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AREIOPAGUS.
ARCUS.
126
specimens of Roman sculpture. This arch has only a single opening, with two columns of the Roman or composite order on each side of it. 3. Arcus Septimii Severi, which was erected by the senate (a. d. 203) at the end of the Via Sacra, in honour of that emperor and his two .sons, Caracalla and Geta, on account of his victories over the Parthians and Arabians. 4. Arcus Gal- lieni) erected to the honour of Gallienus by a pri vate individual, M. Aurelius Victor. 5. Arcus Constantini) which is larger and more profusely ornamented than the Arch of Titus. It was erected by the senate in honour of Constantine, after his victory over Maxentius. It consists of three arches, with columns against each front, and statues on the entablatures over them, which, with the other sculptured ornaments, originally de corated the arch of Trajan. [P. S.]
ARCUS (/Bids, Td£oy), the bow used for shooting arrows, is one of the most ancient of all weapons, but is characteristic of Asia rather than of Europe. Thus in the description given by Herodotus (vii. 61—80) of the various nations composing the army of Xerxes, we observe that nearly all the troops without exception used the bow. The Scythians and Parthians were the most celebrated archers in the East, and among the Greeks the Cretans, who frequently served as a separate corps in the Greek armies, and subsequently also among the auxiliary troops of the Romans. (Comp. Xen. And), i. 2. § 9 ; Liv. xlii. 35.)
The form of.the Scythian and Parthian bow differed from that of the Greeks. The former was in the shape of a half-moon, and is shown in the upper of the two figures here exhibited, which is taken from one of Sir W. Hamilton1^ fictile vases. (Comp. Amm. Marc. xxii. 8.) The Greek bow, on the other hand, the usual form of which is shown
When not used, the bow was put into a case (ro^o6^Ki]j ycopvr6st Corytus)., which was made oi leather, and sometimes ornamented (<paeii/os, Horn. Od. xxi. 54). The bow-case is very conspicuous in the sculptured bas-reliefs of Persepolis. It frequently held the arrows as well as the bow, and on this account is often confounded with the Pharetra or quiver. Though its use was comparatively rare among the Greeks and Romans, we find it exhibited in a bas-relief in the Museo Pio-Clementino (vol. iv. tav. 43), which is copied in the annexed cut.
in the lower of the preceding figures, has a double curvature, consisting of two circular portions united in the middle (ttt)xvs}> According to the description in Homer (II. iv. 105—126), the bow was made of two pieces of horn, hence frequently called Kepas and cornu. The bow-string (vevpti) was twisted, and was frequently made of thongs of leather (vevpa fi6eia). It was always fastened to one end of the bow, and at the other end there hung a ring or hook (Kop&vr) usually made of metal (XP^0"^1?)? to which the string was attached, when the bow was to be used. In the same passage of Homer we have a description of a man preparing to shoot, and this account is illustrated by the following outline of a statue belonging to the group of the Aeginetan marbles. The bow, placed in the hands of this statue, was probably of bronze, and has been lost.
ARDALION (afi&Kiov}. [FuNus.] A’REA. [agricultura, p. 44.] AREIO’PAGUS. The Areiopagus ( Trd-yos, or hill of Ares), at Athens, was a rocky eminence, lying to the west of, and not far from the Acropolis. To account for the name, various stories were told. Thus, some said that it was so called from the Amazons, the daughters of Ares, having encamped there when they attacked Athens ; others again, as Aeschylus, from the sacrifices there offered by them to that god ; while the more received opinion connected the name with the legend of Ares having been brought to trial there by Poseidon, for the murder of his son Halirrhotius. (Dem. c. Aristocr. p. 642 ; Aeschyl. Eum. 659.) To none, however^ of these legends did the place owe its fame, but rather to the council (CH ev ‘Apeiy irayq /3ovA^), which held its sittings there, and was sometimes
