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

870 PVARMA:[ PAROPSIS.
splendid edifices, and was decorated with an end- to the clipeus -of the Palladium, becaus6, the statue
less variety of tasteful devices in bas-relief. Of being small, the shield was small in proportion.
these ornaments, wrought in stucco (opus albasrizum), (Aens. ii. 175.)
specimens remain in the " Baths of Titus" at Rome. The annexed woodcut represents a votive pariea,
When the plasterer (tector, eovzacims)- had finished
his work (trullissatio, i. e. trowelling; opus tecto -
lrium), in all of which he was directed by the use i
of the square [NORaIA], the rule, and the line and
plummet [PERPENDICULULM], and in which he
aimed at producing a surface not only smooth and /
shining, but as little as possible liable to crack or
decay (Vitruv. vii. 3), he was often succeeded by t1 A
the painter in fresco (udco tectorio, Vitruv. 1. c.). In a 31l I\
many cases the plaster or stucco was left without
any additional ornament; and its whiteness and
freshness were occasionally restored by washing it _, ( 2
with certain fine calcareous or aluminous earths
dissolved in milk (paraeetoniuzm, Plin. H. NV. xxxv.
6. s. 18; terra Selinuzsia, 16. s. 56). A painted A3X=m;e- (
wall was commonly divided by the artist into
rectangular compartments, which he filled accord- cc'
ing to his taste and fancy with an endless variety
of landscapes, buildings, gardens, animals, &c. -
(Vitruv. vii. 5.)
Another method of decorating walls was by en- embossed (e(rup XaraoV) [MALLEUS] and gilt, recrusting them with slabs of marble (crustae). The presenting on its border, as is supposed, the taking
blocks, designed for this purpose, were cut into of Rome by the Gauls under Brennus and its rethin slabs by the aid of saw-mills. [MOLA.] Vari- covery by Caumillus. It belonged formerly to the
ous kinds of sand were used in the operation, ac- Woodwardian Museum, and is supposed by anticording to the hardness of the stone; emery (naica, quaries to have been made in the time of Claudius
Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 6. s. 9) being used for the or Nero. The boss (unzbo) is a grotesque face,
hardest. This art was of high antiquity, and pro..- surrounded with ram's horns, foliage, and a twisted
bably Oriental in its origin. The brick walls of beard. (Dodwell, de Parmza Wooclwardiana, Oxen.
the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, built as early as 1713.) Compare Bernd, Das Wappenweesen der
355 B. C., were covered with slabs of Proconnesian GCrZicena und Riinzer, Bonn, 1841. [J. Y.]
marble (Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 6); and this is the PA'ROCHI, were certain people who were
most ancient example upon record. In the time paid by the state to supply the Roman magistrates,
of Pliny (H. N. xxxv. 1) slabs of a uniform colour ambassadors, and other official persons, when they
were sometimes inlaid with variously coloured ma- were travelling, with those necessaries which they
terials in such a way as to represent animals and could not conveniently carry with them. They
other objects. In short the beautiful invention existed on all the principal stations on the Roman
now called Florentine Mosaic was then in use for roads in Italy and the provinces, where persons
the decoration of the walls of apartments. [Es- were accustomed to pass the night. But as many
BLEMA.] The common kind of Mosaic was also magistrates frequently made extortionate demands
sometimes used in walls as well as in floors and from the parochi, the lex Julia de Repetundis of
ceilings. The greatest refinement was the attempt Julius Caesar, B. c. 59, defined the things which
to produce the effect of mirrors, which was done the parochi were bound to supply, of which hay,
by inserting into the wall pieces of black glass fire-wood, salt, and a certain number of beds apmanufactured in imitation of obsidian. (Plin. H. N. pear to have been the most important (Hor. Sat. i.
xxxvi. 26. s. 67.) [DoMus p. 431; PICTURA, 5. 46; Cic. ad Att. v. 16, xiii. 2; Heindorf, cad
~ XV.] [J.Y.] Ho. 1. c.)
PARILI'LIA. [PALILIA.1 PAROPSIS (7rapotmls). Two different meanPARMA. dim. PARMULA (Hor. Came. ii. ings are given to this word by the Greek gramma7. 10), a round shield, three feet in diameter, rians; some interpret it as meaning any food eaten
carried by the velites in the Roman army. Though with the 04i0o [OPSONIUM], as the ud~Ca, a kind
small, compared with the CLIPEUS, it was so of frumenty or soft cake, broth, or any kind of constrongly made as to be a very effectual protection. diment or sauce (Pollux, vi. 56, x. 87; Hemsterh.
(Polyb. vi. 20.) This was probably owing to the ad loc.); and others a saucer, plate, or small dish.
use of iron in its frame-work.- In the Pyrrhic (Hesych. and Suidas, s. v.) It is plain, however,
dance it was raised above the head and struck from the numerous passages collected by Athenaeus
with a sword so as to emit a loud ringing noise. (ix. pp. 367, 368), that the word was used in both
(Claud. de VL Cons. Honor. 628.) The parma was significations, and was the name of the dish or
also worn by the EQUITES (Sallust, Frag. Hist. plate as well as of its contents. (Compare Xen. Cyr.
IV.); and for the sake of state and fashion it was i. 3. ~ 4; Plut. de Adul. et A2mic. 9; St. Matth,
sometimes adorned with precious stones. (Propert. xxiii. 26.) The Roman writers seem always to
iv. 2. 21.) use it in the sense of a dish or plate (Juv. iii. 142;
MWe find the term parina often applied to the Mart. xi. 27. 5); and according to Charisius it was
target [CaTRA], which was also a small round so called, "quia in eo reponuntur obsonia, et ex eo
shield, and therefore very similar to the parma. in mensa comeduntur." The word is also written
(Propert. iv. 2. 40; Mela, i. 5. ~ 1; Virg. Aen. Parapsis. (Hesych. s. v.; Suet. GalSb. 12; Petron,
x. 817.) Virgil, in-like manner, applies the-term 34; Dig. 34. tit. 2. s.. 19. ~ 9.)