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

366 COT1HURNUS. COTTABOS.
The slaves were divided into two classes, the ceamentum, and had the soles made unusually
public bondsmen (i7 Kotvi 0ovxela), and the slaves thick, as one of the methods adopted in order to
of individuals. The former were called the /xvcva, magnify their whole appearance. (Virg. Ecl. viii.
tz'oia, uvwTa, or Mwvooa o-',o.os: the latter, &pa- 10 Hor. Sat. i. 5. 64; fArs Po;et. 280.) Hence
fA(cTraL, or KIapciTal. The a&paetATlra, were so tragedy in general was called cothturnus. (Ov.
nained from the cultivation of the lots of land, or Trist. ii. 1. 393; Juv. vi. 633, xv. 29.)
cpaouiaL, assigned to private citizens, and were As the cothurnus was commonly worn in hunttherefore agricultural bondsmen (o KaaT' a&ypo', ing, it is represented both by poets and statuaries
Athen. vi. p. 263). The lu'ola was distinguished, as part of the costume of Diana. It was also
by more precise writers, both from the perioeci attributed to Bacchus (Vell. Pitt. ii. 82), and to
and the aphamiotae; so that it has been concluded Mercury (Hamilton's Vases, vol. iii. pl. 8). The
that every state in Crete possessed a public do- preceding woodcut shows two cothurni from stamain, cultivated by the mnotae, just as the private tues in the Museo Pio-Clementino (vol. ii. pl. 15,
allotments were by the bondsmen of the individual and vol. iii. pl. 38). [J. Y.]
proprietors. The word'uvola, as Thirlwall has CO'TTABOS (Ionic, kdo-agos or'-r'rafos), a
remarked, is more probably connected with alUcs social game which was introduced from Sicily into
than Minos. Greece (Athen. xv. p. 666), where it became one
The origin of the class called pzvoia, and the of the favourite amusements of young people after
KceapTra,, was probably twofold; for the analogy their repasts. The simplest way in which it oriof other cases would lead us to suppose that they ginally was played was this: — One of the comconsisted partly of the slaves of the conquered pany threw out of a goblet a certain quantity of
freemen of the country, and partly of such freemen pure wine, at a certain distance, into a metal basin,
as rose against the conquerors, and were by them endeavouring to perform this exploit in such a
reduced to bondage. But besides these, there was manner as not to spill any of the wine. While he
also a class of household servants employed in was doing this, he either thought of or pronounced
menial labours, and called XpvUcr'ToL: they were, the name of his mistress (Etypool. Mlleag. s. v.
as their name denotes, purchased, and imported KorTariCw), and from the more or less full and
from foreign countries. [R. W.] pure sound with which the wine struck against the
COTHURNUS (icdOopvos), a boot. Its essen- metal basin, the lover drew his conclusions respecttial distinction was its height; it rose above the ing the attachment of the object of his love. The
middle of the leg, so as to surround the calf (alte sound, as well as the wine by which it was prosuras vincire cothurno, Virg. Aenz. i. 337), and duced, were called Xcrae or cdrTra~os: the metal
sometimes it reached as high as the knees. (Millin, basinI had various names, either tcorTraCLov, or icoTVases Ant. vol. i. pl. 20 and 72.) It was worn raCe7ov, or XaTaryaeov, or XdAKreLoV, or XAecdv',
principally by horsemen, hunters, and by men of or aoa'idl7. (Pollux, vi. 109; Etymzol. May. 1. c.;
rank and authority. The ancient marbles, repre- Athen. xv. p. 667. sub fin.) The action of throwsenting these different characters, show that the ing the wine, and sometimes the goblet itself, was
cothurnus was often ornamented in a very tasteful called a&yic6Ar because the persons engaged in the
and elaborate manner. The boots of the ancients game turned round the right hand with great
were laced in front, and it was the object in so dexterity, on which they prided themselves. Hence
doing to make them fit the leg as closely as pos- Aeschylus spoke of KTTaeoL aYKY vAXroi. (Athen.
sible. It is evident from the various represent- xv. p. 667.) Thus the cottabus, in its simplest
ations of the cothurnus in ancient statues, that its form, was nothing but one of the many methods
sole was commonly of the ordinary thickness. But by which lovers tried to discover whether their
it was sometimes made much thicker than usual, love was returned or not. But this simple amuseprobably by the insertion of slices of cork. (Serv. ment gradually assumed a variety of different chain Viry. Eel. 11. cc.) The object was to add to the racters, and becamre, in some instances, a regular
apparent stature of the wearer; and this was done contest, with prizes for the victor. One of the
either in the case of women who were not so tall most celebrated modes in which it was carried on
as they wished to appear (Juv. Sat. vi. 507), or of is described by Athenaeus (1. c.) and in the Etyrnol.
the actors in Athenian tragedy, who assumed the Alag., and was called 8? 4tvia)pcwv. A basin was
cothurnus as a grand and dignified species of cal- filled with water, with small empty bowls swim.
ming upon it. Into these the young men, one after
another, threw the remnant of the wine from their
goblets, and he who had the good fortune to drown
most of the bowls obtained the prize (icor-rcdov),
consisting either of simple cakes, sweet-meats, or
sesame-cakes.
A third and more complicated form of the cottabus is thus described by Suidas (s. v. KorTaeicl).
— A long piece of wood being erected on the
ground, another was placed upon it in an horizontal direction, with two dishes hanging down
from each end; underneath each dish a vessel full
of water was placed, in each of which stood a gilt
brazen statue, called 1yaesr. Every one who took
part in the game stood at a distance, holding a cup
fhll of wine, which he endeavoured to throw into
one of the dishes, in order that, struck down by
the weight, it might knock against the head of the
statue which was concealed under the water. He