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

982 QUANTI MINORIS. QUINQTJATRUS.
the senate and only announced to the emperor. mligllt be lroulght as often as a new defect was dis.:(Becker, Hancldb. der Rias. Altertls. vol. ii. pt. ii. p. covered; but the purchaser could not recover the
332, &c.; Wralter, Gesch. des ROmz. Reclats, p. 371.) value of the same thing twice. [ErAlTo ET'
The proconsul or praetor, who had the adminis- VENDITIO.] (Dig. 21. tit. 1; 44. tit. 2. s. 25.
tration of a province, was attended by a quaestor. ~ 1.) [G. L.]
This quaestor had undoubtedly to perform the same QUARTA'RIUS, a Roman measure of capacity,
functions as those who accompanied the armies into one fourth of the sextarius, and consequently a
the field; they were in fact the same officers, with little less than a quarter of a pint imperial. It is
the exception that the former were stationary in also found in the Greek system of liquid measures
their province during the time of their office, and under the name of -ri'apror. [P. S.]
had consequently rights and duties which those QUASILLA'RIAE. [CArATHUS.]
Awho accompanied the armies could not have. In QUASILLUM. [CALATIIuS.]
Sicily, the earliest Roman province, there were QUATUORVIRI JURI DICUNDO. [Cotwo quaestors answering to the two former divi- LONIA, p. 31 8, b.]
sions of the island into the Carthaginian and QUATUORVIRI VIARUM CURANDA.
Greek territory. The one resided at Lilybaeum, RUM. [VIAE.]
the other at Syracuse. Besides the duties which QUERE'LA INOFFICIO'SI TESTAMENthey had in common with the pay-masters of the TI. [TESTATIENTU11.]
armies, they had to levy those parts of the public QUINA'RIUS. [DENaRIUS.]
revenue in the province which were not farmed by QUINCUNX. [As, p. 140, b.]
the publicani, to control the publicani, and to for- QUINDECIMVIRI. [DECEasVIRI, p. 387, a.]
ward the sums raised, together with the accounts QUINQUAGE'SIMA, the fiftieth or a tax of
of them, to the aerarium. (Pseudo-Ascon. in two per cent. upon the value of. all slaves that
FVerin. p. 167, Orelli.) In the provinces the were sold, was instituted by Augustus according
quaestors had the same jurisdiction as the curule to Dion Cassius (lv. 31). Tacitus (xiii. 31),
aediles at Rome. (Gaius, i. 6.) The relation ex — however, mentions the twenty-fifth or a tax of
isting between a praetor or proconsul of a province four per cent. upon. the sale of slaves in the time of
and his quaestor was according to ancient custom Nero: if both passages are correct, this tax must
regarded as resembling that between a father and have been increased after the time of Augustus,
his son. (Cic. Divin. 19, c. Ver r. ii. 15, pro probably by Caligula, who, we are told by Suetonius
Plane. 11, ad Fans. iii. 10.) When a quaestor (ia vita, c. 40), introduced many new taxes.
died in his province, the praetors had the right to (Burmann, de Vectig. p. 69, &c.)
appoint a proquaestor in his stead (Cic. c. V'e7r. 1. c.), We are also told by Tacitus (A ns. xiii. 51) that
and when the praetor was absent, the quaestor Nero abolished the Quinquagesima; this must
supplied his: place, and was then attended by lic- have been a different tax from the above-mentioned
tors. (Cic. ad Fans. ii. 15; pro Plane. 41.) In one, and may have been similar to the Quinquawhat manner the provinces were assigned to the gesima mentioned by Cicero (c. aVerr. iii. 49) in
quaestors after their election at Rome, is not men- connection with the Aratores of Sicily.
tioned, though it was probably by lot, as in the case A duty of two per cent. was levied at Athens
of the quaestor ostiensis. But in the consulship of upon exports and imports. [PENTECOSTE.]
Decimus Drusus and Porcina it was decreed that QUINQUATRUTS or QUINQUA'TRIA, a
the provinces' should be distributed among the festival sacred to Minerva, which was celebrated
quaestors by lotex senalzs consuzlto. (Dig. 1. tit. 13. on the 19th of March (a. d. xIv. Kal. Apr.), and
~ 2; Cic. c. Verrs. ii. 1. 13.) During the time of was so called according to Varro (de Ling. Lat. vi.
the empire this practice continued, and if the 14, ed. Miiller), because it was the fifth day after
number of quaestors elected was not sufficient for the Ides, in the same way as the Tusculans called
the number of provinces, those quaestors of the a festival on the sixth day after the Ides Sexatrus,
preceding year, who had had no province, might be and one on the seventh Septimatrus. Gellius (ii.
sent out. This was, however, the case only in the 21) and Festus (s. v.) also give the same etymology,
provinces of the Roman people, for in those of the and the latter states that the Faliscans too called a
emperors there were no quaestors at all. In the festival on the tenth day after the IdesDeimnatSr-s.
time of Constantine the title of quaestor scacrai palstii (Comp. Miiller, Etruasker, vol. ii. p. 49.) Both Varro
was given to a minister of great importance, whose and Festus state that the Quinquatrus was celeoffice probably originated in that of the candidati brated for only one day, but Ovid (Fast. iii. 809,
principis. Respecting his power and influence see &c.) says that it was celebrated for five days, and
Walter, Geseol. d. Rb'm. R. p. 365. [L.S.] was for this reason called by this name: that on
QUAESTO'RII LUDI. [LUDa QuAEsToRIa.] the first day no blood was shed, but that on the
QUAESTO'RIUM. [CASTRA, pp. 249, a, last four there were contests of gladiators. It
253, b.] would appear however from the above-mentioned'
QUALES-QUALES. [SEaRvUS.] authorities that the first day was only the festival
QUALUS. [CAISATHUS.] properly so called, and that' the last four were
QUANTI MINO'RIS is an actio which a merely an addition made perhaps in the time of
buyer had against the seller of a thing, in respect Caesar to gratify the people, who became so pasof any non-apparent faults or imperfections, at the sionately fond of gladiatorial combats. The ancient
time of the sale, even if the seller was not aware Calendars too assign only one day to the festival.
of them, or for any defects in the qualities of the Ovid (1. c.) says that this festival was celebrated
thing which the seller had, warranted: the object in commemoration of the birth-day of Minerva
of the actio was to obtain an abatement in the but according to Festus it was sacred to Minerva
purchase-money. This action was to be brought because her temple on the Aventine was consewithin a year. or within six months, according as crated on that day. On the fifth day of the festhere was a Cautio or iiot. The actio quanti minoris tival, according to Ovid (iii. 849), the trumpets