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

MIMUIS. MIIUS. 763
gnstus, probably in connection with that measure- and to have consisted originally of extempory rement of the roads of the empire, which was set presentations or imitations of ridiculous occurrences
on foot by Julius Caesar, and the results of which of common life at certain festivals, like the Spartan
are recorded in the so-called Antoninze tinerarcy. deicelistae. At a later period these rude repreAugustus set up a gilt marble pillar in the forum sentations acquired a more artistic form, which was
at Rome, to mark the central point from which brought to a high degree of perfection by Sophron
the great roads diverged to the several gates of of Syracuse (about 420 B.c.). He wrote his pieces
Rome (Dion Cass. liv. 8; Plut. Galb. 24). It was in the popular dialect of the Dorians and a kind of
called the Mfilliariz m, Aureum; and its position is rythmical prose. (Quinctil. i. 8.) The mimes of
defined as being in capite Romanli Foeri (Plin. H.N. Sophron are designated as t7Zpuo a7rouvaaot, which
5. s. 9), sub aedenm Satr'?i (Tac. Iiist. i. 27). were probably of a more serious and ethical chaSome remains of it still exist, close to the Arch of racter, and /itoiL yEXotot, in which ridiculous bufSeptimius Severus, consisting of a round base and foonery preponderated. Such mimes remained after
a piece of fine marble 4a feet in diameter, the whole the timne of Sophron a favourite amusement of the
being about 10 feet high. (Platner u. Bunsen, Greeks, and Philistionof Magnesia, a contemporary
Beschreib. d. Stadt Roen. vol. iii. pt. 1. p. 73, pt. 2. of Augustus, was a celebrated actor in them. (See
p. 102; Platner u. Urlichs, Besclhreib. Roms, p. 20.) uiiller, Dor. iv. 7. ~ 5.)
It seems that the marble pillar was covered, on Among the Ronmans the word mimus was apeach of its faces, with tablets of gilt bronze; but plied to a species of dramatic plays as well as to
whether the information engraved upon them con- the persons who acted in them. It is certain that
sisted simply of a list of the chief places on each the Romans did not derive their mimus from the
road, with their distances, or whether there was Greeks ii southern Italyl, but that it was of native
a sort of map of each set of roads with the dis- growth. The Greek nmimes were written in prose,
tanlces marked upon them, is now unknown. It is and the name juicuos was never applied to an actor,
also uncertain whether the miles began to be but if used of a person it signified one who made
reckoned from the pillar itself, or from the city grimaces. The Roman mimes were imitations of
gates. (See De la Nauze, in the Jliem. de l'A cad. foolish and mostly indecent and obscene occurrences
des Inser. vol. xxviii. p. 388, &c.; Ideler, in the (Ovid, Trist. ii. 515; Valer. Max. ii. 6. ~ 7, x. 11),
Abhandi. d. Berl. Acad. 1812, pp. 134, 164.) and scarcely differed from comedy except in conThe il/illiarius A u reumsn at Byzantium, erected sisting snore of gestures and mimicry thanll of spoken
by Constantine in imitation of that of Augustus, dialogue, which was not the case in the Greek
was a large building in the forum Augusteulm, mimes. The dialogue was, indeed, not excluded
near the church of S. Sophia. (See Buchholz, in from the Roman mimes, but wvas only interspersed
the Zeitsclkrifl fi-ir Altesrtulssvsissensehcltt, 1845, in various parts of the representation, while the
No. 100, &c.) mimic acting continued along with it and uninterLondon also had its Alilliariumeen AuLresss, a frag- ruptedly from the beginnilng to the end ofa piece.
ment of which still remains, namely, the cele- At Rome such mimes seem originally to have been
brated- London Stone, which may be seen affixed exhibited at fimnerals, where one or more persons
to the wall of St. Swithin's Church in Cannon (mslimli) represented in a burlesque nlanner the life
Street. of the deceased. If there were several mimi, one
From this example it may be inferred that the of them, or their leader, was called archimiinus.
chief city of each province of the empire had its (Suet. Vestps. 19; Gruter, Insceript. 1089. 6.)
MJillliarciumn A'e-etem. During the latter period of the republic such
The ordinary nlilliaria along the roads were farces were also represented in theatres; btut it
blocks or pillars of stone, inscribed with some or appears that they did not attain any high degree
all of the following points of information: (1) of perfection before the time of Caesar, for it is not
the distance, which was expressed by a number, until then that writers of mimes are mentioned:
with or without M.P. prefixed: (2) the places Cn. Mlatius, Decius Laberius, and Publ. Syrus
between which the road extended: (3) the name were the most distinguished among them. (Gellius,
of the constructor of the road, and of the emperor xv. 25; Suet. Caes. 39; Cic. acd Fam. xii. 18.)
to whose honour the work was dedicated. Several These coarse and indecent performances, of which
of these inscriptions remain, and are collected in Sulla was very fond, had greater charms for the
the following works: Gruter, c I. pp. cli. &c.; Ronans than the regular drama: hence they were
Muratori, Tlies. vol. i. pp. 447, &c.; C)reili, Inser. not only performed on the stage, but even at reLat. Sel. Nos. 1067, 3330, 4877; and especially pasts in the houses of private persons. On the
Bergiel, Hist. des grands Clzendins des Roen. vol. ii. stage they were performed as farces after tragedies,
pp. 757, &c., Bruxelles, 1728, 4to. and during the empire they gradually supplanted
On some of these mile-stones, which have been the place of the Atellanae. The exact time, howfound in Gaul, the distances are marked, not only eve;, when the Atellanae yielded to the mimes is
in Roman miles, but also in Gallic Leegqae, a uncertain. It was peculiar to the actors in these
measure, somewhat greater thanl the Roman mile. mimes, neither to wear masks, nor the cothurnus,
(For some further details respecting these extant nor the soccus, whence they are sometimes called
mile-stones, see the article Alilliariumzs in the Real- planipedes. (Dionmed. iii. 487; Gellius, i. 11;
Elncyclop. d. Class. Altertl., to which the foregoing Macrob. Sat. ii. 1.) As the mimes contained
article is considerably indebted.) [P. S.] scenes taken fiom common life, such as exhibited
MIMUS (~u?/os) is the name by which, in its most striking features, their,authors are someGreece and at Rome, a species of the drama was tinies called biologi or ethologi (Cic. g)ro Rabiar. 12,
designated, though the Roman mimnus differed ide Ocrat. ii. 59), and the works themselves were
essentially from the Greek,7ui;os. distinguished for their richness in moral sentences.
The Greek mimus seems to have originated That distinguished and living persons were someamong the Greeks of Sicily and southerml Italy, times exposed to ridicule in these mimses, is clear.