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

.378 CURRUS. CURRUS.
resident alien, the deficiency of franchise would be follows:- (a) The nave, called 7r'Xi4v7 (-Horn.
supplied by his Athenian patron (rpo-radTrrs). II. v. 726, xxiii. 339; Hes. Scut. 309), Xolv'Kir,
The duties to be performed, and In default of their modiolus (Plin.:T. N. ix. 3). The two last terms
performance, the penalties incurred by guardians, are founded on the resemblance of the nave to a
and the proceedings as to their appointment, are modius or bushel. (b) The spokes, Kcvsl ai (literally,
mentioned under their more usual title [EPITRO- t]he legs), radii. The number of spokes of course
PUS]. differed in different wheels. On one occasion we
The business of those who were more especially read of eight (Km'1KC v1CYUa, 1i. v. 723). (c) Theftlly,
designated curii in the Attic laws, was to protect Yrvs (Hom. I1. v. 724). This was commonly made
the interests of women, whether spinsters orwidows, of some flexible and elastic wood, such as poplar (II.
or persons separated from their husbands. If a iv. 482-486), or the wild fig, which was also used
citizen died intestate, leaving an orphan daughter, for the rim of the chariot; heat was applied to assist
the son, or the father, of the deceased was bound in producing the requ site curvature. (I1. xxi. 37,
to supply her with a sufficient dowry, and give her 38, compared withTheocrit. xxv. 247-251.) The
in marriage; and take care both for his own sake felly was, however, composed of separate pieces,
and that of his ward, that the husband made a called arcs (&'78es, Hes. Op. et Dies, 426). Hesiod
proper settlement in return for what his bride (I. c.) evidently intended to recommend that a
brought him in the way of dower (a7roTrC u?7a, wheel should consist of four pieces. (d) The tire,
Harpocr.). In the event of the death of the hus- E7riorTpov, cant/hus. Homer (II. v. 725) describes
band or of a divorce, it became the duty of the the chariot of Hera as having a tire of bronze upon
czrius that had betrothed her, to receive her back a golden felly, thus placing the harder metal in a
and recover the dowry, or at all events ali- position to resist friction, and to protect the softer.
niony from the husband or his representatives. If 4. The pole (pv/uots, temno). It was firmly fixed
the father of the woman had died intestate, with- at its lower extremity to the axle; and at the
out leaving such relations as above-mentioned sur- other end (aKpopPt5'IUov) the pole was attached to
viving, these duties devolved upon the next of the yoke either by a pin ('ECoNos), as shown in
kin, who had also the option of marrying her him- the chariot engraved below, or by the use of ropes
self, and taking her fortune with her, whether it and bands [JUGITM].
were great or small. (Bunsen, De J. H. Ath. p. 46.) All tne parts now enumerated are seen in an
If the fortune was small, and he was unwilling to ancient chariot preserved in the Vatican, a repremarry her, he was obliged to make up its defici- sentation of which is given in the annexed woodencies according to a regulation of Solon (Dem. cut.
c. Macart. p. 1068); if it were large he might, it
appears, sometimes even take her away from a
husband to whom she had been married, in the
lifetime and with the consent of her father.
There were various laws for the protection of
female orphans against the neglect or cruelty of
their kinsmen; as one of Solon's (Diod. xii.
p. 298), whereby they could compel their kinsmen
to endow or marry them; and another which after
their marriage enabled any Athenian to bring an
action KaKcWCcew, S to protect them against the
cruelty of'their husbands (Petit. Leg. Att. p. 543);
and the archon was specially entrusted with official
power to interfere in their behalf upon all occasions.
(Dem. c. Macart. p. 1076.) [KAsosIS.] [J. S.M.]
CURRUS (oap/p), a chariot, a car. These
terms appear to have denoted those two-wheeled
vehicles for the carriage of persons, which were -
open overhead, thus differing from the carpentunt,
and closed in front, in which they differed from
the cisizenm. The most essential articles in the
construction of the currus were: —
1. The antyx (6vTV'), or rim; and it is accordingly seen in all the chariots which are represented Carriages with two or even three poles were
either in this article or at pp. 101,238. [ANTYX.] used bythe Lydians. (Aeschyl. Pers. 47.) The
2. The axle, made of oak (Ltyevos tiScwv, Hoem. II. Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, appear
v. 838, imitated by Virgil,fagi2nus axis, Georg. iii. never to have used more than one pole and one
1-72), and sometimes also of ilex, ash, or elm. yoke, and the currus thus constructed was com(Plin. H. N. xvi. 84.) The axle was firmly fixed monly drawn by two horses, which were attached
under the body of the chariot, which, in reference to it by their necks, and therefore called 3'Civyes
to this circumstance, was called iVrepTepia, and S7r7rot (Homrn. I. v. 195, x. 473), ~uvsopis (Xen.
which was often made of wicker-work, inclosed Hell. i. 2. ~ 1), " gemini jugales " (Virg. Aen. vii.
by the &vrvU (Hom. I1. xxiii. 335, 436; Hes. 280),' equi bijuges" (Geory. iii. 91). If a third
Scut. 306). horse was added, as was not unfrequently the case,
3. The wheels (cilcXa, -'poXoy, rotae) revolved it was fastened by traces. It may have been inupon the axle as in modern carriages; and they tended to take the place of either of the yoke horses
were prevented from coming off by the insertion of ( 5/ytot 17r7rot), which might happen to be disabled.
pins (7rep&,al, geegoXot) into the extremities of the The horse so attached was called irapjopos. Ginzaxle (&iKpaaovla). The parts of the wheel were as rot (Tiigen und Fahvrwerlre, vol. i. p. 342) has pub