has a good Hide; the like Sacrifices thou shall make to Phoebus-Apolio, the Son of Latona, who is also called the Sun; and let the Roman Boys, ac∣companied with Girls, sing Hymns with a loud Voice in the Sacred Temples, but so that the Girls sing on one side, and the Boys on the other, and the Parents both of the one and the other must be then alive; let married Women fall upon their Knees before Juno's Altar, and pray that Goddess to give Ear to the publick Vows, and theirs in particular; let every one according to his Ability offer first Fruits to the Gods, to render them propitious, and these first Fruits ought to be kept with Care, and they must not forget to distribute some of them to every one that assists at the Sacrifices; let there be a great Number of People Night and Day at the Resting-places of the Gods, and there let serious and diverting Things be agreeably intermix'd: See therefore, O Roman, that these Injunctions be always kept in mind by thee; and thus the Country of Italy, and that of the Latins will always be subject to thy Power.

SELLA SOLIDA;

a Chair or Seat made of a piece of Wood, wherein the Augurs sate, when they were taking their Augury.

SELLA CURULIS;

the Curule-Chair, which was adorned with ivory, and on which the great Magistrates of Rome had a Right to sit and to be carried.

SEMELE;

the Daughter of Cadmus, King of Thebes, with whom Jupiter was in Love; Juno being jealous perswaded Semele, whom Jupiter loved, to lie with him in all his Glory; insomuch that the Fire of his Thunderbolt catching hold on the Wainscot of her Chamber, burnt her: All that could be done upon this Occasion, was to save the Child, for she was big, and to take him hot out of his Mother's Womb, and put him in Jupiter's Thigh, where he staid his time, and was called Bacchus.

SEMENTINAE FERIAE;

Feasts in∣stituted in Seed-time, in order to pray unto the Gods to vouchsafe them a plentiful Harvest.

SEMONES;

Demi-Gods: Fulgentius in his Treatise of ancient Words, says, that the Ancients would have the Semones to be the cer∣tain Gods, who were not of the Number of the Coelestial Deities, but such as were Demi-Gods, quasi semi-homines.

SENACULA;

they were Places where the Senate of Rome met, of which there were Three.

SENATOR;

a Senator. Romulus institu∣ted the first Hundred Senators at Rome, which made up the King's Council: In order to be a Senator, a Man must be a Citizen of Rome, or of one of the Municipal Cities that had the same Privileges or Freedom: Respect was had to their Manners, Birth and Estate; for a Senator ought to have a Revenue of 4000 Pounds for the Main∣tenance of his Dignity; but Augustus required he should have 300000 Crowns: Senatorum cen∣sum ampliavit, says Suetonius, ac pro octinginto∣rum millium summâ, duodecies H. S. taxavit, sup∣plevitque non habentibus. He was to be at least Thirty Years old before he was made a Se∣nator.

We are not without Instances of Children af∣franchized, and of Persons yet of a meaner Con∣dition, and even Strangers, who have arrived at the Dignity of Senators; but this was brought about either by Intreague, or the Emperor's Authority. The Choice of Senators belonged at first to the Kings; the Consuls afterwards were invested with this Power; and lastly, the Censors being obliged every five Years to take an Account of them, substituted others in the room of those that were dead, or had been de∣graded: But in the decaying Time of the Repub∣lick, the Emperors arrogated this Power to themselves, and made as many Senators, and of what Quality they pleased.

The Number of Senators varied according to various Times: Romulus at first created a Hun∣dred of them, which he called Patres; and after the Alliance made with the Sabines, increased their Number to a Hundred more. Tarquinius Priscus, according to Livy, or as others will have it, King Servius added also an Hundred, which he named Patres minorum gentium, because they were not of so noble an Extract as the former. This Number of 300 Senators continued to the Time of C. Gracchus, Tribune of the People; who opposing the Nobles, made the Peo∣ple add 300 Roman Knights to the rest, in order to counterballance the Number of the 300 Senators: Thus the Number of 600 Senators lasted to the Time of Julius Caesar, who being willing to gratifie a great many brave Men, who had faithfully served him in his Wars a∣gainst Pompey; increased the Number to 1000 of all sorts of People, without distinction. But Augustus to purge this Body that was in an ill habit, reduced it to the former Number of 600, and expelled such as were most unfit for the Dignity; and this he did with so much Mode∣ration, that in order to make those easie whom he thus reduced, he granted them to wear the Lati∣clavium, and allowed them the Priviledge to assist at the Plays with other Senators in the Or∣chestra; as also at publick Feasts, which were so∣lemnized with Plays and Triumphs. And so of the 300 Senators, the 200 created by Romulus were called Patritii majorum geniium, and the other 100 Adlecti, or Conscripti, a Name which after∣wards continued to be given to the whole Se∣nate.

Among these Senators, there was some who had a decisive Vote, and spoke their Sentiments in the Matters that were proposed; and others who did no more than follow those Sentiments which to them appear'd most reasonable; and this made them be called Pediarii Senatores, who did not declare their own Opinions, but sided with those whose Opinions they approved of: Qui senten∣tiam in Senatu non verbis dicerent, sed in alienam sententiam pedibus irent. Aulus Gellius rejects this Interpretation, and seems to follow that of Q. Bassus, who says in his Commentaries, that those of the Senators who had never bore the Office of Curule-Magistrate, went a foot to the Senate; and for that Reason were called Pedarii Senatores: But Varro pretends, that the Advice of such Senators as were last admitted, was not asked, and that they were obliged to espouse some others Opinion: Et qui in postremis scripti erant, he speaks of the List of Censors, non ro∣gabantur sententias, sed quas principes duxer ant, in eas descendebant: For which reason Laberius says, that a Pedarian Senator's Vote was a Head with∣out a Tongue,

Caput sine linguâ pedaria sententia est.

Hence it is that when the Consuls would have the Senate meet, they must say, Senatores, qui∣busque in Senatu sententiam dicere licet; and this shews the Difference between sententiam verbis dicere, and sententiam pedibus ferre, or dicere, which appertained to none but the Senatores Pedarii.

The Senators wore a very large Purple Tu∣nick, with broad Edges called Lati-clavium; from which the Senators were called Lati-clavii, they had a Right to sit or be carried in the Curule-Chair, to assist at Plays and Shews in the Or∣chestra, and likewise at Feasts and the Banquet consecrated to Jupiter in the Capitol. The Cen∣sors took an Account of them every five Years, calling them with a loud Voice; and those whom they passed over, were degraded from the Order of Senators, which was called Praeterire: But if the Person who was passed over was minded to oblige the Censor to tell the Reason of it, he was under an Obligation to do it, says Lipsius, and then he was degraded with the greater Ignomi∣ny and Shame; this being called ejicere Senatu. He who was thus degraded had the Remedy of appealing to the People, who in spight of the Censor, did many times re-establish him.

SENATUS;

the Senate; a Body consist∣ing of Councellors of State, commonly called Senators, constituted to give Advice to those who had the Sovereign Authority vested in them; they called them Senators, that is, Old Men, wherein the Romans imitated the Greeks, who called their Senate 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, An Assembly of Old Men: So when the Athenians assembled the People to consult about the Affairs of the Publick, the Officers summoned none but such as were Fifty Years old: The E∣gyptians and Persians followed the same Example after the Hebrews. The Lacedamonians and Carthaginians received none but such as were Sixty Years of Age.

The Senate's Authority in the Republick of Rome was very considerable; they decided concerning what was to be done in Matters of Peace and War, without saying any thing to the People, to whom the Sentiments of the said Bo∣dy were communicated in these Terms, Senatus decrevit, populus jussit. It was the Senate's Right to give the first Audience to Foreign Embassa∣dors, to dispose of Provinces, appoint Triumphs, and recerve Letters from the Generals of their Armies concerning the Success of the Republick's Arms. Their Power came somewhat to be les∣sened under the Emperors; for Augustus con∣stituted to himself a Privy-Council, consisting of a certain Number of Senators, with whom he consulted concerning the most important Af∣fairs of State. Tiberius endeavoured by little and little to assume the Power into his own Hands. Nero on the contrary ordered, that the Senate should retain their ancient Rights and Priviledges; but we may say with Tacitus, that all this was but a specious Pretence, wherewith he was minded to colour his Usurpations. All Authors are agreed, that the Senate of Rome, was of great Dignity and Authority, but had not a full Power, nor an absolute Dominion, they having none to command, and much less to exe∣cute their Orders, as Dionysius of Hallicarnassus has well observed; and so we meet with divers Passages in Livy to this Purpose; Senatus decre∣vit, populus jussit, that is, the Senate have thought it good, and the People commanded it: And, in short, the least Tribune, that opposed the Se∣nate, could obstruct all their Decrees, and the Senate gave out their Orders to the Consuls and Praetors, no otherwise than if it pleased them, si eis it a videtur.

All the great Magistrates had a Right to en∣ter into the Senate, but not to give their Opi∣nions there, unless they were Senators: The Se∣nators Children had also the same Right that they might betimes use themselves to the Af∣fairs of the Republick: The Tribunes of the People at first stood at the Door of the Senate to know their Deliberations, and to oppose them in case they were contrary to the Rights of the People, but they were afterwards admitted in: The Consuls, Dictators, Tribunes of the Peo∣ple, and the Governour of Rome in the Consul's Absence, had a Right to call the Senate toge∣ther; which they did in these Words, Quod fau∣stum felixque sit, P. Cornel. Cos. edicit sic Sena∣tores, quibusque in Senatu sententiam dicere licet, conveniant ad XIII. Cal. Jan. They notified the Place and Day, which was pitched upon some∣times in one, and sometimes in another Place.

The Senate usually met three times a Month, viz. on the Calends, Nones and Ides, according to Suetonius; and this stated Assembly was called legitimus Senatus; and all the Senators were obli∣ged to be present under the Penalty of a Fine: They might be extraordinarily called together any Day in each Month, and this they called Senatus indictus or edictus. These Assemblies might be held from Morning to Evening in three places in the City appointed for this Purpose, viz. in the Temple of Concord, between that Place and the Capitol, at the Gate Capena, and in the Temple of Bellona, where they gave Foreign Embassadors Audience, before they were intro∣duced into the City: There were also a great many more places appointed for this Purpose, as Curia Hostilia, Pompeia, and Julia, which the Augurs first consecrated, according to Aulus-Gellius and Varro.

The Assembly of the Senate began with a Sa∣crifice offered to the Gods, but Augustus altered this Custom, and ordered every Senator, to of∣fer a Sacrifice of Wine and Incense upon the Altar of the God, in whose Temple the Senate met, before he took his Seat, or could consult about any Business, as Suetonius in his Life, C. 35. informs us. After which he was obliged to take an Oath, by touching the Altar, and calling the Gods to witness it, that he would give his Opi∣nion with Sincerity, and without Hattery: This Ceremony was exprest by these Words, Jure∣jurando obstringere Senatum, and from thence came Juratus Senatus, as we read in Tacitus, Lib. 4. Annal. This being done, the Senators took their Places when the Consul, or he who sate as President, proposed both the publick and private Affairs, which they were to consult a∣bout, and ended with these Words: P. Conscripti, quid fieri placet?

When the Question was put about the choosing of an Emperor to succeed Aurelian, the Senate having met in Curia Pompilia, Cornificius Gor∣dianus the Consel proposed the Thing in this manner: Referimus ad vos P. C. quod sapè re∣tulimus. Imperator est deligendus. Exercitus fine Principe diutiùs stare non potest; and concluded, Quare agite P. C. & Principem dicite: Aut acci∣ptet exercitus quem elegeritis; aut fi refutaverit, alterum faciet. He asked their Opinion, and began with the Highest, and so on to the Low∣est: This Method was not always observed;

for sometimes they asked the Opinion of one and then of another, without any regard had to their Quality; these Votes were given either Viva voce, or only by holding up the Hand, or else by separating into two Parties; and this is comprehended by Flavius Vopiscus in a single Passage of Aurelian's Life: Post haec, says he, in∣terrogati plerique Senatores sententias dixerunt; deinde aliis manus porrigentibus, aliis pedibus in sententias euntibus: plerisque verbo consentientibus conditum est Senatûs consultum.

When the Debate contained several Heads, which required several Opinions to be given, they debated each of them in particular, divide∣batur sententia: When any Business was deter∣mined by a Plurality of Voices; the Consul pro∣nounced the Decree of the Senate in these Words:

S. C. A.

By these Three Letters they meant Senatus-Consulti Authoritates, the usual Title of all the Decrees of the Senate. Pridie Kalend. Octobris in aede Apollinis scribendo adfuerunt L. Domitius, Cn. filius, Aenobarbus, Q. Caecilius, Qu. F. Me∣tellus, Pius Scipio, &c. Quod Marcellus Consul. V. F. (i. e. verba fecit) de Provinciis Consularibus, D. E. R. I. C. (that is, de eâ re ita censue∣runt) uti L. Paulus, C. Marcellus Coss. cùm Magi∣stratum inissent, &c. de Consularibus Provinciis ad Senatum referrent, &c. and after having ex∣plained the Matter in Debate, and the Senate's Resolution, he adds, Si quis huic Senatus-consulto intercesserit, Senatui placere auctoritatem perscribi, & de eâ re ad Senatum populumque referri. After which if any one opposed it, they wrote his Name underneath; Huic Senatûs-consulto inter∣cessit talis. Auctoritatem or auctoritates perscribere, is to register the Names of those who have a∣greed to the Decree, and caused it to be regi∣stred: The Consuls at first carried the Minutes of the Decrees to their own Houses, but because of the Alterations sometimes made therein, it was ordered in the Consul hip of L. Valerius and M. Horatius, that the Senate's Decrees should be laid up in the Temple or Ceres under the Cu∣stody of the Aediles; and at last the Censors car∣ried them into the Temple of Liberty, putting them up in the Armories called Tabularia.

