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

CIRCINITS. CIRCUS. 203
and likewise the inscription hoc sonioennentsn posed this instrument to have been invented by
leredes non sequitur'; in order that it might not Perldix, who was the nephew of Daedalus, and
pass over to the heredes and be sold by them at through envy thrown by him over the precipice of
the Athenian acropolis. (Ovid, let. viii. 241251.) Compasses of various forms were discovered
_________ ____ _ min a statuary's house at Pompeii. [J. Y.]
CIRCITO'RES. [CASTRA.]
[(rV~"' r' ~2 ~ CIRCUMLI'TIO. [PICTURA.]
V I. f, R1 AE -5 CIRCUMLU'VIO. [ALLuVIO.]
PR IMITI VA& CIRCUITO'RES. [CAsTRA.]
V ANN1XVi jI CIRCUS (rwLU Opofos), a place for chariotMEI SI'DlhEXXIV ) races and horse-races, and in which the Roman
VI RI ELIVS races (Cieses Leldi) took place. When Tar193~At l,, ro V C i. D L quinius Priscus had taken the town of Apiolao
firom the Latins, as related in the early Roman
legends, he commemorated his success by an exhibition of races and pugilistic contests in the
2/,~ Q,.,.Murcian valley, between the Palatine and Aventine hills; around which a number of temporary
platforms were erected by the patres and equites,
called spectaccla, fbri, or fbrzli, from their resemaj -, blance to the deck of a ship; each one raising a
stage for himself, upon which he stood to view the
games. (Liv. i. 35; Festus. s. v. Forum; Dionys.
iii. p. 192, &c.) This course, wit its surrounding
scaffoldings, was termed circus; either because the
spectators stood round to see the shows, or because
the procession and races went round in a circuit.
(Varr. De Ling. Lat. v. 153, 154, ed. MUiller.)
any time. (HI-or. Set. i. 8. 12, 13; Orelli, Isc-i. Previously, however, to the death of Tarquin, a
permanent building was constructed for the pur~No. 43 7 9, 4557, &c.) pose, with regular tiers of seats in the form of a
2. A boundary-stone set up by the Agrimensores s
tov mlark th ivsos flndtheatre. (Compare Liv. and Dionys. ll. cc.) To
to mark the divisions of lands. (Scriotoses Rei this the name of Circus Maximnus was subsequently
A3r. p. 88, ed. Goesius.) of the trunks given, as a distinction fiom the Flaminian and
3. treesA litary entrenchment made. of'r unkII3) other similar buildings, which it surpassed in extrees and palisades. (CCs. B..tent and splendour; and hence, like the Campus
CI'RCINUS (1aic7fss), Ka compCass. The com- Martius, it is often spoken of as the Circus, without
pass used by statuaries, architects, masons, and any distinguishing epithet.
carssenters, is often represented o b the tomlbs of Of the Circus Maximus scarcely a vestige now
carpenters, is often represented on the 0ombs of remains, beyond the palpable evidence of the site
such artificers, together with the other instruments it occupied, and the papable e of rubble-work sit
of their profession or trade. The annexed wood-t ccupied, which may be seen under the walls
cut is copied from a tomb found at Rome. (Gruter, cirof sor form, w hich my be seen erhi, and wls
Corp. Inscrip. t. i. part ii. p. 644.) It exhibits two of some hooses in the stn de an vi
kinds of compasses: iZ the comon kind sed retain traces of having supported the stone seats
(Dionys. 1. c.) for the spectators. This loss is fortunately supplied by the remains of a small circus
on the Via Appia, commonly called the Circus of
A a......... Caracalla, the ground-plan of which, together with
much of the superstructure, remains in a state of
considerable preservation. The ground-plan of the
circus in question is represented in the annexed
=: 0woodcut; and may be safely taken as a model of
all others, since it agrees in every main feature,
both of general outline and individual parts, with
the description of the Circus Maximus given by
Dionysius (iii. p. 192).
Around the double lines (A, A) were arranged
the seats (grcadss, sedilica, subsellia), as in a theatre,
termed collectively the cavea; the lowest of which
were separated from the ground by a podium, ancl
the whole divided longitudinally by praecinctiones,
and diagonally into cmzei, with their vomitorice
attached to each. Towards the extremity of the
for drawing circles and measuring distances, and upper branch of the covec, the general outline is
one with curved legs, probably intended to mea- broken by an outwork (B), which was probably
sure the thickness of columns, cylindrical pieces of the pslvinar;, or station for the emperor, as it is
wood, or similar objects. The common kind is placed in the best situation for seeing both the
described by the scholiast on Aristophanes (Nub. commencement asnd end of the course, and in the
178), who compares its form to that of the letter A. most prominent part of the circus. (Suet. ClMud. 4.)
[See cut under NoRMA.] The mythologists sup- In the opposite branch, is observed another in