ĂPOLLŌNĬA (ἀπολλώνια), the name of a propitiatory festival solemnized
at Sicyon, in honour of Apollo and Artemis.
ĂPŎPHŎRĒTA (ἀποφόρητα) were presents, which were given to friends at
the end of an entertainment to take home with them. These presents
appear to have been usually given on festival days, especially during
the Saturnalia.
ĂPORRHĒTA (ἀπόῤῥητα), literally “things forbidden,” has two peculiar,
but widely different, acceptations in the Attic dialect. In one of
these it implies contraband goods; in the other, it denotes certain
contumelious epithets, from the application of which both the living
and the dead were protected by special laws.
ĂPŎSTŎLEUS (ἀποστολεύς), the name of a public officer at Athens.
There were ten magistrates of this name, and their duty was to see
that the ships were properly equipped and provided by those who were
bound to discharge the trierarchy. They had the power, in certain
cases, of imprisoning the trierarchs who neglected to furnish the
ships properly.
ĂPŎTHĒCA (ἀποθήκη), a place in the upper part of the house, in which
the Romans frequently placed the earthen amphorae in which their
wines were deposited. This place, which was quite different from the
_cella vinaria_, was above the _fumarium_; since it was thought that
the passage of the smoke through the room tended greatly to increase
the flavour of the wine. The position of the apotheca explains the
expression in Horace (_Carm._ ii. 21, 7), _Descende_, _testa_.
ĂPŎTHĔŌSIS (ἀποθέωσις), the enrolment of a mortal among the gods. The
mythology of Greece contains numerous instances of the deification of
mortals; but in the republican times of Greece we find few examples
of such deification. The inhabitants of Amphipolis, however, offered
sacrifices to Brasidas after his death. In the Greek kingdoms,
which arose in the East on the dismemberment of the empire of
Alexander, it appears to have been not uncommon for the successor
to the throne to offer divine honours to the former sovereign.
Such an apotheosis of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, is described by
Theocritus in his 17th Idyl. The term apotheosis, among the Romans,
properly signified the elevation of a deceased emperor to divine
honours. This practice, which was common upon the death of almost
all the emperors, appears to have arisen from the opinion which was
generally entertained among the Romans, that the souls or manes of
their ancestors became deities; and as it was common for children
to worship the manes of their fathers, so it was natural for divine
honours to be publicly paid to a deceased emperor, who was regarded
as the parent of his country. This apotheosis of an emperor was
usually called _consecratio_; and the emperor who received the honour
of an apotheosis was usually said _in deorum numerum referri_, or
_consecrari_, and whenever he is spoken of after his death, the title
of _divus_ is prefixed to his name. The funeral pile on which the
body of the deceased emperor was burnt, was constructed of several
stories in the form of chambers rising one above another, and in the
highest an eagle was placed, which was let loose as the fire began to
burn, and which was supposed to carry the soul of the emperor from
earth to heaven.
APPĀRĬTOR, the general name for a public servant of the magistrates
at Rome, namely, the ACCENSUS, CARNIFEX, COACTOR, INTERPRES, LICTOR,
PRAECO, SCRIBA, STATOR, VIATOR, of whom an account is given in
separate articles. They were called apparitores because they were
at hand to execute the commands of the magistrates (_quod iis
apparebant_). Their service or attendance was called _apparitio_.
APPELLĀTĬO, appeal.--(1) GREEK (ἔφεσις or ἀναδικία.) Owing to the
constitution of the Athenian tribunals, each of which was generally
appropriated to its peculiar subjects of cognisance, and therefore
could not be considered as homogeneous with or subordinate to any
other, there was little opportunity for bringing appeals properly
so called. It is to be observed also, that in general a cause was
finally and irrevocably decided by the verdict of the dicasts (δίκη
αὐτοτελής). There were only a few exceptions in which appeals and
new trials might be resorted to.--(2) ROMAN. The word _appellatio_,
and the corresponding verb _appellare_, are used in the early Roman
writers to express the application of an individual to a magistrate,
and particularly to a tribune, in order to protect himself from some
wrong inflicted, or threatened to be inflicted. It is distinguished
from _provocatio_, which in the early writers is used to signify
an appeal to the populus in a matter affecting life. It would seem
that the provocatio was an ancient right of the Roman citizens.
