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

298 CLIPEUS. CLIPEUS.7repLPIpeta oI.tufcXos (II. xi. 33). [ANTYX.] In small iron bars, crossing each other somewhat in
the centre was a projection called OLuq)aXAos or the form of the letter X, which met the arm below
ueo-o?.dkXtov, iznlbo, which served as a sort of the inner bend of the elbow joint, and served to
weapon by itself, or caused the missiles of the steady the orb. This apparatus, which is sailJ to
enemy to glance off from the shield. It is seen in have been invented by the Carians (Herod. i. 171),
the next woodcut, from the column of Trajan. A was termed oiXavov or O;Xav77. Around the inner
spike, or some other prominent excrescence, was edge ran a leather thong (7rdpirae), fixed by rails
sometimes placed upon the 5Cup&axos, which was at certain distances, so that it formed a succession
called edrou4iXiov. of loops all round, which the soldier grasped with
his hand (eJuaX n 7rdppratct yevaiav Xe'pca, Eur.
Hel. 1396). Thepreceding woodcut, which shows
the whole apparatus, will render this account intelligible. It is taken from one of the terra cotta
vases published by Tischbein (vol. iv. tab. 20).
At the close of a war it was customary for the
Greeks to suspend their shields in the temples
when the 7rdpsratces were taken off, in order to
render them unserviceable in case of any sudden or
popular outbreak; which custom accounts for the
/ alarm of Demosthenes in the Knights of Aristophanes (859), when he saw them hanging up with
their handles on.
2I 0g. h The arr'nos was carried by the heavy-armed men
(6rTXr'at) during the historical times of Greece,.\I \Wfl~lt\Vt I tand is opposed to the lighter 7rEA'Xri and 7ypPov:
P\1W / i ~l1 IIjltl bhence we find the word aegis used to signify a
Iji 1 01Y12l, 7! o body of 6 OTArTat (Xen. Arab. i. 7. ~ 10).; According to Livy (i. 43), when the census was
instituted by Servius Tullius, the first class only
used the clipeus, and the second were armed withI
the scutusn [SCUTUM]; but after the Roman soldier received pay, the clipeus was discontinued
altogether for the Sabine scutuzn. (Liv. viii. 8;
compare ix. 19; Plut. Rom. 21; Diod. Eclog.
I~ ~ - % \ xxiii. 3, who asserts that the original form of the
Roman shield was square, and that it was subsequently changed for that of the Tyrrhenians, which
was round.)
In the Homeric times, the Greeks used a belt
to support the shield; but this custom was subsequently discontinued in consequence of its great -,
inconvenience [BALTIEUS], and the following method was adopted in its stead: —A band of /
metal, wood, or leather, termed cauc6s, was placed / /. A,, /
across the inside from rim to rim, like the diameter
of a circle, to which were affixed a number of
//I/~' /\'
The practice of emblazoning shields with various
devices, the origin of armorial bearings, is of considerable antiquity. It is mentioned as early as
the time of Aeschylus, who represents the seven
CI ( \ I Ichiefs who marched against Thebes with such
-v g tshields (Aeschyl. Sept. c. 7Tteb. 387, &c.; comp.
Virg. Aen. viii. 658; Sil. Ital. viii. 386). This