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EUMOLPIDAE.
Verse claim (litem denunciare}, and to pray his aid in defence of the action. The stipulatio duplae was usual among the Romans ; and, in such case, if the purchaser was evicted from the whole thing, he might by virtue of his agreement demand from the seller double its value. (Dig. 21. tit. 2, De evictionibus et duplae stipulatione ; Mackeldey, Lehrbuch, &c., § 370, 12th ed.) [G. L.]
EUMOLPIDAE (efyioATrtfaO, the most distinguished and venerable among the priestly families in Attica. They were devoted to the service of Demeter at Athens and Eleusis, and were said to be the descendants of the Thracian bard Eumol-pus, who, according to some legends, had introduced the Eleusinian mysteries into Attica. (Diod. Sic. i. 29; Apollod. iii. 1.5. § 4; Demosth. c.Neaer. p. 1384.) The high priest of the Eleusinian goddess (lepotycLvrris or yuucrraywyds), who conducted the celebration of her mysteries and the initiation of the mystae, was always a member of the family of the Eumolpklae, as Eumolpus himself was believed to have been the first hierophant. (Hesych. s. v. ‘EvfjioTridai; Tacit. Hist. iv. 83 ; Arnob., v. 25; Clemens Alex. Protrept. p. 16, &c.) In his external appearance the hierophant was distinguished by a peculiar cut of his hair, a kind of diadem (crrpo-$*oz/), and a long purple robe. (Arrian. in Epictet. iii. 21 ; Plut. Alcib. 22.) In his voice he seems always to have affected a solemn tone suited to the sacred character of his office, which he held for life, and which obliged him to remain unmarried. (Paus. ii. 14. § L) The hierophant was attended by four eTr^teA^rat, one of whom likewise belonged to the family of the Eumolpidae. (Harpocrat. and Suidas, s. v. ‘ETrijUeATjrat rcwz/ jtuxrT^piW.) Other members of their family do not seem to have had any particular functions at the Eleusinia, though they undoubtedly took part in the great procession to Eleusis. The Eumolpidae had on certain occasions to offer up prayers for the welfare of the state, and in case of neglect they might be taken to account and punished ; for they were, like all other priests and magistrates, responsible for their conduct, and for the sacred treasures entrusted to their . care. (Aeschin. c. Ctesiph. p. 56, Steph. ; compare euthyne.)
The Eumolpidae had also judicial power in cases where religion was violated (vrepl dcregeias, Demosth. c. Androt. p. 601). This power probably belonged to this family from the earliest times, and Solon as well as Pericles do not seem to have made any alteration in this respect. Whether this religious court acted independent of the archon king, or under his guidance, is uncertain. The law according to which they pronounced their sentence, and of which they had the exclusive possession, wavS not written, but handed down by tradition ; and the Eumolpidae alone had the right to interpret it, whence they are sometimes called ^rjyrjrai. [exegetak] In cases for which the law had made no provisions, they acted according to their own discretion. (Lysias^ c. Andocid. p. 204 ; Andocid. De Myst, p. 57.) Respecting the mode of proceeding in these religious courts nothing is known. (Hefften, Athen. Gericldsverf. p. 405, &c. ; Platner, Process., ii. p. 147, &c.) In some cases, when a person was convicted of gross violation of the public institutions of his country, the people, besides sending the offender into exile, added a clause in their verdict that a curse should be pro-.nounced upon him by the Eumolpidae. (Plut,
477
EUPATRIDAE.
Alcib. 22 ; Corn. Nep. Alcib. 4, 5.) But the Eumolpidae could pronounce such a curse only at the command of the people, and might afterwards be compelled by the people to revoke it and purify the person whom they had cursed before. (Plut. Alcib. 33 ; Corn. Nep. Alcib. 6. 5.) [L. S.J
EVOCATI, were soldiers in the Roman army, who had served out their time and obtained their discharge (wwssz’o), but had voluntarily enlisted again at thev invitation of the consul or other commander. (Dion Cass. xlv. 12.) There appears always to have been a considerable number of evocati in every army of importance ; and when the general was a favourite among the soldiers, the number of veterans who joined his standard would of course be increased. The evocati were, doubtless, released, like the vexillarii, from the common military duties of fortifying the camp, making roads, &c. (Tacit. Ann. i. 36), and held a higher rank in the army than the common legionary soldiers. They are sometimes spoken of in conjunction with the equites Romani (Caes. Bell. Gall, vii. 65), and sometimes classed with the centurions, (Caes. Bell. Civ. i. 17.) They appear to have been frequently promoted to the rank of centurions. Thus Pompey induced a great many of the veterans, who had served under him in former years, to join his standard at the breaking out of the civil war, by the promise of rewards and the command of centuries (ordinum^ Caes. Bell. Civ. i. 3). All the evocati could not, however, have held the rank of centurions, as we read of two thousand on one occasion (Ib. iii. 88), and of their belonging to certain cohorts in the army. Cicero (ad Fain. iii. 6. § 5) speaks of a Praefcctus evocatorum. (See Cic. ad Fain, xv. 4. § 3 ; Caes. Bell. Civ. iii. 91 ; Suet. Aug. 56 ; Lipsius, De Milit. Rom. i. 8.)
The name of evocati was also given to a select body of young men of the equestrian order, who. were appointed by Domitian to guard his bedchamber. (Suet. Dom. 10.) This body is supposed by some writers to have existed under the succeeding emperors, and to have been the same as those who are called Evocati Augusti. (Hyginus, deLim. p. 209 ; Orelli, Inscrip. No. 3495, 153.)
EUPATRIDAE (e&TroTp/Sai), i.e. descended from noble ancestors, is the name by which in early times the nobility of Attica was designated. Who the Eupatridae originally were has been the subject of much dispute ; but the opinion now almost universally adopted is, that they were the noble Ionic or Hellenic families who at the time of the Ionian migration settled in Attica, and there exercised the power and influence of an aristocracy of warriors and conquerors, possessing the best parts of the land, and commanding the services of a numerous class of dependents. (Thirlwall, Hist, of Greece^ vol. i. p. 115, &c.; Wachsmuth,vol. i. p. 361, &c., 2d ed.) i The chiefs who are mentioned as kings of the several Attic towns, before the organisation of the country ascribed to Theseus, belonged to the highest or ruling class of the Eupatridae ; and when Theseus made Athens the seat of government for the whole country, it must have been chiefly these nobles of the highest rank, that left their former residences and migrated to Athens, where, after Theseus had given iip his royal prerogatives and divided them among the nobles, they occupied a station similar to that which they had previously held in their several districts of Attica, Other Enpatridae, however, who either were not