The surviving Horatius, who murdered his sister, appealed from the
duumviri to the populus. The decemviri took away the provocatio; but
it was restored by the _Lex Valeria et Horatia_, B.C. 449, in the
year after the decemvirate, and it was at the same time enacted, that
in future no magistrate should be made from whom there should be no
appeal. On this Livy remarks, that the plebs were now protected by
the _provocatio_ and the _tribunicium auxilium_; this latter term has
reference to the appellatio properly so called. The complete phrase
to express the provocatio is _provocare ad populum_; and the phrase
which expresses the appellatio is _appellare ad_, &c.
APSIS or ABSIS (ἁψίς), in architecture, signified first, any building
or portion of a building of a circular form or vaulted, and more
especially the circular and vaulted end of a Basilica.
ĂQUAE DUCTUS (ὑδραγωγία), literally, a water-conduit, but the word
is used especially for the magnificent structures by means of which
Rome and other cities of the Roman empire were supplied with water.
A Roman aqueduct, often called simply _aqua_, may be described in
general terms as a channel, constructed as nearly as possible with
a regular declivity from the source whence the water was derived to
the place where it was delivered, carried through hills by means of
tunnels, and over valleys upon a substruction of solid masonry or
arches. The aqueduct is mentioned by Strabo as among the structures
which were neglected by the Greeks, and first brought into use by
the Romans. Springs (κρῆναι, κρουνοί) were sufficiently abundant
in Greece to supply the great cities with water; and they were
frequently converted into public fountains by the formation of a head
for their waters, and the erection of an ornamental superstructure.
Of this we have an example in the _Enneacrunos_ at Athens, which
was constructed by Peisistratus and his sons. The Romans were in a
very different position, with respect to the supply of water, from
most of the Greek cities. They, at first, had recourse to the Tiber,
and to wells sunk in the city; but the water obtained from those
sources was very unwholesome, and must soon have proved insufficient,
from the growth of the population. It was this necessity that led
to the invention of aqueducts, in order to bring pure water from
the hills which surround the Campagna. The number of aqueducts was
gradually increased, partly at the public expense, and partly by
the munificence of individuals, till, in the fourth century of the
Christian era, they amounted to fourteen. Of these only four belong
to the time of the republic, while five were built in the reigns of
Augustus and Claudius.--1. The _Aqua Appia_, begun by the censor
Appius Claudius Caecus in B.C. 313. Its sources were near the _Via
Praenestina_, between the seventh and eighth mile-stones.--2. The
_Anio Vetus_ was commenced forty years later, B.C. 273, by the censor
M. Curius Dentatus, and was finished by M. Fulvius Flaccus. The
water was derived from the river Anio, above Tibur, at a distance of
20 Roman miles from the city; but, on account of its windings, its
actual length was 43 miles.--3. The _Aqua Marcia_, one of the most
important of the whole, was built by the praetor Q. Marcius Rex, by
command of the senate, in B.C. 144. It commenced at the side of the
_Via Valeria_, 36 miles from Rome.--4. The _Aqua Tepula_, built by
the censors Cn. Servilius Caepio and L. Cassius Longinus in B.C.
127, began at a spot in the Lucullan or Tusculan land, two miles
to the right of the tenth milestone on the _Via Latina_. It was
afterwards connected with.--5. The _Aqua Julia_, built by Agrippa in
his aedileship, B.C. 33. It was conducted from a source two miles
to the right of the twelfth milestone on the _Via Latina_, first to
the _Aqua Tepula_, in which it was merged as far as the reservoir
(_piscina_) on the _Via Latina_, seven miles from Rome. From this
reservoir the water was carried along two distinct channels, on
the same substructions; the lower channel being called the _Aqua
Tepula_, and the upper the _Aqua Julia_; and this double aqueduct
again was united with the _Aqua Marcia_, over the watercourse of
which the other two were carried.--6. The _Aqua Virgo_, built by
Agrippa, to supply his baths. From a source in a marshy spot by the
8th milestone on the _Via Collatina_, it was conducted by a very
circuitous route.--7. The _Aqua Alsietina_ (sometimes called also
_Aqua Augusta_), on the other side of the Tiber, was constructed
by Augustus from the _Lacus Alsietinus_ (_Lago di Martignano_),
which lay 6500 _passus_ to the right of the 14th milestone on the
_Via Claudia_.--8, 9. The two most magnificent aqueducts were the
_Aqua Claudia_ and the _Anio Novus_ (or _Aqua Aniena Nova_), both
commenced by Caligula in A.D. 36, and finished by Claudius in A.D.