SENECA;

a Philosoper, Nero's Praeceptor and Governour of the Empire during his Mino∣rity: This Emperor put him to Death, as su∣specting him to have a Hand in Piso's Conspiracy. He died by opening his Veins and bleeding to Death.

SENTINUS DEUS;

a God who gives Thought to an Infant in his Mother's Womb, according to the Fable.

SEPTA;

Inclosures or Rails made of Boards thró' which they went in to give their Votes in the Assemblies or the Romans.

SEPTEMBER.

The Seventh Month of the Year, if you reckon from the Vernal Equi∣nox, and the Ninth, if you begin with January; they celebrated divers Feasts at Rome in this Month, such as the Dionysiaqui or the Vintages; the great Circensian Games: the Dedication of the Capitol, &c. See Calendarium. They would have given the Names of divers Roman Empe∣rors to this Month, the Senate would have had it called Tiberius in Honour of the Emperor Ti∣berius, as Suetonius in his Life informs us, C. 26. Domitian named it Germanicus, according to the Authority of the same Author. They gave it the Name of Antoninus, in Honour of the Me∣mory of Antoninus Pius, as Julius Capitolinus re∣lates in his Life: The Emperor Commodus na∣med it Herculeus or Hercules, as Herodian says: And lastly, the Emperor Tacitus would have it called Tacitus after his own Name, as Vopiscus says; but for all these, it has always retained the Name of September, given it by Numa. This Month was under Vulcan's Protection: On the 1st Day of it there was a Feast celebrated in Honour of Neptune; the 2d Day was remarkable for Augustus his Victory over Antony and Cleo∣patra in the Fight of Actium. On the 4th the Roman Games were celebrated, which lasted Eight Days. The Eighth was remarkable for the taking of Jerusalem by Vespatian. The 13th the Praetor drove the Nail into the Wall of Mi∣nerva's Temple, thereby to denote the Num∣ber of the Years of the Roman Empire, Writing being not frequently used; but afterwards the Ce∣remony of driving the Nail was applied to other Uses, especially to make the Plague cease, and for that end they constituted a Dictator. On the 14th there was a Cavalcade of Horses, in order to try them, which they called Equiria. On the 20th Romulus his Birth-day was celebrated. On the 23d that of Augustus by the Roman Knights, and the same lasted Two whole Days: The 25th was dedicated to Venus: The 30th they prepared a Banquet for Minerva, and cele∣brated a Feast called Meditrinalia.

SEPTIMIANA PORTA;

it was one of the Gates of Rome between the Tiber and the Janiculum, being so named from Septimius Se∣verus, according to Spartian in his Life, where he caused Baths to be built for the Publick Use.

SEPTIMONTIUM,

the Seven Moun∣tains of the City of Rome, whereon they cele∣brated a Feast called Septimontium.

SEPTIZONIUM;

They were Baths built by Septimius Severus on the other Side of the Tiber, on Seven Rows of Pillars.

SEPTUNX;

Seven Ounces of the Weights of a Roman Pound.

SEPULCRA.

See Sepulturae.

SEPULTURE;

Buryings; the Pagans always had a Regard to the Care that was taken of Sepulcres, as a Religious Duty grounded up∣on

the Fear of God, and the Belief of the Soul's Immortality; and the Ancients accounted the Buryings of the Dead to be a Thing so holy and inviolable that they attributed the original Invention thereof to one of the Gods, viz. to him whom the Greeks called Pluto, and the Ro∣mans Dis or Summanus. Priam in Homer's I∣liads asks and obtains a Cessation of Arms for burying the Dead on both Sides; and in ano∣ther Place Jupiter interposed and sent Apollo to procure Sarpedon to be buried: Iris also is sent by the Gods to stir up Achilles to fight, and to pay this Duty to Patroclus: Thetis promised Achilles she would take care his Body should not corrupt, though he lay unburied a whole Year. Homer grounds this upon the Ceremonies of the Egyptians; for the People of Memphis did not bury their Dead till after they had examined into the Deceased's Life, and if they found him to have been an ill Liver, Burial was denied him: This Refusal was the Cause why they would not allow the Bodies of the Wicked to be carried to the other Side of the River and Ma∣rish, near unto which lay the Graves of the Just. And hence it was, that to be deprived of a Burial, was a kind of an Excommunication by which the Soul was excluded from the Elisian Fields, and loaded with Infamy: In speaking of these Burials I make use of the Terms in Fashi∣on now-a-days, and such as have been used long before Homer; for in those ancient Times they put the Bodies into the Earth, after they had inbalmed them, as we do now. The most anci∣ent Books of the History of the Old Testament bear witness hereof, and furnish us with divers Examples in the Persons of Abraham, Isaac, Ja∣cob and Joseph; but in the Book of Kings it seems as if there were some Examples of a con∣trary Custom that was introduced of burning the Bodies. It was about Homer's Time: Thus in his Iliads and Odysses you find all the Bodies of the Dead consumed with Fire: The Terms of Interring and Burying have been always com∣monly used, either because the same could not be abolished, or because there was still some∣thing remaining either of Bones or Ashes which the Fire consumed not, and which they interred in Urns. The Places appointed for Buryings grew to be sacred, and were reckoned in the Number of holy and unalienable Things: They anciently allowed a Burial to those who were put to Death for their Offences. Josephus, L. 4. C. 6. of the Antiquities of the Jews, against Appian L. 2. says, that Moses commanded those to be buried who had suffered Death according to the Laws. The Romans practised the same Thing: Pilate gave Leave to take down the Body of the Son of God, and to lay it in a Tomb, tho' he were put to Death as a Person guilty of Trea∣son. The Emperors Dioclesian and Maximinian ordered that they should not hinder the burying of those who had suffered Punishment by Death, the Romans being of Opinion, that the Souls of such Bodies as were not buried, wandered up and down for an Hundred Years, as not being able to get into the Elisean Fields: Haec omnis quam cernis, inops, inhumataque turba est. Virg. Aen. 6. In the mean time, Suetonius in the Life of Augustus says the Contrary: Ʋni sepultu∣ram precanti respondisse dicitur, jam illum in volu∣crum potestatem fore: When a Prisoner of War pray'd for Leave that he might be buried; the Answer made him was, that he should quickly become Birds Food; and Horace says, Non bo∣minem occidisti, non pasces in cruce corvos; thou has killed no Man, therefore thou shall not be Crows Meat.

SEPULCRA;

Sepulchres, Tombs, Fune∣ral Monuments. They were Places appointed wherein to bury the Bodies of the Deceased, or the Bones and Ashes of the Bodies which they burned. The Pyramids were built for Sepulcres to the Kings of Egypt: Those who violated the Sepulcres of the Dead, or searched them, were hated by all Nations, and very severly puni∣shed: It was in order to comfort themselves upon Account of their Mortal State, that the Egyptians built them Eternal Houses, as they were wont to call those Sepulchres, whereas they honoured their Pallaces and Mansion Houses on∣ly with the Title of Inns, in Regard to the short Time we dwell here on Earth in Comparison of the Stay we make in the Grave.

Perpetuas sine fine domos mors incolit atra. Aeternosque levis possidet umbra Laros.

It was not enough that the most famous Per∣sons among the Heathens bore witness by their Conduct, that Vanity was the chief Spring of their Actions, without they also made the same to survive after their Deaths; the Mauso∣leums, Obelisques, and stately Monuments e∣rected by them are Eternal Proofs thereof;

It was a fine Thing, said a Queen, in Herodotus his History, to be honoured after her Death with a magnificent Monument which should be a Testimony of our Glory to Posterity.

Varro speaks of a Barber whose Name was Licinus, that had the Ambition to have a Marble Tomb e∣rected for him.

Marmoreo, Licinus tumulo jacet; & Cato, parvo; Pompeius nullo: Credimus esse Deos.

Cestius his Pyramid which is still in being at Rome, and which had within it a Room painted by a very good Master among the Ancients, is only the Tomb of a private Person. Persons of Quality had their burying Vaults, wherein they placed the Ashes of their Ancestors, and formerly there was such an one at Nismes with

a rich Pavement of inlaid Work, that had Ni∣ches round its Walls, in each of which there were Rows of Urns of gilt Glass full of Ashes. The Romans after the Expulsion of their Kings did no longer bury their Dead within the City, the same being expresly forbidden by the Law of the 12 Tables, In urbe ne sepelito ne-ve urito, in or∣der to prevent an Infection which the buried Corps might occasion in so hot a Climate as Italy, and also to avoid Fires, as it happened at the Fu∣neral Solemnities of Clodius, who was burnt in the Place of the Rostra, for the Fire catched hold of the Palace, and burnt all the Front looking to∣wards the Place with several neighbouring Houses. Altho' the Laws of the 12 Tables for∣bad the burying of any Body within the City Walls, yet there were some Romans who had that Priviledge both before and after the making of the said Law, as the Family of the Claudii, who had a Burying-place in the Capitol, so had also Valerius Publicola and Posthumius Tubertus, to whom and their Descendants the People of Rome by a particular Order granted Liberty to be bu¦ried within the City: Indeed Plutarch writes, that in his Time they interred none there of Publicola's Race, they thinking it enough to put a burning Torch over the Burying place, which was presently taken off, in order to shew they had a Priviledge to bury there, but they volun∣tarily divested themselves of that Honour, and carried their dead Bodies to the Burying-place they had in the Country of Velia; those Persons also enjoy'd the same Priviledge, who had done any considerable Service for the Commonwealth, or triumphed over the Enemies of the Empire: The Vestal Virgins, as well as the Emperors, had a Right to be buried there; but otherwise besides the Three sorts of Persons now mention∣ed, we do not find in History that any other was buried in the City. The Emperor Adrian laid a Fine of Four Pieces of Gold upon those that bu∣ried within the City, and extended the Penalty to the very Magistrates that did allow it; he did moreover injoin, as Ʋlpian the Lawyer says, that the Burying-place should be forfeited and held prophane, and that the Body or Ashes of him that was buried there should be taken up. This Edict was renewed by the Emperors Dioclesian and Maximinian in the Year of Rome 1042. and of our Redemption 290. on the 28th of Sep∣tember.

They built Burying-places upon the most fre∣quented High-ways, as upon the Road to Brun∣dusium, called via Appia; upon via Flaminia or Latina, whereon stood the Burying-places of the Calatini, Scipio's, Servilii and Marcelli; and this with an Intent to put Passengers in mind of their Mortal State, and to excite them to imitate the Vertues of those great Men, who were repre∣sented upon those stately Tombs, or in the In∣scriptions on them. Agenus Ʋrbious mentions some other Places in the Suburbs, that were used for Sepulcres, one of which was named Culinae, wherein the Poor and Slaves were buried, ano∣ther Sestertium, where their Bodies were laid who were put to Death by the Emperors.

There were some Burying-places belonging to certain Families, and others Hereditary: Those belonging to certain Families were such as a Person caused to be built for himself and all his Family, that is, his Children and near Rela∣tions, and also his Freed-men: Hereditary Se∣pulcres were those which the Testator appoint∣ed for himself and his Heirs, or acquired by Right of Inheritance: Persons might reserve unto themselves a particular Burying-place, where no other had been laid; they could also by Will hinder any of their Heirs to be interred in the Burying-place belonging to their Family; and when they were minded to shew that it was not allowed an Heir to be buried in a Sepulchre, they inscribed these Letters upon it, which are still to be met with in a great many Places. H. M. H. N. S. that is, Hoc monumentum he∣redes non sequitur, or these, H. M. ad H. N. TRANS. that is, Hoc monumentum ad heredes non transit: The Right of Burying here does not descend unto the Heir: They had also another sort of a Burying-place which they called by a Greek Word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which signifies a Sepul∣chre made in Honour of some Person, and where∣in his Body is not laid, the Use of these empty Sepulchres came up from a Superstitious Opi∣nion the Ancients entertained, that the Souls of those whose Bodies were not buried, wander∣ed by the Sides of the Rivers of Hell for an Hun∣dred Years, and could not pass over. They first made a Tomb of Turf, which they called Injectio glebae: After which they practised the same Ce∣remonies, as if the Corps were actually there. Thus Virgil, in L. 6. makes the Soul of Deipho∣bus pass over to Charon, tho' Aeneas had erect∣ed him no more than a Cenotaphium, or empty Tomb. Suetonius in the Life of the Emperor Claudius calls them Honorary Tombs; and they were inscribed with these Words, Ob Honorem, or Memoriae; whereas on others where they de∣posited their Ashes, these Letters were put, D. M. S. in order to shew they were dedicated to the Manes: When the Words Tacito nomine were added, it was to intimate that the Ashes which were inclosed in it, were declared infa∣mous for some Crime or other, and buried in a By-place, by the Emperor or chief Magistrate's Leave.

SERAPIS;

the God of the Egyptians: Some derive the Word from Sara and Apis, as Julius Maternus: Its not likely it should come from the Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Apis, i. e. Loculus Apis, as if it were the Tomb wherein the Ox Opis was embalmed after his Death: Wherefore 'tis very probable

the Word must be derived from Osirapis, by cut∣ting off the first Letter: For the Learned are almost agreed, that Osiris and Apis were but one and the same Deity; or else Serapis comes from Sor Apis; for Sor signifies an Ox; as if they should say, Joseph the Father of Egypt; which is symbolically signified by an Ox: Sor or Sar does also signifie a Prince: Sara is the same as Domi∣nari: Nothing agrees better with Joseph's Cha∣racter, than to be the Father, Nourisher, and Ruler of Egypt. Tacitus, L. 4. Hist. says, truly enough, that Ptolomy the Son of Lagus was he who sent to seek for the Statue of Serapis to Sy∣nope, a City in Pontus, in order to set it up in Alexandria; from which Scaliger concludes that Serapis was a Foreign Deity. Clemens Alexan∣drinus repeats what Tacitus says, with some Va∣riation of Circumstances; but he adds, that the Statue which was sent by the People of Synope, was placed by Ptolomy upon the Promontory of Racotis, where a Temple of Serapis stood before; from whence 'tis concluded against Vossius, that if there was a Temple of Serapis before in the said Place, it was not then the first Time that they began to worship him in Egypt; Tacitus him∣self agrees thereunto by giving the same Testi∣mony as Clemens Alexandrinus does, that there stood a Temple of Serapis and Isis in the same Place where they built one for the new-brought Statue.

