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On this page: Riffuli – Rostrata Columna – Rostrata Corona – Rostrum – Rota – Rudens – Ruderatio – Rudiarii – Rudis – Rutiliana Actio – Rutrum – Saccus – Sacellum – Sacerdos

RUTRUM.

enabled to walk to and fro, while addressing his audience.

The suggestus or Rostra was transferred by Julius Caesar to a corner of the Forum, but the spot, where the ancient Rostra had stood, still con­tinued to be called Rostra Vetera, while the other was called Rostra Nova or Rostra Julia. (Ascon. in Gic. Mil. § 12. p. 43, ed. Orelli ; Dion Cass. xliii. 49, Ivi. 34 ; Suet. Aug. .100.) Both the Rostra contained statues of illustrious men (Cic. Philip, ii. 61) ; the new Rostra contained eques­trian statues of Sulla, Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. (Veil. Pat. ii. 61.) Niebuhr (I.e.) dis­covered the new Rostra in the long wall, that runs in an angle towards the three columns, which have for a very long time borne the name of Jupiter Stator, but which belong to the Curia Julia. The substance of the new Rostra consists of bricks and casting-Work, but it was of course cased with marble: the old Rostra Niebuhr supposes were constructed entirely of peperino.

The following coin of M. Lollius Palicanus con­tains a representation of -tke Rostra.

ROSTRATA COLUMNA. [c(*lumna, p. 327,b.]

ROSTRATA CORONA. [corona, .p. 360.1]

ROSTRUM. [NAVis, p. 786, b.]

ROTA. [currus, p. 378.]

RUDENS (/caAcos), any rope used to move or fix the mast or sail of a vessel (Juv.-vi. 102; Ovid. Met. iii. 616; Achilles Tatius, ii. 32.) The dif­ferent ropes of an ancient ship are -spoken of under navis, p. 790.

RUDERATIO. [Donus, p. 431, a.]

RUDIARII. [gladiatores, p. 575, a.]

RUDIS. [gladiatores, p. 575, a.]

RIFFULI, the name of the tribunes of the soldiers chosen by the consul or other general. (Liv. vii. 5 ; Festus, s. v.) For further inform­ ation see exercitus, pp. 503, a. 504, b. • RUNCFNA (pvKWT)), a plane (Tertull. Apol 12; Brunck, Anal. i. 227), is delineated among joiner’s tools (Instrumen. Fair. Tignar.*) in the woodcut at p. 806. The square hole in the right side of the stock seems intended for the passage of the shavings (ramenta). The Latin and Greek names for this instrument gave origin to the corresponding transitive verbs runcino and pvicavda, meaning to plane. (Min. Felix, 23.) They seem to be allied etymologically with puyx°s, referring to the opera­ tion of those beasts and birds which use their snout or beak to plough up the ground. [J. Y.]

RUTILIANA ACTIO was a Praetorian actio introduced by the Praetor Publius Rutilius, by virtue of which the bonorum emptor could sue in the name of the person whose goods he had bought and claim the condemnatio to be made in his own favour and in his own name. (Gaius, iii. 80, 81, iv. 35.) [G. L.J

RUTRUM, dim. RUTELLUM, a kind of hoe. which had the handle fixed perpendicularly into the middle • of the blade, thus differing from the

SACERDOS.

raster. It was used before sowing to level ground, by breaking down any clods which adhered too long together. (Non. Marc. p. 18, ed. Merceri.) This operation is described by Virgil in the follow­ing terms, which also assign the derivation of the name: " Cumulosque ruit male pinguis arenae." (Georg. i. 105.) See Festus, s. v. ; Varro, de L. Lat. v. p. 137, ed. Spengel. The same implement was used in mixing lime or clay with water and straw to make plaster for walls. (Cato, de, Re Rust, 10, 128 ; Pallad. de Re Rust. i. 15 ; Plin. //. N. xxxvi. 23. s. 55.)

The word rutabulum ought to be considered as •another form of rutrum. It denoted a hoe or rake of the same construction, which was used by the baker in stirring the hot ashes of his oven. (Festus, s. v.) A wooden rutabulum was employed to mix the -contents of the vats in which wine was made. (Cokm. de Re AW. xii. 20.) [J. Y.]

S.

SACCUS ((ja/c/cos), signified in general any kind, of sack or bag, made of hair, cloth, or other materials. We have only to notice here its mean­ing as — 1. A head-dress. [CoMA, p. 329.] 2. A-sieve for straining wine [ViNUiuj. 3. A pur^e for holding money. Hence the phrase in Plautus ire ad saccum, "’to go a’begging." (Plant. Ca.pl. i. 1. 22.)

SACELLUM is a diminutive of sacer, and sig­ nifies a small place consecrated to a god, containing an altar, and sometimes also a statue of the god to whom it was dedicated. (Gellius, vi. 12.) Festus (s. u.) completes the definition by stating that a sacellum never ‘had a roof. It was therefore a sacred enclosure surrounded by a fence or wall to separate it from the profane ground around it, and answers to the Greek irepigoXos. The form of a sacellum was sometimes square and sometimes round. The ancient sacellum of Janus which was said to have been built by Romulus, was of a square form, contained a statue of the god, and had two gates. (Ovid. Fast, i, 275 ; Terent. Maur. in Wernsdorf ‘s Poet. Min-. ii. p. 2 7 9.) Many Romans – had private sacella on their own estates ; but the city of Rome contained a great number of public .sacella such as that of Caca (Serv. ad A en. viii. 190),-of Heixjules in the Forum Boarimn (Solin. i,; Plin. //. N, x, 29), of the Lares (Solin. 2), of Naenia (Fest. 5. v. Naeniae deae of Pudicitia (Liv. x. 23), and others. [L. S.]

SACERDOS, SACERDO’TIUM. Cicero (de Leg. ii. 8) distinguishes two kinds of sacerdotes ; those who had the superintendence of the forms of worship (caerimoniae) and of the sacra, and those who interpreted signs and what was uttered by seers and prophets. Another division is that into priests who were not devoted to the service of any particular deity, such as the pontiffs, augurs, fetiales, and those who were connected with the worship of particular divinities, such as the fla-mines. The priests of the ancient world did not, consist of men alone, for in Greece as well as at Rome certain deities were attended only by priest­esses. . At Rome the wives of particular priests were regarded as priestesses, and had to perform. certain sacred functions, as the regina sacrorum and the flaminica. [flamen ; rex sacrohijm.] In other cases .maidens were appointed priestesses,

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