Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

o004 SALINUM. SALTATTO.
fiat as to be easily overflowed by the sea (mnaii- vacity, explain the metaphor by which the soul of
timsne areae salinarllm, Col. de Re Rust. ii. 2), or a man is called his salillum. (Plaut. Tr'in. ii. 4.even to be a brackish marsh (aXvcls) or a marine 90, 91.) [J. Y.]
pool (XIcvoOdXarTea, Strabo, iv. 1. ~ 6, vii. 4. ~ 7; SALTA'TTO- (opxr/crts, o3pxrsrbs), dancing
Caesar, Bell. Civ. ii. 37). In order to aid the The dancing of the Greeks as well as of the Ro-.
natural evaporation, shallow rectangular ponds mans had very little in common with the exercise
(multifidi lacus) were dug, divided from one an- which goes by that name in modern times. It may.
other by earthen walls. The sea-water was ad- be dividedinto two kinds, gymnastic and mimetic;
mitted through canals, -whichl were opened for the that is, it was intended either to represent bodily
purpose, and closed again by sluices. [CATARACTA.] activity, or to express by gestures, movements and
The water was moreand more strongly impregnated attitudes certain ideas or feelings, and also single
with salt as it flowed from one pond to another. events or a series of events, as in the modern ballet.
(R3utilii, Itin. i. 475-490.) When reduced to All these movements, however, were accompanied
brine (coacto hu7zore), it was called by the Greeks by music; but the terms bpX-7las and saltstio
axf-7q, by the Latins salsulo or salsil~qo, and by were used in so much wider a sense than ourt'
the Spaniards zurits. (Plin. 1. c.) In this state it word dancing, that they were applied to designate
was used by the Egyptians to pickle fish (Herod. gestures, even when the body did not move at all.
ii. 77), and by the Romans to preserve olives, (Ovid. At.t; Am. i. 595, ii. 305; saltare solis oculis,
cheese, and flesh likewise. (Cato, de Re Rust. Apul.:C let. x.-;p. 251, ed. Bip.; comp. Grote,
7, 83, 105; HIor. Sat. ii. 8. 53.) From vmria,, of G reece, vol. iv. p. 114.)
which seems to be a corruption of &AXJvpbs, AVe find dancing prevalent among the Greeks
"' briny," the victuals cured in it were called salsa from the earliest times. It is frequently mentioned
2Zaurialica. (Plaut. Poen. i. 2. 32, 39.) As the in the H-tomeric poems: the suitorsof Penelope debrine which was left in the ponds crystallized, a light themselves with music and dancing (Od. i.
man entrusted with the care of them, and there- 152, 421, xviii. 304): and Ulysses is entertained
fore called salinzato (a&Xorr)ybs), raked out the salt at the court of Alcinous with the exhibitions of very
so that it lay in heaps (tznumuli) upon the ground to skilful dancers, the rapid movements of whose feet
drain. (Manilius, v. prope filn.; Nicander, Ale. excite his admiration. (Od. viii. 265.) Skilfull
5118, 519.) In Attica (Steph. Byz.), in Britain dancers were at all times highly prized by the.
(Ptol.), and elsewhere, several places, in conse- Greeks: we read of some who were presented with
quence of the works established in them, obtained golden crowns, and had statues erected to their
the name of'AAal or Saliace. honour, and their memory celebrated by inscripThroughout the Roman empire the salt-works tions. (Plut. de lyt/h. Orac. 8; Anthol. Plan. iv.:
were commonly public prop2rty, and were let by n. 283, &c.)
the government to the highest bidder. The first The lively imagination and mimetic powers of
salt-works are said to have been established by the Greeks found abundant subjects for various
Ancus Marcius at Ostia. (Liv. i. 33; Plin. II. h. kinds of dances, and accordingly the names of no
xxxi. 41.) The publicani who farmed these works less than 200 different dances have come down to.
appear to have sold the salt, one of the most neces- us. (Meursius, Orceestr.; Athen. xiv. pp. 627 —630;
sary of all commodities, at a very high price, Pollux, iv. 95-111; Liban. &7rrep rTv opX.).Itwhence the censors M. Livius and C. Claudius would be inconsistent with the nature of this work
(a. c. 204) fixed the price at which those who took to give a description of all that are known: only
the lease of them were obliged to sell the salt to the most important can be mentioned, and such as
the people. At Rome the modius was according to will give some idea of the dancing of the ancients. -
this regulation sold for a sextans, while in other Dancing was originally closely connected with
parts of Italy the price was higher and varied. religion: Plato (Leg. vii. pp. 798, 799) ihought(Liv. xxix. 37.)'lhe salt-works in Italy and in that all dancing should be based on religion, as it
the provinces were very numerous; in conquered was, he says, among the Egyptians. The dances of
countries however they were sometimes left in the the Chorus at Sparta and in other Doric states:
possession of their former owners (persons or towns) were intimately connected with the worship of
who had to pay to Rome only a fixed rent, liut Apollo, as has been shown at length elsewhere
most of them were farmed by the publicani. (Bur- [CHORUS; HlrPORttCea7A]; and in all the publicmann, lVectigal. Pop. Ronl. p. 90, &c.) [J. Y.] festivals, which were so numerous among the
SALI'NUM, dim. SALILLUM, a salt-cellar. Greeks, dancing formed a very prominent part.,
Among the poor a shell served for a salt-cellar All the religions dances, with the exception of the
(Hor. Sat. i. 3. 14; Schol. adloe.): but all whlo were Bacchic and the Corybantian, were very simple,
raised above poverty had one of silver, whiclh de. and consisted of gentle movements of the body
scended from father to son (Hor. Caere2. ii. 16. 13, with various turnings and windings around the
14), and was accompanied by a silver plate, which altar: such a dance was the'yipavos, which Thewas used together with the salt-cellar ill the do- seus is said to have performed at Delos on his
rnestic sacrifices. (Pers. iii. 24, 25.) [PATERA.] return firom Crete. (Plut. Tles. 21.) The DionyThese two articles of silver were alone compatible siac or Bacchic and the Corybantian were of a
with the simplicity of Roman manners in the early very different nateure. In the former the life and
times of the republic. (Plin. II. N. xxxiii. 12. s. adventures of the god were represented by mimetic.54; Val. Max. iv. 4. ~ 3; Catull. xxiii. 1.9.) The dancing [DsIONSIA]: the dance called BairXaKm
salt-cellar was no doubt placed in the middle of the by Lucian (de Salt. 79), was a Satyric dance and
table, to which it communicated a sacred character, chiefly prevailed in lonis and Pontus; the most
the meal partaking of the nature of a sacrifice. illustrious men in the state danced in it, repreLFocus; iMENSA.] These circumstaneces, to- senting Titans, Corybantians, Satyrs, and hubsbandgether with the religious- reverence paid to salt men; and the spectators were so delighted with
and the habitual comparison of it to wit and vi- the exhibition, that they remained sitting the