Adrian in his Return from Alexandria brought to Rome the Worship of Serapis and Isis, who were celebrated Deities among the Egyptians, to whom doubtless he promised to erect Altars when he arrived at Rome; In a Medal we have of his, Se∣rapis holds out his Hand to him and promises him his Protection; and Isis swears by the Brazen Timbrel, that she would accomplish his De∣sires.

Macrobius says, the Egyptians ever excluded Saturn and Serapis from their Temples, because they offered no other to them than bloody Sacri∣fices, to which they had a strange Aversion in all their Religious Worship; but that after Alexan∣der's Death, their King Ptolomy forced them to receive those Two Deities in Imitation of the People of Alexandria; the Egyptians yielded to Necessity; but they still retained Marks of their old Aversion, since they would not allow of these new Temples and new Worship, within the Walls of their City: Pausanias says, it was King Pto∣lomy that perswaded the Athenians, to erect a Temple to Serapis, who had a very magnificent one at Alexandria, but the most ancient stood at Memphis, into which the Priests themselves never entred, unless it were when they buried the Ox Apis.

The God Serapis was usually represented by a kind of a Basket upon the Head, which Macro∣bius says, signified the Highth of the Sun. Sui∣das and Rufinus call it a Bathel or Corn-measure, because it was believed Serapis taught Men the Use of Measures, or because he afforded Men A∣bundance of Fruit by the Help of the Nile, whose Overflowings made Egypt fruitful. Some are of Opinion that the Bushel was attributed to this God, in Commemoration of Joseph, who saved Egypt from Famine, by the Stores of Corn he took care to lay up during the Seven Years Plenty, as the holy Scriptures inform us.

SERPENS,

a Serpent, an Animal worship∣ped by the Heathens; they kept Serpents in Baskets made of Bullrushes or Ozier Twigs, which they consecrated to Bacchus, Ceres and Proserpina: Epiphanius in his first Book contra Hae∣reses, speaks of a sort of Hereticks called Ophitae, who in their Temples kept a Serpent in a Chest, worshipped and kissed it, and fed it with Bread: The Egyptians kept one of them in their Tem∣ples, and especially in those of Serapis and Isis: Aesculapius, the God of Physick was worshipped under the Form of a great Serpent, and Justin Martyr, who had been a Pagan, upbraiding them with their Superstitions, says,

You represent next unto those whom you account Gods a Ser∣pent, as a Thing that is very mysterious.

Cle∣mens Alexandrinus in the Celebration of the Bacchanalia says, that those who assisted thereat, placed Serpents round their Bodies, and be∣smeared their Faces with the Blood of the He-goats which were sacrificed to that unclean Deity.

SERVUS,

a Slave, one that is brought un∣der his Master's Power whether by Birth or War. The Riches of the Romans conusted in Slaves: There were Three Ways of having Slaves, ei∣ther when they bought them with the Booty, taken from the Enemy, distinct from the Share reserved for the Publick, or of those who took them Prisoners in War, whom they properly called Mancipia, quasi manu capta, taken with ones own Hand, or of Merchants who dealt in them, and sold them in Fairs and Markets. They used Three sorts of Ceremonies in the Sale of them, for they sold them either sub hastâ, sub coronâ, or sub Plleo: Sub hastâ, to the highest and last Bidder, by sticking a Spear in the Earth; sub coronâ, when they put a Garland or Crown of Howers upon their Heads like a Nosegay up∣on the Ear; sub Pileo, when they put a Cap on their Heads, that Notice might be taken of them, and the Sellers not be obliged to warrant them. They wore a Writing about their Necks, wherein their good and bad Qualities were con∣tain'd, also their State of Health, or Infirmities, their Usefulness and Faults, according to Aulus Gellius. Titulus servorum singulorum ut scriptus siet curato; ita ut intelligi recté possit quid morbi, vitiique cuique siet.

Those who were taken in War and sold, wore Crowns upon their Heads, and thence comes the Phrase, sub coronis venere. Those Slaves which

were brought from beyond Sea to be sold, had their Feet rubbed with Chalk, and so they called them Cretati. The Slaves were so entirely sub∣jected to their Masters, that they had Power of Life and Death over them, might kill them and make them suffer all imaginable Tor∣ments. In the mean time Suetonius gives us an Account of the Edicts of some Emperors, which lessened this Power in Masters over their Slaves, as that of Claudius, who ordered that in case Slaves falling sick, came to be forsaken by their Masters in the Isle of Esculapius, they were declared free if they recovered; and that of the Emperor Adrian, which prohibited Masters to kill their Slaves any more.

Slaves were made free, and obtained their Liberty divers ways: Their Masters many times granted them Freedom, and many affranchised them, when they had affectionately and faithfully ser∣ved them; as Simon does in Terence,

—Feci è servo ut esses libertus mihi, Propterea quòd serviebas liberaliter.

They sometimes purchased their Liberty with the Money they saved or got by their Labour, for they had a Peculium apart; and this is also ju∣stified by Terence;

Quod ille unciatim vix demenso de suo Suum defraudans genium, comparsit miser, Id illa universum abriptet,

All that which a poor Slave took the Pains to ga∣ther Penny by Penny, by sparing it out of his Belly, and from what was allowed him for his daily Sustenance, this Women stole at once. Slaves had formerly Four Bushels of Corn allow∣ed a Month for their Subsistance, of which they were allowed to spare as much as they pleased, and make it their own, and this was called Pecu∣lium. When the Masters had committed any Crime that was punishable by Law, they grant∣ed their Slaves their Liberty, and so made them Citizens of Rome, for Fear they should be tor∣tured, and brought Witnesses against them. For it was not lawful to put a Roman Citizen upon the Wrack: There were some who affranchised their Slaves out of Covetousness in the Time of the Emperors, that so they might participate of the Prince's Liberality, who bettowed some∣what upon every one of the People; this Free∣dom was usually granted them before the Praetor at Rome, and before the Proconsul in the Pro∣vinces with a certain Form of Speech and a Switch called Vindicta wherewith they struck them. Cic. L. 3. of his Topicks, speaks of it in this manner: The Vindicta is a small Switch which the Prator lays upon the Head of the Slave he is a∣bout to make free, and pronounces certain Words, which are to be seen in a Greek Manu∣script, in the French King's Library.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

Vindicta is a Rod with which the Magistrate struck him on the Head, whom he made free; say∣ing, we do declare this Man here present to be free, and a Citizen of Rome. Festus will have it to be the Master, who taking his Slave by the Hand, said these Words, Hunc hominem liberum esse volo. They also give us an Account of ano∣ther Form used by the Praetor, who said, Aio te jure Quiritium liberum esse; and in pronouncing of the said Words he struck the Slave with a Switch, and gave him a turn round, which was called Vertigo, from whence Perseus says,

Ʋna Quiritem vertigo facit.

They also affranchized Slaves by Will, or upon some sudden and severe War, when they were necessitated to arm their Slaves for the Defence of the Commonwealth: But this Freedom they did not obtain till they had signalized themselves by some considerable Action; this was called servos ad pileum vocare: Those who were made free, were called Liberti, and their Children Libertini: The Slaves were commonly skilled in Arts and Sciences, and they conferred divers Imploys on them, as the Tutoring of Chil∣dren, &c.

SERVUS AB EPHEMERIDE;

a Slave, whose Business it was to consult the Ro∣man Calendar, and acquaint his Master with the Days of the Calends, Nones and Ides.

SERVUS AB EPISTOLIS;

was one who wrote his Master's Letters, who dictated to him.

SERVUS à MANU, or AMANUEN∣SIS, and SERVUS AD MANUM;

a Slave that was ready to do, and undertake any thing.

SERVUS à PEDIBUS;

a Footman or Lacquey, who a foot carried his Master's Or∣ders.

ACTORES SERVI;

Stewards of the House.

PROCURATOR SERVUS;

he who had the Care of his Master's Business upon him.

CELLARIUS SERVUS;

the But∣ler.

DISPENSATOR SERVUS;

the Home-Steward, that buys and pays.

NEGOTIATORES SERVI;

those who traded or trafficked.

NUTRITII SERVI;

those whose Bu∣ness it was to nurse the Children of a Family in their Infancy.

MEDICI SERVI;

Slaves who under∣stood and practised Physick, according to Sueto∣nius in Caligula's Life: Mitto tibi praetereà unum è servis meis medicum; I also send you one of my Slaves who is a Physician.

SILENTIARII SERVI;

those who caused Silence to be kept among the Slaves, as Seneca says. Procopius tells us, they were in the Emperor's Palaces, to keep every Body silent, and carry themselves with due Respect. They were also the Prince his Confidents; and were called Ministri ad ea quae sunt quietis.

CUBICULARIUS SERVUS;

a Slave who was in the Emperor's Chamber, like a Va∣let de Chambre.

VILLICUS SERVUS;

a Slave, whose Business it was to look after the Country-houses and Lands of his Master.

ATRIENSIS SERVUS,

or ad Limina custos; a Slave who kept the Atrium or Porch of his Master's House, where stood the Waxen Images of the Ancestors of the Family, and the Moveables: The House-keeper, as Columella in∣forms us: Tum insistere Atriensibus ut supellectilem exponant, & ferramenta detersa nitidentur atque rubigine liberentur. This was the chiefest of the Slaves.

LECTICARII SERVI;

Slaves who carry'd their Master's Litter, like unto our Chair-men, Martianus says, they were also those who made Litters.

POLLINCTOR SERVUS;

a Slave, whose Business it was to wash, anoint and trim the Bodies of the Dead.

CAPSARII SERVI;

Slaves, who at the Baths looked after the Cloaths of those who bathed themselves; they were also Slaves who waited upon Persons of Qualities Children, when they went to the Schools, and carried their Books; as likewise those who were Merchants, and Bankers Cash-keepers; and again, such as made Desks and Chests to keep Money in: They were also called Arcarii Servi.

SACCULARII SERVI;

Slaves who could convey Money out of a Bag by their Slight and Dexterity, of whom Ʋlpian speaks.

VESTISPICI;

Slaves who looked after their Masters Cloaths: They were also called Servi à veste and ad vestem; as may be seen by these ancient Inscriptions:

CATULINO ET APRO. COSS.
DULCISSIMAE. MEMORIAE.

EJUS. VALENS. AUG. LIB. PHE-
••IANUS. A VESTE. BEN.
MER. F••CIT.

And this other,

T. STATILIUS. MALCHIO.
AD VESTEM.

EMISSARII SERVI;

Procurers, Horse-Coursers, or others who endeavoured to injure and trick every Body.

NOMENCLATORES SERVI, or NOMENCULATORES;

Slaves who accompanied their Masters, and told them the Names of those that passed by, when they put in for some great Office in the Common-wealth.

CALCULATORES SERVI;

those who made use of small Stones to reckon by, in∣stead of Counters.

LIBRARII SERVI;

Slaves who tran∣scribed Books by way of Abbreviations.

TABELLARIUS SERVUS;

he that carries his Master's Letters.

CALATORES SERVI;

those Slaves who called the Assemblies of the People toge∣ther by Curiae and Centuriae, or the other Assem∣blies of the Priests and Pontiffs.

ANTE-AMBULONES SERVI; Slaves who went before their Masters to make way for them to go along.

SALUTI-GERULI SERVI; Slaves who came to complement their Masters Friends in their Names.

CURSORES SERVI;

Couriers who ran to carry News.

TOPIARII SERVI;

those who pru∣ned the Flower-Garden, Orchard, &c. and for∣med them into the Shapes of divers Animals.

VIRIDIARII SERVI;

were those who looked after Orchards and Bowling-Greens.

PASTORES SERVI;

Shepherds.

SALTUARII SERVI;

Wood-Wards, or Foresters.

VENATORES;

Hunters.

AUCUPES SERVI;

Fowlers or Fal∣coners.

VESTIGATORES;

those who hunted Beasts by their tract.

DIAETARII SERVI;

those who were to look after the Halls, wherein they eat in Summer-time.

AQUARII SERVI;

Water-Carriers.

ANALECTAE;

Slaves, whose Business it was to gather up what fell down at a Feast, and to sweep the Floor and Hall where they eat.

POCILLATORES, or AD CYA∣THOS SERVI;

Cup-bearers, or those who served with Drink.

PRAEGUSTATOR SERVUS;

he that tasted the Wine as he served his Master.

OBSONATORES;

those who bought Provision for the Family.

STRUCTORES SERVI;

those who waited at Table, and set the Dishes in order.

VOCATORES;

those who went to in∣vite Persons to Dinner.

ADMISSIONALES;

those that intro∣duced Persons into the Emperor's Presence.

PISTORES and MOLITORES;

those that pounded Corn to make Meal of it, be∣fore Mills were invented.

OSTIARII and JANITORES;

Porters who attended at the Gate, to open and shut it.

SCOPARII;

Sweepers, who were to clean the Privies, and Close-stools.

PENICULI;

those who were to clean the Table with a Spunge.

FORNACATOR;

was he that kindled the Furnace of their Baths.

BALNEATORES;

Bathers; and UN∣CTORES were those who with perfumed Oil anointed the Bodies of those who were bathed.

