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SALINUM.
flat as to "be easily overflowed by the sea timae areae salinarum, Col. de Re, Rust. ii. 2), or even to be a brackish marsh (avKs) or a marine pool (At/*z/o0aAaTT«, Strabo, iv. 1. § 6, vii. 4. § 7; Caesar, Bell. Civ. ii. 37). In order to aid the natural evaporation, shallow rectangular ponds (multifidi lacus) were dug, divided from one another by earthen walls. The sea-water was admitted through canals, which were opened for the purpose, and closed again by sluices. [cataract a.] The water was more and more strongly impregnated v/itli salt as it flowed from one pond to another. (Rutilii, Itin. i. 475—490.) When reduced to brine (coacto humore it was called by the Greeks a/V/w??, by the Latins salsugo or salsilago^ and by the Spaniards muria. (Plin. I. c.} In this state it was iised by the Egyptians to pickle fish (Herod, ii. 77), and by the Romans to preserve olives, cheese, and flesh likewise. (Cato, de Re Rust. 7, 88, 105 ; Hor. Sat. ii. 8.. 53.) From muria, which seems to be a corruption of aX^vp^s^ "• briny," the victuals cured in it were called salsa muriatica. (Plant. Poen. i. 2. 32, 39.) As the brine which was left in the ponds crystallized, a man entrusted with the care of them, and therefore called salinator (aAoTTTjybs), raked out the salt so that it lay in heaps (tumuli) upon the ground to drain. (Manilius, v. prope fin.; Nicander, Aleoa. 518, 519.) In Attica (Steph. Byz.), in Britain (Ptol.), and elsewhere, several places, in consequence of the works established in them, obtained the name of ‘AAal or Salinae.
Throughout the Roman empire the salt-works were commonly public property, and were let by the government to the highest bidder. The first salt-works are said to have been established by Ancus Marcius at Ostia. (Liv. i. 33; Plin. //. Ar. xxxi. 41.) The publicani who farmed these works appear to have sold the salt, one of the most necessary of all commodities, at a very high price, whence the censors M. Livius and C. Claudius (b. c. 204) fixed the price at which those who took the lease of them were obliged to sell the salt to the people. At Rome themodius was according to this regulation sold for a sextans, while in other parts of Italy the price was higher and varied. (Liv. xxix. 37.) The salt-works in Italy and in the provinces were very numerous ; in conquered countries however they were sometimes left in the possession of their former owners (persons or towns) who had to pay to Rome only a fixed rent, but most of them were farmed by the publicani. (Bur-maim, Vectiqal. Pop. Rom. p. 90, &c,) [J. Y.]
SALl’NUM, dim. SALILLUM, a salt-cellar. Among the poor a shell served for a salt-cellar (Hor. Sat. i. 3.14; Schol. adloc.}: but all who were raised above poverty had one of silver, which descended from father to son (Hor. Carm. ii. 16. 13, 14), and was accompanied by a silver plate, which was used together with the salt-cellar in the domestic sacrifices. (Pers. iii. 24, 25.) [patera.] These two articles of silver were alone compatible with the simplicity of Roman manners in the early times of the republic. (Plin. //. N. xxxiii. 12. s. .54 ; Val. Max. iv. 4. § 3 ; Catull. xxiii. 19.) The salt-cellar was no doubt placed in the middle of the table, to which it communicated a sacred character, the meal partaking of the nature of a sacrifice. [Focus ; mensa.] These circumstances, together with the religious reverence paid to salt and the habitual comparison of it to wit and vi-
SALTATIO.
vacity, explain the metaphor by which the soul of a man is called his sal-ilium. (Plaut. Trin. ii. 4« 90,91.) s [J.Y.]
SALTATIO (opxwts-) opx’r)0’Tifs dancing The dancing of the Greeks as well as of the Ro-mans had very little in common .with the exercise which goes by that name in modern times. It may. be divided into two kinds, gymnastic and mimetic ; that is, it was intended either to represent bodily activity, or to express by gestures, movements and attitudes certain ideas or feelings, and also single events or a series of events, as in the modern ballet. All these movements, however, were accompanied by music ; but the terms op%^cris and saltatio were used in.so much wider a sense than our word dancing, that they were applied to designate gestures, even when the body did not move at all. (Ovid. Art. Am. i. 595, ii. 305; saltare soils oculis^ Apul; Met. x. p. 251, ed. Bip. ; comp. Grote, Hist, of Greece^ vol. iv. p. 114.)
We find dancing prevalent among the Greeks from the earliest times. It is frequently mentioned in the Homeric poems : the suitors of Penelope delight themselves with music and dancing (Od. i. 152, 421, xviii. 304) : and Ulysses is entertained at the court of Alcinous with the exhibitions of very skilful dancers, the rapid movements of whose feet excite his admiration. (Od. viii. 265.) Skilful dancers were at all times highly prized by the Greeks: we read of some who were presented with golden crowns, and had statues erected to their honour, and their memory celebrated by inscriptions. (Pint, de Pytli. Orac. 8 ; Anthol. Plan. iv. n. 283, &c.)
The lively imagination and mimetic powers of the Greeks found abundant subjects for various kinds of dances, and accordingly the names of no less than 200 different dances have come down to; us. (Meursius, Orchestr.; Athen. xiv. pp. 627—’630; Pollux, iv. 95—111 ; Liban. virep r&v op%.) It would be inconsistent with the nature of this work to give a description of all that are known: only the most important can be mentioned, and such as will give some idea of the dancing of the ancients.
Dancing was originally closely connected with religion : Plato (Leg. vii. pp. 798, 799) thought that all dancing should be based on religion, as it-was, he says, among the Egyptians, The dances of the Chorus at Sparta and in other Doric states were intimately connected with the worship of Apollo, as has been shown at length elsewhere [chorus ; hyporchema] ; and in all the public festivals, which were so numerous among the Greeks, dancing formed a very prominent part. All the religious dances, with the exception of the Bacchic and the Corybantian, were very simple,, and consisted of gentle movements of the body with various turnings and windings around the altar : such a dance was the yepavos, which Theseus is said to have performed at Delos on hia return from Crete. (Plut. Thes. 21.) The Diony-siac or Bacchic and the Corybantian were of a very different nature. In the former the life and adventures of the god were represented by mimetic dancing [dionysia]: the dance called Ba«:x"ri? by Lucian (de Salt. 79), was a Satyric dance and chiefly prevailed in Ionia and Pontus ; the most illustrious men in the state danced in it, representing Titans, Corybantians, Satyrs, and husbandmen ; and the spectators were so delighted with | the exhibition, that they remained sitting the
