ARCA (κιβωτός). (1) A chest, in which the Romans were accustomed to
place their money; and the phrase _ex arca solvere_ had the meaning
of paying in ready money. The term arcae was usually applied to
the chests in which the rich kept their money, and was opposed to
the smaller _loculi_, _sacculus_, and _crumena_.--(2) The coffin
in which persons were buried, or the bier on which the corpse was
placed previously to burial.--(3) A strong cell made of oak, in which
criminals and slaves were confined.
ARCĔRA, a covered carriage or litter, spread with cloths, which
was used in ancient times in Rome, to carry the aged and infirm.
It is said to have obtained the name of arcera on account of its
resemblance to an arca, or chest.
[Illustration: Arcera. (Ginzrot, Wagen, Tav. 19, fig. 2.)]
ARCHEION (ἀρχεῖον) properly means any public place belonging to
the magistrates, but is more particularly applied to the archive
office, where the decrees of the people and other state documents
were preserved. This office is sometimes merely called τὸ δημοσίον.
At Athens the archives were kept in the temple of the mother of the
gods (μήτρῳον), and the charge of it was entrusted to the president
(ἐπιστάτης) of the senate of the Five-hundred.
ARCHĬĀTER (ἀρχίατρος), a medical title under the Roman emperors, the
exact signification of which has been the subject of much discussion,
but which most probably means “the chief of the physicians.” The
first person whom we find bearing this title is Andromachus,
physician to Nero. In after times the order appears to have been
divided, and we find two distinct classes of archiatri, viz., those
of the palace and those of the people.