SESTERTIUS;

the Ancients marked their Sesterces with these Two Letters H. S. the Sestertius was a Piece of Silver Money, worth about the 4th part of a Roman Denarius; and in English Money 1 d. For the Romans ha∣ving for a long time made use of Brass Mo∣ney, which they called As, quasi Aes, or Libra and Pondo, because it weighed a Pound, begun at last with the Denarius to coin Silver Money, in the Year of Rome 585. This Denarius was marked with an X, because it was worth Ten Asses, and divided into two Quinarii, marked with an V, because each of them was worth five Asses; and the Quinarius was again divided into two Sesterces, marked L-L-S, because they were each of them worth two Asses: But the Transcribers at last for their own Conveniency have given us an H for the two L-L-, which signified Pounds, and always retained the S, which is Half; inso∣much that Sestertius is put for Semistertius, two and an half; as if one should say an half taken from three; insomuch that the Greek say, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Tertium semitalentum, for two Talents and an half. It may be asked whe∣ther the two sorts of Sestertii, viz. the greater or lesser must be distinguished.

There are Two Opinions concerning this Point, one is Budeus's, and the most received of the two, who distinguishes the Sestertii into two sorts, viz. the lesser called Sestertius, which, as we have said, was a little piece of Silver Money, worth two Asses and an half; and the greater called Sestertium in the Neuter Gender, which was a Word relating to Accounts, and imported a thousand small Sestertii: The other Opinion is that of Agricola, who says, that the Word Sestertium is the same as Sestertius, insomuch that Sestertii Deni and Sestertia Dena, were the same thing: But the Difference, says he, consists in the Way of Reckoning; for when you find Dena Sestertiûm for Sestertiorum in the Genitive Case, Millia is understood; and the Transcri∣bers, adds he, not understanding this Sence, have put Sestertia inftead of Sestertiûm, when they saw the Mark of the Sestertius, as you have it in this Example of Cicero against Verres, H. S. Ducenta & quinquaginta. But whether upon these Occasions we read Sestertiûm ducenta, with millia understood, or Sestertia ducenta, as taking the Word Sestertium in the Neuter Gender for a thousand small Sestertii; there is no Body but must be satisfied in the main, that it always comes to the same Number.

The only Difficulty that remains, consists in an Objection that may be made concerning the Force of these Words Sestertius and Sestertium, which being Adjectives, as well as Semistertius and Semistertium, require a Substantive: For this Substantive can be no other than Assis nummus, for Sestertius, (two Asses and an half) and Assis pondo for Sestertium: As Masculine, and Pondo Neuter, being the same with the Romans, for the As was a Pound weight. I know Scioppius answers, that Minae pondo is understood with Sestertium, insomuch that the great Sestertius, may in respect to the Grecian Mina be the lesser one in regard to the Roman As: But is there any likelihood that the Romans should invent Money, that had no other Foundation for it than that of the Greeks, and not that which was peculiar to themselves? To which we may add, if it were so, the Mina must of necessity answer exactly to the Roman Pound, or the Drachma to the Dena∣rius; to the End, that as the Mina was worth 100 Drachma's, this also must be worth 100 De∣narii, that is, 1000 Asses, in the same manner as the great Sestertium is worth 1000 lesser ones: But this we can never be sure of; at least wise Agricola, Manucius, Andreas Scotus, and Capella do not in the least agree about it. But whereas we find in Historians, that the Greeks use the Word Drachma, or the Latins that of Denarius; that, says Manucius, comes to pass, because they had not a more proper and nearer Word to ex∣press themselves by; or else because the Empe∣rors of latter Times, did really reduce the De∣narius to be of the same Weight with the Drachma, that is, to a matter of eight to the Ounce; whereas formerly 'tis certain from the Testimonies of Pliny and Livy, it was heavier, six of them only at first, and afterwards seven going to the Ounce. Hence its manifest, that what has given way to Budaeus his Opinion, whe∣ther in respect to the great Sestertium, or in Comparison of the Denarius with the Drachma, was no more than because it was found to be the most easie, and came first to obtain. And, indeed, if we do but consider what Sanctius says,

that of old almost all Nouns ending in us ended also in um, with the same Signification; and that besides this, the Expressions of the Romans were always concise, insomuch that there was nothing so common amongst them as the Figure Ellipsis, whereby they did not speak so little as two Words together, but somewhat was under∣stood, and whereby they also regulated their other Terms of Accompts; we shall find Agri∣cola's Opinion is much better grounded than the others, which either came from the Igno∣rance of the Transcribers, who upon a thousand Occasions have corrupted those Words, that were written with single Letters, or by way of Abridgment; or from the Error of those, who not observing that Sestertiûm was the Genitive Case, and put for Sestertiorum, have taken it to be the Accusative or Nominative of the Neuter Gender.

If with H. S. the Mark of a Sestertius we find a Noun of Number which is declined, and is of the Masculine Gender: It denotes the Sum it simply expresses and no more: For Example, H. S. deni signifies Ten small Sesterces; if it be of the Neuter Gender, as H. S. dena, de∣notes 1000 small Sesterces; so that whether you read Sestertia dena, according to Budeus, or Se∣stertiûm dena, subaudi millia, according to Agricola, H. S. dena signifies 10000 small Sesterces. But if with H. S. the Mark of a Sestertius, you find an indeclinable Noun of Number, or one that in the declining of it may be taken for Masculine and Neuter; you cannot find out the Significa∣tion of it but by the Consequence, Subject and Sence: Thus when Cicero, L. 5. contra Verrem, said, Ad singula medimna multi H. S. duorum, mul∣ti H. S. quinque accessionem cogebantur dare, you cannot judge but by what follows what Sum he means; for his Expressiion may suit with simple Numbers and with 1000, but the Consequence discovers that he speaks only of single Sesterces, for should they be taken for Thousands, the same would be ridiculous for that Occasion. Care must be had to observe that the Words Sestertius or nummus signifie oftentimes the same thing; in∣somuch that mille nummûm, mille Sestertiûm, or mille mummûm Sestertiûm may be indifferently u∣sed for one another; but there are various Opi∣nions concerning the Reason that is given for this Construction and these Expressions; for to say nothing of that of Nonius and some of the Ancients, who thought without any Grounds, that these Genetives mummûm and Sestertiûm (put by a Syncope for nummorum and Sestertio∣rum) were Accusatives, they usually take the Word mille for a Noun Substantive, that go∣verns the Genetive nummûm and Sestertiûm; however, if we believe Scioppius, Mille is ever an Adjective, as well as other Nouns of Num∣ber, and therefore we must suppose a Nomina∣tive Case of which this Genetive is governed: This Author in his 14th Letter endeavours to prove, that the Word Res or Negotium must be understood so as when Juvenal says,

Quantum quisque suâ nummorum possidet arcâ,

Here quantum being an Adjective must necessa∣rily suppose Negotium understood, insomuch that if we should say, Res or Negotium mille nummo∣rum, the Syntax would be plain and very regu∣lar, but if it should be said, Mille nummorum est in arcâ; the same will be figurative and the Word Res still understood, which will govern the Genetive mille mummorum (which are the Adjective and the Substantive.) But Res mille nummorum is the same thing as mille nummi, just as Phoedrus says, Res cibi for cibus.

Where we meet with Sestertiûm decies numera∣tum esse in Cicero, 'tis a Syllepsis numeri, where numeratum, which refers to negotium, is put for Numerata which should have been so exprest, as 'tis indeed in some Editions, because they sup∣pose centena millia understood: Again, An accepto centies Sestertiûm fecerit, in Velleius Paterculus, is put for acceptis centies centenis millibus Sesterti∣ûm; farther, you have in Plautus, Trapezitae mille Drachmarum sunt redditae, put for res mille Drachmarum est reddita: But as the Ancients used decies Sestertiûm, or decies centena millia Se∣stertiûm, so they also said, decies aeris, for decies centena millia aeris. Authors often omit the Word Sestertiûm by an Ellipsis, as Suetonius does in Caesar's Life; Promissumque jus annulorum cum millibus CCCC distulit; and the same he does in Vespatian's Life, Primus è fisco Latinis Graecis∣que Rhetoribus annua centena constituit, that is, centena millia Sestertiûm.

The Roman As was worth 3 Farthings of our Money; the Roman Denarius 10 As's being 7 Pence of English; the little Sestertius 1d. ob. qa. q. but the great Sestertium contains 1000 Sester∣ces, which in our Money is 7 l. 16 s. 3 d. and in Latin they use unum Sestertium, duo Se∣stert, &c.

SEVA,

a Knife used at Sacrifices wherewith they cut the Throat of the Victims.

SEVERUS,

a Roman Emperor, born in Affrica, and of a fierce and cruel Disposition, he was cruel to the highest Degree against his Competitors to the Empire, the Nobility, and those who sided with his Enemies; he grosly a∣bused the famous City Bizantium, and subjected it to Heraclea, because she took the Part of Pe∣scennius Niger; he also used the City of Lyons after an inhumane manner, putting it to Fire and Sword, because she stuck to the Interest of Albinus. He is commended for his Sobriety, Frugality and Modesty in Apparel, which were Vertues common enough in Africa: He was couragious, valiant, indefatigable, and very use∣ful to the Commonwealth, insomuch that the

Senate being sensible both of the good and bad Qualities of this Prince, thought it might have redounded to the Benefit of the Empire, either that he had never been born, or never died.

SEXAGENARIUM DE PONTE DEJICERE:

It signified to deprive an old Man of 60 Years of Age, of his Right to give his Vote in the Elections made at Rome; because the People went over a little Bridge in order to throw their Ballot into an Urn, for the chusing of Magistrates; and old Men of sixty were put by.

SEXTANS;

the Romans divided their As, which was a Pound of Brass into 12 Ounces: The Ounce was called uncia, from the Word unum; and 2 Ounces sextans, being the sixth part of 12 Ounces, which made the As or Pound: It was also a Measure which contained 2 Ounces of Liquor:

Sextantes, Calliste, duos infunde Falerni:

Fill me two Sextans, or 2 Ounces of Falernian Wine.

SEXTARIUS;

a Measure which held 24 Ounces of Wine, but according to Weight con∣tained no more than a Pound and 8 Ounces; it held about a Pint English Measure.

SEXTILIS;

the Month of August, or sixth in the Year, if you begin it as the Romans did with March, and the 8th, to reckon as we do: This Month was under the Protection of Ceres, and had several Feasts in it. See Calendarium.

SI VOBIS VIDETUR, DISCE∣DITE, QUIRITES;

Citizens, if you please, you may depart: It was an ancient Form of Speech among the Romans, for dismissing the Assembly of the People.

SI SCIENS FALLO, ME DIE∣SPITER SALVA URBE ARCE QUE BONIS EJICIAT, UTI EGO HUNC LAPIDEM.

If I have not an Intention to observe this Treaty and Alliance, may Jupiter throw me out of my Estate, with as much Vio∣lence as I do this Stone, without any Harm done to the City. It was the Form of an Oath used at the making of Treaties and Alliances, which imported an Imprecation against him who did not act sincerely in the said Treaty; for 'twas a Custom to throw a Stone at the Victim, and to wish the Gods served them so, if they used any Cheat or Deceit in the Matter.

SIBYLLAE;

the Sibylls, Virgin-Prophesses so called from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which in the Laconic Tongue was the Genitive of the Word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Deliberation: Others derive it from the Hebrew Kibel and Kabala. Authors differ about the Number of the Sibylls, and concerning the Places where they uttered their Predictions: Martianus Capella reckons but two Sibylls, viz. Erophile of Troy, the Daughter of the Marpessus, whom he confounds with the Phrygian and Cumae∣an Sibylls; and Symachia born at Erithraea, a Ci∣ty of the Lower Asia, who came to Cumae, and there pronounced Oracles. Pliny, L. 34. C. 5. speaks of Three Statues of the Sibylls at Rome, near the Rostra, one erected by Pacuvius Taurus, the Aedile of the People; and the other Two by Messala, whom Solinus calls Sibyllae Cumeae, Delphicae and Erith••e. Elian L. 12. Hist. makes them to be Four, viz. Those of Erithrea, Samos, Egypt and Sardis, some have increased their Number even to Ten, as Varro does in his Six Books concerning Divine Things, dedicated to Julius Caesar, the Pontifex Maximus. The Persian Sibyll, of whom Nicanor speaks, was born accord∣ing to Suidas at Noa, a City near the Red-Sea, which they would have to be same as the Chal∣daean and Hebrew Sibyll, properly called Sambe∣tha, who foretold divers Things concerning the Messias, his Birth, Life, Circumstances of his Death, and second Coming. The Libyan Sibyll, of whom Euripides the Poet speaks in his Pro∣logue to Lamia, who was the Daughter of Ju∣piter and Lamia, Neptune's Daughter, as Pausa∣nias writes in his Phocica: The Grecians, says he, make her to be the Daughter of Jupiter and Lamia, Neptune's Daughter; the first of Womankind that delivered Oracles, and was called Sibylla by the Lybians: She spent a great part of her Life in the Isle of Samos, at Claros, a City of the Colophonians, at Delos and Delphi; she died in Troas. The Sibyll of Delphi, of whom Crysippus makes mention in his Book of Divina∣tion. Diodorus, L. 4. C. 6. calls her Daphne, the Daughter of Tiresias, whom the Argians, af∣ter the Destruction of Thebes, sent to Delphi, where she delivered Oracles, being inspired by Apollo, and sate upon the Tripod. Virgil, L. 6. Aen. speaks of her, where he introduces Ae∣neas entring into the Sibyll's Cave, and praying to unfold unto him the Will of the Gods viva voce, and not as she sometimes did upon the Leaves of Trees, which the Wind carried thi∣ther, and promising withal to build a magnifi∣cent Temple for Apollo, and to recommend his Oracles to his Posterity. Sibylla Cumaea, which was born at Cuma in Iona. Lactantius says, 'twas she that carried the Nine Books to Tarquinius Priscus. Sibylla Erytbraea, Apollodorus will have her to be his Fellow-Citizen, and that when the Grecians went to the Siege of Troy, she prophe∣sied to them, that they should take it: Eusebi∣us places her above 450 Years after the Siege of Troy, in the Reign of Romulus. Strabo speaks of several Sibylls of the same Name, one before and another after the Time of Alexander, whose Name was Athenaïs: Lactantius makes Babylon to be the Place of her Nativity, and calls her Erythraea, because she was born in the Country of the Erythreans, in a Place called Bata, where

the City Erythraea was afterwards built: There are some Authors who make Sardis to be the Place of her Birth, others Sicily; some again, Rhodes, Lybia and Samos. She composed Odes and Oracles, and invented a kind of a Triangu∣lar Lyre; she is the most Famous of all the Si∣bylls. The Senate sent to Erythraea for the Verses, and they were laid up in the Capitol. The Si∣byll of Samos, of which mention is made in the Samian Annals; her Name was Pitho.