50. The water of the _Aqua Claudia_ was derived from two copious and
excellent springs, near the 38th milestone on the _Via Sublacensis_.
Its length was nearly 46½ miles. The _Anio Novus_ began at the 42nd
milestone. It was the longest and the highest of all the aqueducts,
its length being nearly 59 miles, and some of its arches 109 feet
high. In the neighbourhood of the city these two aqueducts were
united, forming two channels on the same arches, the _Claudia_
below and the _Anio Novus_ above. These nine aqueducts were all
that existed in the time of Frontinus, who was the _curator_ of the
aqueducts in the reigns of Nerva and Trajan. There was also another
aqueduct, not reckoned with the nine, because its waters were no
longer brought all the way to Rome, viz.: 10. The _Aqua Crabra_.--The
following were of later construction. 11. The _Aqua Trajana_, brought
by Trajan from the _Lacus Sabatinus_ (now _Bracciano_).--12. The
_Aqua Alexandrina_, constructed by Alexander Severus; its source was
in the lands of Tusculum, about 14 miles from Rome.--13. The _Aqua
Septimiana_, built by Septimius Severus, was perhaps only a branch
of the _Aqua Julia_.--14. The _Aqua Algentia_ had its source at _M.
Algidus_ by the _Via Tusculana_. Its builder is unknown.--Great
pains were taken by successive emperors to preserve and repair the
aqueducts. From the Gothic wars downwards, they have for the most
part shared the fate of the other great Roman works of architecture;
their situation and purpose rendering them peculiarly exposed to
injury in war; but still their remains form the most striking
features of the Campagna, over which their lines of ruined arches,
clothed with ivy and the wild fig-tree, radiate in various directions.
[Illustration: Triple Aqueduct.]
Three of them still serve for their ancient use. They are--(1.) The
_Acqua Vergine_, the ancient _Aqua Virgo_. (2.) The _Acqua Felice_,
named after the conventual name of its restorer Sixtus V. (Fra
Felice), is, probably, a part of the ancient _Aqua Claudia_, though
some take it for the _Alexandrina_. (3.) The _Acqua Paola_, the
ancient _Alsietina_.--The following woodcut represents a restored
section of the triple aqueduct of Agrippa:--_a._ the _Aqua Marcia_;
_b._ the _Aqua Tepula_; _c._ the _Aqua Julia_. The two latter are of
brick and vaulted over. The air-vents are also shown.--The channel
of an aqueduct (_specus_, _canalis_) was a trough of brick or stone,
lined with cement, and covered with a coping, which was almost always
arched; and the water either ran directly through this trough, or
it was carried through pipes laid along the trough. These pipes
were of lead, or terra-cotta (_fictiles_), and sometimes, for the
sake of economy, of leather. At convenient points on the course of
the aqueduct, and especially near the middle and end, there was
generally a reservoir (_piscina_, _piscina limosa_) in which the
water might deposit any sediment that it contained. The water was
received, when it reached the walls of the city, in a vast reservoir
called _castellum_, which formed the _head of water_ and also served
the purpose of a _meter_. From this principal _castellum_ the water
flowed into other _castella_, whence it was distributed for public
and private use. The term _castellum_ is sometimes also applied to
the intermediate reservoirs already mentioned. During the republic,
the censors and aediles had the superintendence of the aqueducts.
Augustus first established _curatores_ (or _praefecti_) _aquarum_,
who were invested with considerable authority. They were attended
outside the city by two lictors, three public slaves, a secretary,
and other attendants. In the time of Nerva and Trajan, 460 slaves
were constantly employed under the orders of the _curatores aquarum_
in attending to the aqueducts. They consisted of:--1. The _villici_,
whose duty it was to attend to the pipes and _calices_. 2. The
_castellarii_, who had the superintendence of all the _castella_,
both within and without the city. 3. The _circuitores_, so called
because they had to go from post to post, to examine into the state
of the works, and also to keep watch over the labourers employed
upon them. 4. The _silicarii_, or paviours. 5. The _tectores_, or
masons. These and other workmen appear to have been included under
the general term of AQUARII.