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PHALERA.
156.) We also find the name of Petaurum in the Roman gamea, and considerable doubt has arisen respecting its meaning. It seems, however, to have been a board moving up and down, with a person at each end, and supported in the middle, something like our see-saw ; only it appears to have been much longer, and consequently went to a< greater height than is common amongst us. ‘Some writers describe it as a machine, from which those who exhibited were raised to a great height and then seemed to fly to the ground ; but this interpretation does not agree so well with the passages of the ancient authors as the one previously mentioned. (Lucil. ap. Fest. s.v. Petaurist. ; Juv. xiv. 265 ; Mart. xi. 21. 3 ; Manil. v. 433.) The persons, who took part in this game, were called Petauristae or Petauristarii; but this name seems to have been also applied in rather a wider signification. (Compare Petron. 53.)
PETITOR. [actor.]
PETORRITUM, a four-wheeled carriage, which, like the essedum, was adopted by the Romans in imitation of the Gauls. (Hor. Sat. i. 6. J04.) It differed from the harmamaxa in being uncovered. Its name is obviously compounded of pUo^ four, and nY, a wheel. Festus (s. v.) in ex plaining this etymology observes that petor meant four in Oscan and in Aeolic Greek. There is no reason to question the truth of this remark ; but, since Petor meant four in many other European languages, it is more probable that the Romans derived the name, together with the fashion of this vehicle, from the Gauls. Gellius (xv. 30) expressly says that it is a Gallic word. [J. Y.]
PEZETAERI (TregraipoC). [exercitus, p. 488, b.]
PHALANGAE or PALANGAE (<t>dayye<i any long cylindrical pieces of wood, such as trunks or branches of trees (Herod, iii. 97 ; Plin. H. N. xii. 4. s. 8), truncheons (Plin. //. A7", vii. 56. s. 57), and poles used to carry burthens. The carriers who used these poles were called plialcm-c/arii (Gloss. Ant. s.v. and also lieocaphori^ tetra-pliori, &c., according as they worked in parties of six, four, or two persons.
The word was especially used to signify rollers placed under ships to move them on dry land, so as to draw them upon shore or into the water (5oupar€0i Kviv8poi9 Brunck, Anal. iii. 89 ; Apoll. Rhod. i. 375—389). This was effected either by making use of the oars as levers, and at the same time fastening to the stern of the ship cables with a noose (/x7]ptV0os), against which the sailors pressed with their breasts, as we see in our canal navigation (Orph. Argon. 239—249, 270—273), or by the use of machines. (Hor. Carm. i. 4. 2.) Hollers were employed in the same manner to move military engines (Caesar, Bell. Civ. ii. 10).
PHALANX (<j)day£). [ExERcrrus,pp. 482,b, 488.]
PHALARICA. f [hasta, p. 589, a.]
PPI ALERA (<£aA.apoy), a boss, disc, or crescent of metal, in many cases of gold (Herod, i. 215 ; Athen. xii. p. 550 ; Claudian, Epig. 34) and beautifully wrought so as to be highly prized. (Cic. Verr. iv. 12.) Ornaments of this description, being used in pairs, are scarcely ever mentioned except in the plural number. The names for them are evidently formed from the term $aAoy, which is explained under gale A. (Compare Horn. II. Xvi. 106.) Besides the metallic ornaments of the
PIIARETRA.
helmet similar decorations were sometimes, though very rarely, worn by warriors on other parts of their dress or armour, probably upon the breast. (Virg. Aen. ix. 359, 458.) The negro slaves who were kept by opulent Romans wore them suspended round their necks. (Sueton. Nei’o, 30.) Also the tiara of the king of Persia was thus adorned. (Aeschyl. Pers. 668.) But we most commonly read of phalerae as ornaments attached to the harness of horses (Xen. Hellen. iv. 1. § 39 ; Virg. Aen. v. 310 ; Gell. v. 5 ; Claudian, Epig. 36), especially about the head (ayUTruKTTjpia <£aAapa, Soph. Oed. CoL 1069 ; Eurip. Suppl. 586 ; Greg. Cor. de Dialect, p. 508, ed. Schafer), and often worn as pendants (pensilia,, Plin. //. N. xxxvii. 12. s. 74), so as to produce a terrific effect when shaken by the rapid motions of the horse (turbanlur pirn-ferae, Claudian, in iv. Cons. Plonor. 548). These ornaments were often bestowed upon horsemen by the Roman generals in the same manner as the armilla, the torques, the hasta pura [hasta], and the crown of gold [corona], in order to make a public and permanent acknowledgment of bravery and merit. (Juv. xvi. 60 ; Gell. ii. 11.) [J.Y.]
PHALLUS. [dionysia, p. 411, a.]
PHALOS (<j>dos).f [galea.]
PHARETRA (</>a/>eVpa, ap. Herod. <j>ap€Tpecai’ a quiver. A quiver, full of arrows, was the usual accompaniment of the bow. [arcus.] It was consequently part of the attire of every nation addicted to archery. Virgil applies to it the epithets Cressa, Lytia, Tltre’issa (Georg. iii. 345, Aen. vii. 816, xi. 858) ; Ovid mentions the pliaretratus Geta (De Ponto, i. 8. 6) ; Herodotus represents it as part of the ordinary armour of the Persians (vii. 61). The quiver, like the bow-case (corytus), was principally made of hide or leather (Herod, ii. 141), and was adorned with gold (Anacr. xiv. 6 ; aurata3 Virg. Aen. iv. 138, xi. 858), painting (Ovid, Epist.Her. xxi. 173), and braiding (jroXvppairrov^ Theocrit. xxv. 265). It had a lid (vra^a, Horn. II. iv. 116, Od. ix. 314), and was suspended from the right shoulder by a belt [baltjeus], passing over the breast and behind the back. (Hes. I. c.) Its most common position was on the left