The Cumaean Sibyll, or she of Cuma in Italy, of whom Virgil speaks;

Huic ubi delatus Cumaeam accesseris urbem.

And again in Eclogue 4.

Ʋltima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas.

And Ovid de Fastis,

Cumaam veteres consuluistis anum.

The Sibyll of Hellespont, born at Troy, that li∣ved in Solon and Cyrus his Time. The Phrygian Sibyll, that prophesied at Ancyra. The Sibylla Tiburtina, or of Tibur, a Country Five or Six Leagues from Rome, upon the River Anio.

These are the Names of the Ten Sibylls spo∣ken of by Varro; besides which, there were also the Sibyll of Collophon, whose Name was Lam∣pusia, the Daughter of the Prophet Colchas; al∣so she of Th-ssaly, called Mantha, the Daughter of Tiresias of Thebes, and Cassandra, King Priamus his Daughter.

SIBYLLINILIBRI;

the Sibylls Books, wherein the Predictions of the Sibylls were writ∣ten; these Books were had in so great Autho∣rity among the Romans, that they did nothing of moment, either in Peace or War, without first consulting of them: They committed them to the Custody of two Persons of the Patrician Or∣der, who were called Duumviri sacrorum, who had leave to consult them by an Order of the Senate. Tarquin, who was the first that insti∣tuted this Sacerdotal Office, threw one of the Keepers of these Books, whose Name was M. Attilius, into the Sea, sowed up in a Leathern-Bag, because he had given a Copy of them to Petronius Sabinus; and this sort of Punishment was afterwards appointed for Parricides. This Priesthood was exercised by Two Persons only till the Year 384, when they were increased to the Number of Ten, half of them Patricians, and the other half Plebeians; and Sylla made them Fifteen; and at last they amounted to Sixty, but still retained the Name of Quindecim-viri.

These Books of the Sibylls were preserved en∣tire above 450 Years, till the War with the Marsi, in a Vault of the Capitol, shut up in a Stone-Trough: They were burnt with the Ca∣pitol in the Year 670. The Senate Seven Years after sent Deputies to all the Cities of Asia and Italy, to collect and transcribe the Verses of the Sibylls that might be yet in being. Tacitus also relates, that Augustus finding the Verses and Predictions of these Sibylls passed through the Hands of several Persons, ordered an exact Search to be made for them at Samos, Erythraea, Troy, in Affrica, and throughout the Colonies of Italy, and to put them into the Hands of the re∣spective Governours, that so by the Advice of the Quindecim-viri, they might retain those that were Genuine, and reject the rest; and this is also witnessed by Suetonius.

SIGILLARIA:

Feasts celebrated after the Saturnalia, wherein they offered little Sta∣tues of Gold, Silver, and other Mettals to Sa∣turn, instead of Men which before were sacri∣ficed to him: Hercules changed this cruel Cu∣stom, by giving a favourable Interpretation to the Oracle.

SIGNA,

Roman Ensigns, whereof there were different sorts, on some of them the I∣mage of the Emperor was represented, and they that carried them were called Imaginiferi; others had an Hand stretched out as a Symbol of Con∣cord, and these Ensign-bearers were called Sig∣niferi; some had a Silver-Eagle which made those that carried them be called Aquiliferi, Eagle∣bearers; others had a Dragon with a Silver-head, and the rest of his Body of Taffety, which was blown by the Wind as if he were a real Dragon, and these Dragon-bearers were named Draco∣narii; lastly, the Emperor's Ensign was called Labarum which they carried out when he went into the Field: It was of a Purple Colour beset with Gold Fringe, and adorned with precious Stones: All these Ensigns were sustained by a Halfpike sharp at the And that it might the more easily be fixed in the Groand: Those who car∣ried the Labarum were called Labariferi.

SIGNUM RUGNAE;

the Signal of Bat∣tle; it was a Coat of Arms of a Purple Colour, set upon the General's Pavillion.

SILENTIUM;

the God of Silence; who was represented with his Finger in his Mouth: Ammianus Marcellinus says, they also worshipped this God of Silence, Silentii quoque colitur numen. The Egyptians called him Harpocrates, and made him to be the Son of Osiris and Isis. Ausonius calls him Sigaleon, An tua Sigaleon Aegyptius os∣cula signet: The Name comes from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 silere: The Angerona of the Romans was also a Goddess of Silence, and her Mouth was seal∣ed up.

SILENUS,

a Phrygian living in the Reign of Midas, who, as Tertuliian says, gave him his great Ears: Silenum Phrygem, cui a pastoribus per∣ducto, ingentes aures suas tradidit: It's also likely he might have been one of the Princes of Caria,

who was famous for his Wisdom and Learning: Diodorus Siculus speaks of him in this manner: Primum enim omnium Nysae aiunt imperasse Sile∣num, cujus genus ignoratur ob temporis longinqui∣tatem: The Fable of Midas his lending him his long Ears only denoted the great Knowledge he had in all Things, Cicero in his Quaestiones Tuscu∣lanae, says, that Midas having seized upon the Person of Silenus, he paid his Ransom, and bought his Liberty with this excellent Sentence;

That it was best not to be born, but the second Degree of Happiness to die betimes.

And now we may believe, that the Drunkenness in which Midas surprized Silenus, was a mysterious Drun∣kenness of superabounding Wisdom: So Bochart following the Steps of Justin Martyr, thinks, that the Name and Fable of Silenus, imported the Prophecy of Jacob under a Disguise, when he promised the Messias to Judah. Bochart will have the Name of Silenus to come from Silo, which is the Messias Name in the said Prophesy: And whereas Diodorus Siculus makes Silenus to be the Director of Bacchus his Studies and his Guide, this is because the Doctrine of the Messias in the same Prophecy ought to be admired and attend∣ed to by all Nations; again, the Poets making Silenus to ride upon an Ass, to be tied to Bac∣chus, with their seeming to drown him in Wine tend only to express these Words of the Prophe∣cy concerning the Messias; Ligans ad vinam pul∣lum suum, & ad vitem asinam suam. Lavabit in vino stolam suam, & in sanguine uvae pallium suum. pulchriores sunt oculi ejus vino. Diodorus Siculus made Silenus to be Bacchus his Master, in respect to the Whole of his Education and Exercises: Virgil makes Silenus make a very serious and learned Discourse concerning the Creation of the World, when he was scarce recovered out of his Drunkenness. Pausanias says, they shew'd the Stone in Attica where Silenus rested, when he accompanied Bacchus thither; that in short, they gave Silenus his Name to all the Satyrs when they began to grow a little-old. They used to represent Silenus with a bald Pate, large Forehead, and flat Nose, which denoted the Physiognomy of a Man given to Wine and in∣solent, as Silenus was said to be: He was also known by a Pot which he carried in one Hand, and a Basket of Fruits in the other. Pausanias says, Silenus had Temples built him, wherein Drunkenness presented him with a Cup full of Wine.

SILVANUS;

the God of Fields and Cattle, whom they were wont to represent with his Right Hand stretched out, and holding a Cypress branch in his Left, or that of some o∣ther Tree; he was crowned with the Leaves of Trees, because he was more especially worship∣ped in the Country; Horace calls him the God of Bounds, as well as Mercury,

Et te pater Silvane, tutor finium.

See Sylvanus.

SIMPULUM;

a Vessel with a long Handle, and made like a Cruet; In some Editions of Juvenal we read Simpuvium.

SIMONIDES;

a Lyrick Poet of the Isle of Ceos: Being at Supper with Scopas the Sta∣tuary, he was told there were Two young Men (who were Castor and Pollux) that wanted to speak with him; and as soon as he was gone out of Doors, the House fell and crushed the Guests to pieces. Phed. L. 4. Fab. 22.

SIRENES;

Syrens; the Pagans feigned they were Sea-monsters, with Womens Faces and Fishes Tails. They were thought to be the Three Daughters of the River Acheloüs, whose Names were Parthenope, Ligea and Leucosia, dwelling upon the Shoar of Sicily, they sung ad∣mirably well, and threw themselves into the Sea for having been slighted by Ʋlysses, or Grief for the Loss of Proserpina their Companion; but the Gods transformed them into those Monsters, who drew Passengers to the Rocks, where they lost their Lives, and were devoured by them. The Syrens, of whom Homer in his Odysses makes so long a Discourse, had in all appearance no other Foundation, than the Likeness there is between She-Tritons and Women. People have experienced in their Course of Sailing, that there are some Sea-shoars and Promonto∣ries, where the Winds by the various Reverbe∣rations they make there, cause a kind of Har∣mony, that surprizes and stops Passengers: This, perhaps, was the Ground of the Syrens Song, and was the Cause of giving the Name of Syrens to these Rocks.

The Syrens are undoubtedly an Invention of the Phoenicians; they were Three Female Mu∣sicians, half Birds and half Virgins, of whom Servius gives this Description: Sirenes secundùm fabulam tres, in parte virgines fuerunt, in parte volucres; Acheloi fluminis & Calliopes Musae filiae. Harum una voce, altera tibiis, altera lyrâ canebat: & primò juxta Pelorum, post in Capreis insulâ habi∣tarunt, Aen. L. 5. Near unto the Isle of Caprea stood the Isles called Sirenussae, the City and Promontory of Sorento, where there was a Tem∣ple dedicated to the Syrens, according to Strabo; lastly, the City of Naples, where stood the Fu∣neral Monument of Parthenope, one of the Sy∣rens. Tho' the Syrens by these Authorities, and divers Testimonies of the Poets, seem to be con∣fined either to Sicily, or the Coasts of Italy; yet 'tis very certain their Name is Hebrew, Sir, Sirum, Canticum, Cantica, and that they were the Phoenicians who peopled these Islands and Sea-Coasts, that left there some Footsteps of their

Language, as they did also of their History and Religion.

SISTRUM;

an Instrument of the Goddess Isis, adored by a particular sort of Worship in Egypt: The Form of it was Oval, like a Racket with three Sticks, which crossed the Breadth thereof, and moved freely, that so they might thereby make a Sound, which the Ancients found very melodious: One of these Sistra made all of Copper is to be seen in the Library of Genevieve at Paris; it was the usual Mettal they were made of, as Apuleius informs us, who gives a Description of it. Several Authors have spoke of this Sistrum, and Jerom Bosius among others, who has writ a Treatise on Purpose, entituled, Isiacus de Sistro.

SISYPHUS;

the Son of Aeolus, a famous Robber, slain by Theseus: The Poets feigned that he rolled up a great Mill-stone in Hell to the Top of a Mountain, from whence it present∣ly fell down again, and oblieg'd him to begin again, and so eternally perpetuated his Punish∣ment.

SITICENES;

were those who sounded upon a kind of a Trumpet that had a very sor∣rowful and mournful Tone, at the Burying of the ancient Romans.

SOCCUS and SOCCULUS;

a sort of Shooe used by the Greeks, the same was also in use among the Roman Ladies: It was a kind of Covering for the Feet among the Ancients who came upon the Theater, to represent Come∣dies, and was opposed to the Corhurnus, which was a kind of Snooe or Busk in acting Trage∣dies.

SOCRATES;

a Philosopher of Athens, who by the Oracle of Apollo, was called the wi∣sest Man in Greece. This Philosopher applied himself very much to Morality; but being accu∣sed by divers Persons of having spoke ill con∣cerning the Gods, he was sentenced to poison himself, which he did with Hemlock.

SOL;

the Sun. Macrobius endeavours to shew, that all the Deitis of the Poets were on∣ly the Sun under a Disguise, which being the Ruler of the other Stars, whose Influences reached unto all this lower World, it is by Con∣quence the Governour of the Universe. The Poets agree, that Apollo is the Sun: In short, Apollo's Name being composed of the Negative Particle, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 multus, it bears the same Signification as Sol or Solus; and this Macrobius says, whereunto he adds, that Plato gave it ano∣ther Greek Etymology, tending to the same pur∣pose: PlatoSolem 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, cognominatum scribit, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, à jactu radio∣rum. The same Author says, that as for Apollo's being called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Medicus, a Physician; the Reason is, because the Sun is the Preserver of Health: But as 'tis sometimes also the Cause of Diseases, it has likewise been called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Destroyer, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, à feriendo. They have called the Sun Delius, quòd illuminando omnia clara 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 demonstrat. The Name of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 has been given it, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, quod vi fertur: As also Phaneta, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because of the Corruption which al∣ways proceeds from Heat, or from the Serpent Python; for the Fable says, that Latona being brought to Bed of Apollo and Diana, Juno sent a Serpent to devour them in the Cradle, but Apollo, as little as he was, killed her with his Arrows. Now the natural Signification of this Fable is, that the Sun and Moon being come out of the Chaos, the Earth remaining yet moist produced Serpents, or rather thick Vapours, wherewith Juno, that is, the Air, would dark∣en the Light of the Sun and Moon, but the Force of the Sun-beams did at length dissipate these Fogs.

