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

90 AMPHORA. AMPHORA.
art. Aries.) Both these amphitheatres belong pro- The usual material of the amphora was earthenbably to the time of the Antonines. (Maftei, de ware (Hor. de Ar. Poit. 21), whence it was also
Amph. Gall.) The amphitheatre at Pola stands called testa (carm. i. 20. 2): but Homer mentions
on the side of a hill, and is higher on one side than them of gold and of stone (E. xxiii. 92; Od. xxiv.
on the other. There is little to remark respecting 74, xiii. 105): and in later times glass amphorae
the other amphitheatres, except that a fragment of were not uncommon (Petron. 34); several have
an inscription, found in that at Capua, informs us been found at Pompeii: Nepos mentions, as a great
that it was built under Hadrian, at the cost of rarity, amphorae of onyx, as large as Chian cadi
the inhabitants of the city, and was dedicated by (ap. Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 7. s. 12). The amphora
Antoninus Pius; and, concerning that of Pompeii, was often made without handles. The name of
that the earthquake, which preceded the eruption the maker, or of the place of manufacture, was someby which the city was buried, injured the amphi- times stamped upon them: this is the case with
theatre so much, that antiquarians have been dis- two in the Elgin collection, Nos. 238 and 244.
appointed in looking for any new information from [FIcTILE.]
it; there is an excellent description of it in the Amphorae were used for the preservation of
work entitled Pompeii, vol. i. c. 9. There are traces various things which required careful keeping,
of amphitheatres of a ruder kind, chiefly of earth, such as wine, oil, honey, grapes, olives, and
in various parts of our own country, as at Dor- other fruits (Hom. II. xxiii. 170; Cato, R. R. x.
chester, Silchester, Caerleon, and Redruth. 2; Colum. 1. R. xii. 1 6, 47; Hor. Epod. ii. 15;
IV. Uses of the Amiphitheatre. - This part of Cic. c. Verr. iv. 74); for pickled meats (Xen. Ahlab.
the subject is treated of under GLADIATORES, V. 4. ~ 28); ald for molten gold and lead (Herod.
NAUMACHIA, and VENATIONES. This is not the iii. 96; Nepos, I-Iann. 9). There is in the British
place to discuss the influence of the spectacles of Miuseum a vessel resembling an amphora, which
the amphitheatre on the character and destinies contains the fine African sand used by the athleof the Roman people: some good remlarks on the tae. It was found, with seventy others, in the
subject will be found in the Library of Entertain- baths of Titus, in 1772. Respecting the use of
ing Knowledge, ]"Ienajersies, vol. ii. c. 12. [P. S.] the amphora in the streets of Rome, see Petron.
AMPIHOMO"SIA. [AMPHIORIKIA.] 70, 79; Piopert. iv. 5. 73; Macrob. Sat. ii. 12
AM'PHIORA (d,eaopdEs, old form &ldvpmopEVs, and the commentators on Lucretius, iv. 1023.
Hoem. I. xxiii. 107; Od. x. 164, et alib.; Schol. Homer and Sophocles mention amphorae as used
in Apoll. Rhod. iv. 1187; Simon. in Anth. Pal. for cinerary urns (Il. xxiii. 91, 922; Soph. Fr.
xiii. 19). A large vessel, which derived its name 303, Dind.); and a discovery was made at Salona,
from its being made with a handle on each side of in 1825, which proves that they were used as
the neck (from d&uip, on both sides, and qpepc to coffius: the amphora was divided in half in tihe
carry), whence also it was called diota, that is, a direction of its length to receive the corpse, and
vessel with tzoo ears (8icoros, icwTros o'TrdVYos or the two halves were put together again and buried.IcLsrlcos, Plat. IHipp. il/aj. p. 288, d.; Ath. xi. in the earth: the skeletons were found still entire.
p. 473; Moeris s. v. &ldpopa; Hor. Cares. i. 9. (Steinbiichel, Alterthumz. p. 67.) Amphorae of par8). The form and size varied, but it was generally ticular kinds were used for various other purmnade tall and narrow, and terminating in a point, poses, such as the amphora nasiterna for irrigation
which could be let into a stand or into the ground, (Cato, R. R. 11. ~ 3), and the amphiora spartea,
to keep the vessel upright; several amphorae have which was perhaps a wicker amphora for gatherbeen found in this position in the cellars at Pom- ing grapes in. (Ibid. ~ 2.)
peii. The following cut represents amphorae from The most important employment of the amphora
the Townley and Elgin collections in the British was for the preservation of wine: its use for this
NIuseum. purpose is fully described under VINum. The
following woodcut, taken from a painting on the
wall of a house at Pompeii, represents the mode of
filling the mnphora from a wine-cart.
There is an interesting account of the use of
the amphora among the Egyptians, in Sir G. Wilv
kinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. pp. 157 —160.