The Sun is also the same as Bacchus, or Liber, according to Macrobius; he says that the Sun in their mysterious Prayers was called Apollo, while it continued in the upper Hemisphere, or during Day-light, and that they called it Liber Pater, in the Night, when it ran thro' the lower Hemisphere. Orpheus calls it also 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The Name of Dionysius comes from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, according to Macrobius, quia solem mundi mentem esse dixerunt: Others deduce the Name 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, quòd circumferatur in ambitum. Macrobius pretends that it was to the Sun, the Oracle of Apollo gave the Name of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saying he was the greatest of all the Goods: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

The said Macrobius endeavours also to prove that Mars is the same as the Sun, because 'tis the same Principle of Martial Heat and Fire that inflames Mens Hearts and animates them to fight. Mercury also according to the said Au∣thor is the Sun or Apollo, and this is the Reason why they represent Mercury with Wings to in∣timate the swift Course of the Sun.

Apollo presides over the Quire of Muses, and Mercury is the Father of Eloquence and polite Learning, the Sun is the Soul and Understanding of the World, and this agrees with Mercury whose Name is derived 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ab interpretando.

Mercury is the Messenger of the Gods, being often sent by the Coelestial to the Infernal Dei∣ties: because the Sun by Turns passes through the Superior and the Inferior Signs: Mercury slew Argus, who had 100 Eyes to watch Io that was transformed into a Cow; that is, the Sun ecclipses the Light of the Stars and the Hea∣vens by its Presence, these Stars during the Night having been as so many Eyes, to watch

over and observe the Earth, which the Egyptians represented under the Symbol of a Cow. Last∣ly, The Caduceus of Mercury composed of Two Serpents tied together and kissing each other, signifies the Four Gods that preside over Mens Nativities, viz. the Sun, Moon, Love and Ne∣cessity; the Two Serpents are the Sun and Moon, the Knot is Necessity, and their kissing imports a Dove.

Again, the Sun is Aesculapius, which imports no∣thing else but the wholsome Influences of the Body of the Sun, and hence it is that they have made him to be Apollo's Son, the Father of Phy∣sick and Health: They also place at the Feet of these Statues the Image of a Serpent that grows young by casting off her old Skin, as the Sun annually reassumes Vigor and as is were a fresh Youth in the Spring. They make Aescula∣pius to preside over Divinations as well as Apollo, because 'tis requisite a Physician should foresee many Things to come.

Hercules was also confounded with the Sun, not Hercules of Ihebes, but he of Egypt, who was the ancientest of all of them, and was Sun it self, to whom they owed the Victory obtained over the Giants; for 'twas this Sun that had the Power and Vertue of the Heavens, that slew those Sons of the ••arth who rose up in Arms against the Gods. Farther; the Sun is the Serapis or Osiris of the ancient Egyptians, on whose Head they represented the Head of a Lyon, Dog or Wolf, to denote the Three Parts of Time, viz. the Times present, past and to come: The Lyon and the Wolf intimated the Time present and past, because of their Swiftness, and the Dog by his Fawnings signified the vain Hopes Men entertain concerning Futurity. Tho the Sun also is Adonis, who while in the six superior Signs of the Summer continues with Venus, that is, with this Hemisphear of the Earth wherein we dwell, and for the other fix inferior Signs of the Winter, stays with Proserpina, that is, our Antipodes: The Egyptians also took Apollo and Horus for the Sun, from whence the Four and Twenty Hours of the Day and the Four Seasons of the Year assumed their Names.

Jupiter Ammon in like manner is taken for the setting Sun by the Lybians, and that is the Rea∣son why they represent him with Rams-horns, which denote the Beams of the Sun.

It need no longer to be doubted but that the Sun is Jupiter himself, that 'tis the Opinion of Homer, when he says, that Jupiter went to Ocea∣nus his House in Ethiopia to a Feast, where all the Gods followed him, and that he returned to Heaven Twelve Days after: For the Ocean of the Western Ethiopians is the Place where the Sun sets, and whither he is followed by all the Stars, who set there also, and find Aliment to allay their Eternal Fires, without returning to the Place from whence they parted under Twel∣ve Hours, or till after they have run through the Twelve Houses or Signs of the Zodiac. Macro∣bius farther adds, that the Assyrians worshipped Jupiter, as being but the same Deity with the Sun, and they called him Jupiter Heliopolitanus, because he was chiefly worshipped in the City of Heliopolis in Assyria. Lastly, Macrobius says, that the Assyrians worshipped the Sun as their only and sovereign Deity, and hence it is, that they called his Name Adad that is only: Adad was represented by the Beams of the Sun, that came down from on high, whereas Adargatis, which was the Earth, was on the Contrary pictu∣red with reversed Rays, with the Points turning upon herself, to shew, that all was done by the Influences which the Sun had on the Earth, and that the Earth received the same from the Sun.

Julian the Apostate observes, that the People of the Isle of Cyprus erected Altars to the Sun and Jupiter, pretending they were the same Deities whom the Sovereign God of the Uni∣verse constituted to govern this visible World: He adds, that Homer and Hesiod were of the same Opinion, when they made the Sun to be Hypereon and Thea's Son. For these Two Names do plainly denote a Supream Deity: They seem to say, that Bacchus, Apollo, Musagetes and Aes∣culapius are no other than the Emanations and different Vertues of the Sun.

The Mithra of the Persians was the Sun like∣wise, to whom the Parthians and several Eastern Nations give this Epithet, because of the Head-dress wherewith he was represented: He was also worshipped by this Name among the Ro∣mans, as you may see by these Verses of Statius.

Indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mithram.

And by several Inscriptions at Nismes and elsewhere.

Deo Invicto Mithrae L. Calphurnius
Piso Cn. Paulinus Volusius
D. D. S. D.

And at Rome this other Inscription may be seen.

Numini invicto Soli Mithrae. M. Au-
relius Aug. L. Euprepes una cum
filiis piis. D. D.

And again,

M. Aurelius Aug. Lib. Euprepes
Soli Invicto Mithraearam
ex viso posuit.

These Two Roman Inscriptions were those up∣on the Two Altars, which Marcus Aurelius Eli∣prepes the Emperor's Freedman had dedicated to

this God, who appeared to him in a Dream. Mithra was an Epithet given to the Sun and used in the East, from whence it was brought to Rome, and Lactantius says in the forecited Verses of Sta∣tius, that Apollo was represented by the Persians with a Lyon's Face and a kind of Tiara on his Head, because the Sun is in its Vigour when he comes to the Sign Leo; the Phoenicians worship∣ped no other Deity than the Sun, which they called Beelsamen, that is, the King of the Heavens. The Lybians as well as the Messagetes sacrificed a Horse to him. The Emperor Galienus, after his Expedition into the East, represented Apollo like a Centaur, holding his Lyre in his Right-hand, and a Globe in the other with this Inscription,

Apollini Comiti.

Probus represented him like a Charioteer, sit∣ting on his Chariot and crowned with the Sun∣beams and with this Title Soli Invicto. Other Emperors, such as Constantine, Aurelian and Crispus, set him forth under the Form of a naked Man, crowned with Sun-beams, and holding a Globe in his Right-hand, and a Whip in the Left with these Words:

Soli invicto comiti.

Lucius Plautius caused a Medal to be coined, whereon was represented the Head of Apollo with Two Serpents kissing him: There was a Temple built him at Rome of a Spherical, i. e. a round Form.

SOLARIUM,

a Sundial; Vitruvius de∣scribes several sorts of Sundials in L. 9. C. 9. of his Architecture. The Hemicycle or half Cir∣cle hollowed square-wise and cut so as to incline in the same manner as the ••quinox, was the In∣vention of Berosus the Chaldean: It's likely that Berosus his Dial was a sloaped Plinthis, like the Equinox, and that this Plinthis was intersected into an Hemicycle, or Concave Demicircle, at the Top of a high Place looking northwards, and that there was a Stile or Pin coming out of the Middle of the Hemicycle whose Point an∣swering to the Center of the Hemicycle repre∣sented the Center of the Earth; and its Sha∣dow falling upon the Concavity of the Hemicy∣cle, which represented the Space between one Tropick and another, marked out not only the Declinations of the Sun, that is, the Days of the Months, but also the Hours of each Day, for that might be done by dividing the Line every Day into Twelve equal Parts; by which must be meant the Days that are between the Au∣tumnal and Vernal Equinox; it being necessary to increase the Hemicycle for the other Days, which contain above Twelve Equinoxial Hours. The Hemisphear of Aristarchus his Dial was Sperical and Concave, and not Oval. The Discus of Aristarchus of Samos was an Horizontal Dial, whose Edges were a little elevated in order to remedy the Inconveniency of the Stile, being straight and raised up prependicularly upon the Horizon, for these Edges thus raised up, hin∣dred the Shadows from extending too far.

The Astrologer Eudoxus found out the Araneus some say, Apollonius invented the Plinthis or square Dial, which was also set up in the Flami∣nian Circus: Scopas of Syracuse made that called Prostahistoroumena; Cisaranus believes this Name was given it, because the Figures of the Coele∣stial Signs were represented thereon. Parmenio was the Inventor of the Prospanclima, that is, such an one as might serve for all sorts of Climates. Theodosius and Andreas Patrocles found out the Pelecinum which is a Dial made Ax-wise, where∣in the Lines which cross one another mark out the Signs and Months; being close towards the Middle and open towards the Sides, which makes them be of the Shape of an Ax on both Sides, Dionysiodorus invented the Cone, Apollonius the Quiver Dial; these Two last Dials are plainly Vertical, which being long, and posited in an oblique manner represent a Quiver.

SOLARIUM,

was a Piece of Ground le∣vell'd, or Place raised up and exposed to the Sun, where People walked, as Isidorus and Cyrill's Glossary informs us.

SOLEAE,

Sandals; among the Ancients it was a rich Wear or Covering for the Feet made of Gold and Silk with Leather Soles only, tied with Thongs on the back part of the Foot.

SOLITAURILIA;

a Sacrifice consisting of a Sow, Bull and Sheep, which the Censors offered every Five Years, when they performed the Lustrum or numbred and taxed the Citizens of Rome.

SOLON,

one of the Seven wise Men of Greece, born at Salamis, and Law-giver to the Athenians, They attribute the Erecting of the Court of the Areopagites to him: This wise Man said, no Man could be called happy before his Death.

SOMNUS,

the God of Sleep, according to the Poets, was the Sun of Nox and Erebus. Ovid, L. 11. Metamorph. describes him thus:

Near unto the Cimmerians, says he, there was a great Cave dug in a Mountain, where stupi∣fied Sleep dwelt, the Sun-beams never enlight∣ened that Place, the same being covered with a very thick Mist: The Birds never sing there at Break of Day, neither do the Dogs disturb the Silence of the Nights by their Barkings: A profound Silence reigns continually there; at the Cave's Mouth there grows a great many Poppies and Mandrakes, Plants that create Stu∣pidity, whose Juice the Night extracts in or∣der to throw it into the Eyes of Men. In the Midst of the Cave there is a Bed of Ebony all of one Colour, where the God Sleep lies down

soft and takes his Rest; there are a great ma∣ny Dreams who skip up and down round a∣bout him.

Seneca the Tragedian gives an admirable De∣scription of Sleep, whom he represents in the same manner as Ovid does, to be a favourable God that gives Rest to the Mind, and puts an End to our Labours. The Greeks, as Pausanias says, sacrificed on the same Altar to Sleep and to the Muses, pretending that Sleep was the best Soul of the Muses: Sleep is a good old Man, King of a certain Palace, whose Masters were Taraxion and Plutocles; the sovereign Lord of the Fountain Careotis, great Master of the Tem∣ple of Imposture and Truth, and Possessor Time out of Mind of a Sanctuary or Oracle taken a∣way by Antipho; he is Death's younger Brother; who is an old Carcase as ancient as all Ages, says Coluthus. M. Iollius pretends that Sleep is a young Man, and this he grounds upon the In∣scription wherein Sleep is represented much like unto a Youth. This Sleep appeared indeed young, but according to M. Cuper, it was Som∣nus aeternalis, because of the Torch that was thrown down which was a true Representation of a Life extinct; or by reason of this Torch being thrown down it was necessary for keeping of the Children harmless, to light one for them in Hell,

His datum solis minùs ut timerent, Igne praelato relevare noctem.

M. Tollius insists upon it and instances in Eu∣clids Two Sleeps, one of which was easie to be per∣swaded and driven away from the Soul, and the same belonged to young People, and the other was perfectly gray with Age, and appertained to old Men. But the Moral is very good, Eu∣clid would hereby shew that young People were easily brought of from their idle Fancies, but that 'tis hard to bring old Men from their Opi∣nions: Euclid did not pretend they were Two Deities.

SOMNIUM;

a Dream. Ovid puts an in∣finite Number of Dreams under the Empire of Sleep, but he takes notice of Three who were much more potent than the rest; viz. Morpheus, Icelus or Phobetor and Phantasos: The first imi∣tated Men, the second Animals, and the third Mountains, Rivers and other inanimate Things: All these Names were taken from the Greek, and they very well signifie what they intimate to us: Hereby we may know that the Grecians were those who formed both the Names of and made Distinctions between Dreams, as well as the God of Sleep. Lucian tells us, Dreams were painted with Wings, because they flew away in an Instant; Homer mentions Two Gates thro' which Dreams come to us; the one made of Ivory from whence proceeded doubtful and troublesome Dreams, the other of Horn through which clear and certain Dreams passed: Virgil in these Verses borrowed the Thought from Homer.

Sunt gemina Somni portae, quarum altera fertur Cornea, quâ veris facilis datur exitus umbris: Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephante, Sed falsa ad coelum mittunt insomnia Manes.

Lucian describes the Island of Dreams unto us in this manner.

We had not sailed long be∣fore we saw the Isle of Dreams, but obscure∣ly, as Dreams are wont to be; for she seemed to remove farther off as we drew nearer to her; at last having reached the Island we entred into the Haven of Sleep, and there went ashoar: The Island was encompassed with a Forest of Poppies and Mandrakes, full of Owls and Bats, for there were no other Birds upon it: It had a River whose Waters did not run but in the Night, and Two Fountains of standing Water; the Wall of the City was very high and of a changeable Colour, like the Rainbow: It had Four Gates, though Homer makes it to have but Two, the first looked towards the Plain of Negligence, the one being made of Iron and the other of Earth through which frightful and melancholy Dreams passed; the other Two look towards the Harbour, the one being made of Horn and the other of Ivory, which is that through which we enter: Sleep is the King of the Island, and his Palace stands on the Left-hand as you go in: On his Right-hand is the Temple of Night, which the Goddess wor∣shipped there, and afterwards that of the Cock: Sleep has Two Lieutenants under him, viz. Ta∣raxion and Plutocles, who were begotten of Fancy and Nothing: In the Midst of the Place stands the Fountain of Sence, which has Two Temples by the Sides of it; the one of Fal∣shood, and the other of Truth: There is the Oracle and Sanctuary of that God, to whom Antipho, the Interpreter of Dreams, is Pro∣phet, and has obtained this Favour of Sleep: All the Inhabitants of the Island differ from one another, some are handsome and tall, o∣thers little and ugly, these appear to be rich, and clad in Gold and Purple, like Kings in a Play, and the others poor, beggerly and all in Rags. We met with several of our Ac∣quaintance who carried us to their Houses and treated us nobly.

Prophetick Dreams were formerly as frequent as they are now rare, and so they made a Part of and were an Ornament to History, both sa∣cred and prophane. God threatened King A∣bimelech in a Dream, and made him release Sarah Abraham's Wife: It was in a Dream that Jacob saw the mysterious Ladder: The Angel appear∣ed to Jacob in Mesopotamia, and told him in a

Dream that he was the God who appeared to him in Bethel: Joseph's Dreams are well known, his Brothers Sheafs of Corn which worshipped his, and the Sun, Moon and Eleven Stars which they adored, have in a manner no need of In∣terpretation: The Dreams of Pharoah's Two Eunuchs, and the Interpretation given them by Joseph, and Pharaoh's Two Dreams after that, which were so happily interpreted by the said Joseph, were the Steps by which he was advan∣ced to the Height of Honour and Power: Gi∣deon was also instructed what he should do by a Soldier's Dream: Saul answered Samuel who was conjured up by the Witch of Endor, that he made his Application to her, because God would neither answer him, by the Mouths of the Pro∣phets, nor by Dreams; for they were the Two usual Ways they had to learn the Will of God under the Old Testament.

The Devil imitated these Prophetick Dreams, and made it a Piece of the wicked Superstition of the Heathens: Nebuchodonozor told Daniel the Dream he had had, and he gave him the Interpretation thereof, that he should be de∣throned and be for Seven Years sent to dwell a∣mong the Beasts of the Field: There were a vast many People who made it their Business to interpret Dreams, especially in Great Mens Courts. Virgil represents unto us how the O∣racle of Faunus was consulted by all the People of Italy, and the Answers were given them by Dreams; for the Priests after they had offered Sacrifice, spent the Night lying upon the Skins of the Victims, and there received those Prophe∣tick Visions in a Dream.

.... Et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit, Multa modis simulachr a videt volitantia miris, Et varias audit voces, fruiturque Deorum Colloquio......

It was the Custom of the Ancients to sleep up∣on Skins, and the Latin Word dormire comes from thence, being derived from the Creek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, pellis: And when they sought for Prophetick Dreams, they affected to sleep upon the Skins of Victims: Lucan makes Julia Pompey's first Wife foretell him in a Dream all the Evils of the Civil War, wherein he should be engaged: Pompey despised this Dream; but it came to him thro' the Horn-gate; the Effect followed, and the Dream came to pass; but some time after when Pompey dream'd, that is, on the Day before the fatal Battle of Pharsalia, that he was admired and applauded in his Amphitheater at Rome; it was a Dream that came to him thro' the Ivory-Gate, and had nothing but a false Light in it. Juvenal speaks of the base Practices or shameful Trade drove by some Jews, who for Money sold such Dreams as were desired of them;

Qualiacumque voles Judaei somnia vendunt:

Macrobius gives the Reason of the Difference of these Two Gate, by which Dreams come to us: The Horn-Gate was very small, but transparent, the Ivory was not so. And so they are the true Dreams, when the Soul being disengaged from the Body pierces and penetrates thro' that Vail which hides the Sight of Truth from it; and Dreams have nothing that is real in them when this Vail is not transparent; the Soul then con∣tinues involved with the Obscurity of Matter.

SORTES;

Lots; Lot is the Effect of Haz∣zard, and as it were the Decision or Oracle of Fortune; but Lots were the Instruments made use of in order to know what this Decision would be. Lots were very often a kind of Dice, on which certain Characters were graven, or some Words for the Explication of which they had re∣course to Tables made for that Purpose. The Use of Lots was various; in some Temples they threw themselves, in others they took them out of a Box, which gave occasion to this Form of Speech among the Grecians: The Lot is fallen. Sacrifices and many other Ceremonies always preceded this Dice-playing: The Priests in all appearance knew how to manage the Dice; but if they had no mind to be at that Pains, they had no more to do than to let them go, for they were always Masters of the Explication given.

The Lacedamonians went one Day to consult the Lots of Dodona concerning some War they were engaged in: For besides, the speaking Oak-Trees, Doves, Basons, and the Oracle; there were Lots at Dodona:

After all the other Ceremonies that were performed with much Veneration and Respect, there went a Mon∣key belonging to the King of the Molossi into the Temple, and threw down the Lots and Urn: The Priestess in a Fright told the Lace∣damonians, that they must not think of over∣coming, but only of saving themselves:

And all Authors assure us, the Lacedaemonians never received a more fatal Presage. The most Fa∣mous of all Lots were those of Preneste and An∣tium, two small Cities in Italy; Fortune was at Praeneste, and the Fortunes at Antium: The For∣tunes moved of themselves, as Macrobius says, and their different Motions. either served for an Answer, or intimated whether they could consult the Lots or no. Cicero, L. 2. de Divin. says, they consulted the Lots of Praeneste, with the Consent of Fortune; and this gave occasion to believe, that this Fortune also knew how to move its Head, or give some other Sign of its Will.

In the East Arrows were their Lots, and still the Turks and Arabs make use of them in the same manner. Ezekiel says, that Nebuchadnez∣zar mixed his Arrows against Ammon and Jeru∣salem,

and that his Arrow went forth against Je∣rusalem: That was the prety Way they had of resolving on which of those two Nations they should make War. In Greece and Italy they of∣ten drew the Lots from some famous Poet, as from Homer and Euripides; and that which pre∣sented it self first to view at the opening of the Book, was the Decree of Heaven: History fur∣nishes us with a thousand Examples of this kind: We also find that about 200 Years after Virgil's Death, they valued his Verses so much, as to believe them to be prophetical, and to use them instead of the ancient Lots of Praeneste: For A∣lexander Severus, who was yet but a private Man, and at a time when the Emperor Heliogabalus had a Kindness for him, received for Answer in the Temple of Praeneste, that Passage out of Vir∣gil, that signifies thus much; If thou canst sur∣mount the contrary Destinies, thou shalt be Mar∣cellus.

Lots continued even to the Time of Chri∣stianity; they took them out of the Scriptures, whereas the Pagans did it from their Poets, St. Au∣gustine, Epist. 119. ad Januarium, does not seem to disapprove of this Custom, unless pra∣ctised in secular Affairs. Gregory of Tours does himself inform us, that it was his own Practise; he spent many Days in Fasting and Prayer, then went to St. Martin's Tomb, where he opened what Book of Scripture he had a Mind to, and took the first Passage he saw for God's Answer; but if the said Passage was nothing to the Pur∣pose, he opened another Book of Scripture: O∣thers took the first Thing they heard sung as they entred the Church for a Divine Lot. The Em∣peror Heraclius being sollicitous about the Place he should Winter-quarter with his Army, was resolved by this kind of Lot: He caused the Ar∣my to be purified for Three Days, then he open∣ed the Book of the Gospels, and found his Win∣ter-Quarters assigned him in Albania.

SOTERIA;

a Sacrifice for Health; be∣ing the Games and Solemnities made by the Peo∣ple for the Health and Preservation of the Em∣peror, especially when he recovered of any sick∣ness.

SPHINX;

a fabulous Monster, feigned by the Poets to have been begotten by Typhon, to have a Woman's Face, the Wings of a Bird, Claws of a Lion, and the rest of his Body like a Dog. He ravaged the Country very much a∣bout Mount Sphingio, and could never be de∣stroy'd till Oedipus had explained the Riddle pro∣posed by him; from which they have since been wont to say concerning Riddles hard to be resol∣ved, that it was Sphinx his Riddle, and wanted an Oedipus. Diodorus says, there were real Sphinx's, which were a sort of Monkeys, with long Hair, great Teats, and for the rest of their Bodies like unto the Representations made of them. Sphinx, says Palephatus in a little Treatise concerning in∣credible Stories, was Cadmus his first Wife, who designing to be revenged on him, for having mar∣ried another, retired with some Troops to the Mountains, where she laid Ambushes for Pas∣sengers, and put them to death: These Am∣bushes were Riddles, Cedipus escaped them, and slew Sphinx.

SPORTULA;

a small present of Money, which with Wine and Bread was distributed at certain Feasts, or other solemn Days in the Year. These Presents often consisted of Silver Medals, and Denarii were used upon this Occasion: But when the Emperors or other great Men bestow∣ed these Presents, they consisted of Gold Me∣dals: Thus Trebellius Pollio speaking of the small Presents made by the Emperor Gallienus in his Consulship, says he gave a Sportula to every Se∣nator, and one of his Gold Medals to every Ro∣man Lady: Senatui sportulam sedens erogavit, Ma∣tronas ad consulatum suum rogavit, iis denique ma∣num sibi osculantibus, quaternos aureos sui nominis dedit. It was also a Custom for those who en∣tred upon the Office of Consul to send their Friends these Presents, of which Symmachus speaks thus; Sportulam Consulatûs mei, & amicitiae no∣strae & honori tuo debeo, hanc in solido misi.

The Name of Sportulae, which signified small Baskets, was given those Presents because they were sent in Baskets; and herein we are con∣firmed by these Verses of Coripus, L. 4. wherein he speaks of the Consulship of Justin the Emperor;

Dona Calendarum, quorum est ea cara, parabant Officia, & turmis implent felicibus aulam, Convectant rutilum sportis capacibus aurum.

And for this Reason the Greek Glossaries in the Explication of the Word Sportula, say they were Presents sent in Baskets; the Consuls with these Sportulae bestowed also small Pocket-books made of Silver or Ivory, wherein their Names were written, and these were those that they called Fasti. Sidonius, L. 8. E. 6. speaking of the Consulship of Asterius, mentions the Sportulae and Fasti that were given.

STADIUM;

a Furlong; it was a Space of 125 Paces, and the Word is derived from the Verb Sto, which signifies to stop; for 'tis said Hercules run over such a Space of Ground at one Breath, and stopt at the end of it: This sort of Measure was peculiar to the Grecians: Eight of them goes to an Italian Mile: There were Sta∣dia of different Measures, according to the Dif∣ference of Times and Places.

STATERA;

a kind of Ballance, otherwise called the Roman Ballance. Vitruvius, L. 10. C. 8. describes it in this manner: The Handle which is as the Center of the Flail, being fastened, as it is, near unto the End to which the Scale is hung; the more the Weights, which run along the other farther End of the Flail, are pushed for∣ward

upon the Points marked thereon, the more Power it will have to equalize a great Weight according as the Weight's di∣stance from the Center, shall put the Flail into an Aequilibrium; and so the Weights which were weak when they were too near the Center, cou'd in a Moment gain a great Power, and raise up a very heavy Burden with little trouble.

STATUAE;

Statues; the Use and Liberty given to make Statues increased the Number of Temples and Heathens: We do not know (says Cicero) the Gods by their Faces, but because it has pleased the Painters and Statuaries to repre∣sent them so unto us: Deos eâ facie novimus quâ pictores & fictores voluerunt. Statues at first were no more than shapeless Stones; but Daedalus was the first who left the Custom of imitating the Egyptians, and separated the Feet and other Parts of the Statues, which he made so as to be distinguished from the rest, and for that Reason they were called Moving Parts, as Palephatus says: Thus Aristophanes calls Statuaries 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Ma∣kers of Gods; and Julius Pollux names a Statuary, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Former of Gods.

The Romans were 170 Years before they had either Statuaries or Painters, as were the Persi∣ans, Scythians, and Lacedemonians for a long time: Constantine, as Eusebius says, forbad Sta∣tues to be set up in the Temples of the Hea∣thens, for Fear they should give them Divine Honours, which before was very common; for Tatius (says Lactantius) consecrated the Image of the Goddess Cloacina, whom he took out of a Gutter and gave it the Name of the Place from whence he had it: They also dedicated (conti∣nued he) and consecrated Kings Statues after their Decease, and represented them as they pleased; and Valerius Maximus says, the Rhodians gave the Statues of Harmodius and Aristogito the same Honours as they did to the Gods. The Statues, said he, being come to Rhodes, the Citizens received them in a Body and having placed them in an Inn, they exposed them up∣on sacred Beds to the View of the People.

As to the Bigness of the Ancients Statues there were Four sorts of them; the greatest were the Colossus's which were made only for the Gods: There were lesser ones made for Heroes; those for Kings and Princes somewhat bigger than the Life, and for other Men who for some special Desert were allowed this Honour, they were made of the Bigness of the Life.

STOLA,

a long Robe in use among the Roman Ladies; they put a large Mantle or Cloack called Palla, and sometimes Pallium, o∣ver this Robe when they wore their ceremoni∣ous Habits.

STRENAE,

New-years Gifts; the Use of them is almost as ancient as the Building of Rome. Symmachus says, these were brought up in the Time of Tatius, King of the Sabines, who was the first that received Vervein gathered from the consecrated Wood of the Goddess Strenia, for a good Augury of the New-year, much like the Gaulish Druids who held the Mistetoe in so much Veneration, that they went to gather it on New-year's Day with a Golden Bill, or else they did herein make an Allusion between the Name of the Goddess Strenia, in whose Wood they ga∣ther'd the Vervein, and the Word Strenuus, which signifies Valiant and Generous; and so the Word Strena, which signifies a New-year's Gift, is sometimes found written Strenua by the An∣cients, as you have it in the Glossory of Philoxe∣nus: And so this Present was properly to be made to Persons of Valour and Merit, and to those whose Divine Minds promised them more by their Vigilancy, than the Instinct of an happy Augury. Strenam, says Festus, vocamus quae datur die religioso, ominis boni gratiâ. After that Time they came to make Presents of Figs, Dates and Honey, by which they did as it were, wish nothing might befal their Friends but what was sweet and agreeable for the rest of the Year: The Romans afterwards rejecting their primitive Simplicity, and changing their Wooden Gods into Gold and Silver ones, began to be also more magnificent in their Presents, and on that Day to send several sorts of Things and of great∣er Value to one another, but more particularly Silver Medals, as finding they were very silly in the foregoing Ages, to believe that Honey was sweeter than Silver, as Ovid brings in Janus plea∣santly talking of it. Wherefore Dio speaking of New-years Gifts, plainly calls them 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Silver. With these Presents they sent to wish one another all manner of Prosperity and Hap∣piness for the rest of the Year, and gave reci∣procal Testimonies of Friendship to each other: And as they prevailed as much in their Religion as they did in the State, they were not wanting to enact Laws relating to them, and made that Day a Festival, dedicated and particularly con∣secrated to Janus, who was represented with Two Faces, one before and another behind, as looking upon the Year past and present: They offered Sacrifices to him on that Day, and the People in Crowds and all new clad went to Mount Tarpeius where Janus had an Altar: How∣ever though the same were a Feast and solemn one too, since it was also dedicated to Juno, un∣der whose Protection the first Days of this Month were, and that on the said Day they also cele∣brated the Dedication of the Temples of Jupiter and Aesculapius, that stood in the Isle of the Ti∣ber; yet, I say, notwithstanding, all these Con∣siderations, the People did not remain idle, but on the Contrary every one began to do some∣thing in the Way of his Profession, that so he might not be sloathful the rest of the Year.

In short, the Custom of New-years Gifts by Degrees became so common in the Time of the Emperors, that all the People went to wish him a happy Year, and each Man carried his Present of Money according to his Ability; that being looked upon as a Mark of the Veneration and Esteem they had for their Princes; whereas now the Method is altered, and they are rather the Great ones who bestow New-years Gifts upon meaner Persons. Augustus received so much of it, that he was wont to buy and dedi∣cate Gold and Silver Idols for it, as being un∣willing to apply the Liberality of his Subjects to his own private Use. Tiberius his Successor, who did not love a Crowd, purposely absented him∣self on the first Day of the Year, that he might avoid the Inconveniencies of the Peoples Visits, who would have run in Shoals to wish him a hap∣py New-year, and he disapproved of Augustus his receiving these Presents, for the same was not convenient, and must have put him to Charge to make his Acknowledgments to the People by other Liberalities: The People were so taken up with these Ceremonies for the first six or seven Days of the Year, that he was obli∣ged to make an Edict, whereby they were forbid to make New-years Gifts any longer than for the first Day: Caligula who immediately succeeded Tiberius in the Empire, let the People under∣stand by an Edict, that he would receive the New-years Gifts on the Calends of January, which had been refused by his Predecessor, and for this end he staid every Day in the Porch of his Palace, where he readily received the Money and the Presents made him by the Crowd. Claudius his Successor disanulled what he had done, and by an Order forbad them to come and present him with any New-years Gifts. From thence for∣wards the Custom continued still among the Peo∣ple, as Herodian observes, under the Emperor Commodus; and Trebellius Pollio makes mention of it in the Life of Claudius Gothicus, who also at∣tained to the Imperial Dignity.

And here we might take Occasion to enquire why the Romans were wont to make Presents to and mutual Vows for one another, on the first Day of the Year rather than any other Time? It's the Question which Ovid puts to Janus, who answers with a Gravity becoming himself: It is, says he, because all Things are contained in their Beginnings; and it is for that Reason, adds he, they drew Auguries from the first Bird they saw. In short, the Romans thought there was some∣thing Divine in the Beginnings of Things: The Head was accounted a Divine Thing, because it was, as a Man may say, the Beginning of the Body. They began their Wars with Auguries, Sacrifices and publick Vows; and so the Reason why they sacrificed to Janus on the first Day of the Year, and would make him propitious to them, was because that he being Door-keeper to the Gods, they were in Hopes by this means to have obtained Admission of the others for the rest of the Year, If they made Janus to be their Friend at the Beginning of it: And as he pre∣sided over the Beginning of the Year, they ho∣ped for his Favour to themselves and their Friends, if they could draw this God to espouse their Interest: They sacrificed Hower and Wine to him, which undoubtedly gave Occasion to the Merriments and Debauches of that Day.

The Grecians amongst whom New-years Gifts were not in Use, before they received them from the Romans, had no particular Word to signifie Strena; for the Word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which is to be met with in ancient Glossaries, and which was not used by ancient Authors, signifies only a good Beginning; that of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in general a Present; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in Philoxenus his Glossary, is rendered Verbena, Strenua, because the said Word signi∣fies a Branch, a Plant, such as Vervein was, of which at first, as we have told you, their New-years Gifts consisted. Athenaeus brings in Cy∣nulcus reproving Ʋlpian for calling a New-year's Gift 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in all likelihood because that signifies no other than a Thing that is given above a Gratification: The Way of sending New-years Gifts to Magistrates and Emperors did not cease in the first Ages of Christianity, after the Destruction of Paganism, as you may see by these Verses of Ceripus already mentioned,

Dona Calendarum, quorum est ea cura, parabant Officia, & turm is implent felicibus aulam: Convectant rutilum sportis capacibus aurum.

This Custom of solemnizing the first Day of the Year by Gifts and Rejoycings having passed from Paganism unto Christianity, the Councils and Fathers declaimed against the Abuse made thereof, as you may see in. Tertullian and the sixth Council in Trullo.

STYMPHALIDES AVES;

Birds of an extraordinary Seize, which, they said, in their Flight obscured the Light of the Sun. They fed only upon Humane Flesh, but Hercules by the Help of Minerva, drove them out of Arcadia by the Noise of Cymbals.

STYX,

a River in Arcadia near Nonacris, its Water was of so cold and killing a Nature, it was present Poison, wherewith Historians say, Alexander the Great was poisoned: Pausanias speaks at large of the Grecian Styx, and cites the Places in Homer and Hefiod wherein it is mention∣ed: The Poets made it to be a River in Hell, the solemn Oaths of the Gods were made by the Water of Styx: The Fable says, that Victo∣ry the Daughter of Styx, having given Jupiter Assistance against the Grants, he by way of Ac∣knowledgment ordered the Gods to swear by its Water, and that if they perjured themselves,

they should be deprived of Life and Feeling for 9000 Years: Servius gives us the Reason of this Fable, and says, that the Gods being pos∣sest of all Bliss and Immortal, swore by Styx, which is a River of Grief and Sorrow, as by a Thing that was quite contrary to them; and the Oath was taken by way of Execration. Hesiod in his Theognis says, that when one of the Gods lyed, Jupiter sent Irts to fetch some of the Water of Styx in a Gold Cup, by which the Lyar was to swear, and if he perjured himself, he was to be for a Year without Life or Motion, but it must have been a great Year that continued se∣veral Millions of Years.

SUADA and SUADELA;

the Goddess of Perswasion, owned by the Romans, and called Pitho by the Grecians.

SUETONIUS,

named Tranquillus, wrote the Lives of the first Twelve Emperors, and was Secretary to the Emperor Adrian; his History reaches to the Year of our Redemption 98, and comprehends 144 Years.

SUFFRAGIUM;

a Suffrage, given by the Romans either at the Choosing of Magistrates for the Receiving of Laws, or in Judgments: The People for a long time gave their Suffrages by Word of Mouth in Matters relating to the Commonwealth, which were taken by the Offi∣cers of the Tribes, called Rogatores, who after∣wards acquainted the President of the Assembly with the Sentiments of their Tribes: This Me∣thod continued to the Year 615, after the Buil∣ding of Rome, under the Consulship of Q. Cal∣purnius Piso, and M. Popilius Lenas; when Gabi∣nius, Tribune of the People passed the first Law of Ballotting for the Choosing of Magistrates, that enjoyned the People from thence forward no longer to give their Suffrages viva voce, but that they should throw a Ballot into a Box or Urn, whereon the Name of the Person they were minded to choose should be written. This Law they called Tabellaria, because their Ballots were named Tabellae. Papyrius Carbo, who was also Tribune of the People, got another Law passed called Papyria in the Year 625, whereby the People were required to give their Suffrages by Ballots in enacting of Laws: And Cassius, Tribune of the People likewise obliged the Judges by a Law to give their Votes by Ballots in Matters of Judgments. All these Laws were very good for the Commonalty, who before durst not give their Votes freely, for fear of offending the Great ones: And this Cicero tells us in his Oration pro Plancio: Grata est tabella quae frontes aperit, hominum mentes tegit, datque eam libertatem ut quod velint faciant: And 'tis al∣so in the Agrarian Law called Vindex libertatis; and in the Cornelian, Principium justissimae liber∣tatis. Now these Ballots were little pieces of Wood, or other Stuff, made very narrow, and marked with several Letters, according to the Nature of the Business in hand: For Example, if they were about to choose a Magistrate; they wrote down the first Letters of the Candidates Names, and gave as many of them to every one as there were Competitors for the Place. In the Assemblies held for Receiving of a Law, they gave every one two, one of which was marked with these two Letters Ʋ. R. signifying as much as uti ro∣gas, and the other only with an A, which deno∣ted Antiquo, I reject the Law. In Matters of Judgments or Sentences to pass, they gave three of them, one marked with an A, and signified Absolvo, I acquit the Persons accused; the other with a C. Condemno, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 condemn him; and the third with these two Letters L. N. non liquet, Judg∣ment cannot pass, the Matter is not clear enough.

The Ballots were delivered at the Entry of a Bridge by the Distributors of them, who were called Diribitores, and the Place of Office where they were given was named Diribitorium: They went up to the Tribunal of the Consul, or of him who sate as President of the Assembly, qui cistellam deferebat, and threw what Ballot they thought fit into the Urn and then the Centuria or Tribe whose Right it was first to draw the Lots gave its Suffrage, having done, they told the Suffrages; and the Crier said with a loud Voice; Praerogativa renunciat talem Consulem: If the Matter related to the Enacting of a Law; Prae∣rugativa legem jubet, or non accipit: The Magi∣strates afterwards ordered the Centuria of the first Class to be called; those of the Cavalry first and the Infantry next: When there were not a sufficient Number of Suffrages for the en∣tituling of a Person to an Office, the People might chuse whom they pleased, and this in La∣tin they called, Non conficere legitima Suffragia, & non explere trihus.

SUMMANUS,

an Epithet which the Poets gave Pluto, being as much as to say Summus Ma∣nium, the Chief of the Manes.

SYLLA,

surnamed Lucius Cornelius, a Ro∣man General of a Patrician Race; he was chosen Quastor, and had a great Quarrel with Marius the Consul, which proved fatal to the Common-wealth of Rome, for he banished divers Illustrious Citizens, and filled Rome with Blood and Slaugh∣ter: He was surnamed the Happy. He died of the lowsie Disease.

SYLVANUS or SILVANUS.

A God whom the Poets said did preside over Forests and Land-marks: Some made him to be the Son of Faunus; but Plutarch in his Parallels will have him to have been begotten incestuously by Valerius on his Daughter Valeria. Fenestella says, that Pan, Faunus and Sylvanus were the same Deity: The Luperci were their Priests, and their Feasts the Lupercalia. See Lupercalia, &c.

SILVIUS POSTHUMUS,

King of Alba, the Son of Ascanius and Grandson to Aeneas; he was named Sylvius because he was

born in a Forest, and Posthumus by reason his Birth happened to be after his Father's Death.

SYRE ES.

See Sirenes.

SYRINX and SYRINGA,

were Pipes or Reeds of a different Length, joined together, wherein they blew, as Tinkers and Boors do now-a-days, who are the Inheritors of the wretched Musick of the Satyrs. Pan was the Inventor of this Instrument, who running like a hair-brained Fellow after the Nymph Syringa, whom he was desperately in Love with, could catch nothing but Reeds, into which she was transformed: so comfort himself for his Loss, he made Muical Instruments of those Reeds join'd together, which bore the Name of his Nymph, and were in Request with Shepherds: Ovid gives the Story of it in these Verses.

Panaque, cum prensam sibi jam Syringe putaret, Corpora pro Nymphae calamos tenuisse palustres: Dumque ibi suspir at, motos in arundine ventos Effecisse sonum tenuem, similemque querenti; Arte nova vocisque Deum dulcedine captum, Hoc mihi concilium tecum dixisse manebit: Atque it a disparthus calamis compagine cerae Inter se junctis nomen tenuisse puellae.

SYRTES,

Two Gulphs in the farthest Part of Africa, full of quick Sands, and so called from the Word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to draw, because Ships at tract∣ed to it, by the Current of these Gulphs are there swallowed up and buried. The Poets represent them to us as if they were Monsters.