BŎĒDRŎMĬA (βοηδρόμια), a festival celebrated at Athens on the seventh
day of the month Boëdromion, in honour of Apollo Boëdromius. The name
Boëdromius, by which Apollo was called in Boeotia and many other
parts of Greece, seems to indicate that by this festival he was
honoured as a martial god, who, either by his actual presence or by
his oracles, afforded assistance in the dangers of war.
BOEŌTARCHĒS (βοιωτάρχης, or βοιωτάρχος), the name of the chief
magistrates of the Boeotian confederacy, chosen by the different
states. Their duties were chiefly of a military character. Each
state of the confederacy elected one boeotarch, the Thebans two.
The total number from the whole confederacy varied with the number
of the independent states, but at the time of the Peloponnesian war
they appear to have been ten or twelve. The boeotarchs, when engaged
in military service, formed a council of war, the decisions of which
were determined by a majority of votes, the president being one of
the two Theban boeotarchs, who commanded alternately. Their period of
service was a year, beginning about the winter solstice; and whoever
continued in office longer than his time was punishable with death,
both at Thebes and in other cities.
BŎNA, property. The phrase _in bonis_ is frequently used as opposed
to _dominium_ or _Quiritarian ownership_ (_ex jure Quiritium_). The
ownership of certain kinds of things among the Romans could only be
transferred from one person to another with certain formalities, or
acquired by usucapion (that is, the uninterrupted possession of a
thing for a certain time). But if it was clearly the intention of
the owner to transfer the ownership, and the necessary forms only
were wanting, the purchaser had the thing _in bonis_, and he had
the enjoyment of it, though the original owner was still _legally_
the owner, and was said to have the thing _ex jure Quiritium_,
notwithstanding he had parted with the thing. The person who
possessed a thing _in bonis_ was protected in the enjoyment of it
by the praetor, and consequently after a time would obtain the
Quiritarian ownership of it by usucapion. [USUCAPIO.]
BŎNA CĂDŪCA. _Caducum_ literally signifies that which falls: thus
_glans caduca_ is the mast which falls from a tree. The strict legal
sense of _caducum_ and _bona caduca_ is as follows:--If a thing is
left by testament to a person, so that he can take it by the jus
civile, but from some cause has not taken it, that thing is called
_caducum_, as if it had _fallen_ from him. Or if a _heres ex parte_,
or a legatee, died before the opening of the will, the thing was
_caducum_. That which was caducum came, in the first place, to
those among the heredes who had children; and if the heredes had
no children, it came among those of the legatees who had children.
In case there was no prior claimant the caducum belonged to the
aerarium; and subsequently to the fiscus. [AERARIUM.]
BŎNA FĬDES implies, generally speaking, the absence of all fraud and
unfair dealing or acting. In various actions arising out of mutual
dealings, such as buying and selling, lending and hiring, partnership
and others, bona fides is equivalent to aequum and justum; and such
actions were sometimes called bonae fidei actiones. The formula of
the praetor, which was the authority of the judex, empowered him
in such cases to inquire and determine _ex bona fide_, that is,
according to the real merits of the case: sometimes aequius melius
was used instead of ex bona fide.
BŎNŌRUM CESSĬO. There were two kinds of bonorum cessio, _in jure_
and _extra jus_. The _in jure cessio_ was a mode of transferring
ownership by means of a fictitious suit. The _bonorum cessio extra
jus_ was introduced by a Julian law, passed either in the time of
Julius Caesar or Augustus, which allowed an insolvent debtor to give
up his property to his creditors. The debtor thus avoided the infamia
consequent on the bonorum emtio, which was involuntary, and he was
free from all personal execution. He was also allowed to retain a
small portion of his property for his support. The property thus
given up was sold, and the proceeds distributed among the creditors.
BŎNŌRUM COLLĀTĬO. By the strict rules of the civil law an emancipated
son had no right to the inheritance of his father, whether he died
testate or intestate. But, in course of time, the praetor granted to
emancipated children the privilege of equal succession with those who
remained in the power of the father at the time of his death; but
only on condition that they should bring into one common stock with
their father’s property, and for the purpose of an equal division
among all the father’s children, whatever property they had at the
time of the father’s death, and which would have been acquired for
the father in case they had still remained in his power. This was
called bonorum collatio.
BŎNŌRUM EMTĬO ET EMTOR. The expression bonorum emtio applies to a
sale of the property either of a living or of a dead person. It
was in effect, as to a living debtor, an execution. In the case of
a dead person, his property was sold when it was ascertained that
there was neither heres nor bonorum possessor, nor any other person
entitled to succeed to it. In the case of the property of a living
person being sold, the praetor, on the application of the creditors,
ordered it to be possessed (_possideri_) by the creditors for thirty
successive days, and notice to be given of the sale. This explains
the expression in Livy (ii. 24): “ne quis militis, donec in castris
esset, bona _possideret_ aut venderet.”
BŎNŌRUM POSSESSĬO was the right of suing for or retaining a patrimony
or thing which belonged to another at the time of his death. The
bonorum possessio was given by the edict both _contra tabulas_,
_secundum tabulas_, and _intestati_. 1. An emancipated son had
no legal claim on the inheritance of his father; but if he was
omitted in his father’s will, or not expressly exheredated, the
praetor’s edict gave him the bonorum possessio contra tabulas, on
condition that he would bring into hotchpot (_bonorum collatio_)
with his brethren who continued in the parent’s power, whatever
property he had at the time of the parent’s death. 2. The _bonorum
possessio secundum tabulas_ was that possession which the praetor
gave, conformably to the words of the will, to those named in it as
heredes, when there was no person intitled to make a claim against
the will, or none who chose to make such a claim. 3. In the case of
intestacy (_intestati_) there were seven degrees of persons who might
claim the bonorum possessio, each in his order, upon there being
no claim of a prior degree. The first three degrees were children,
_legitimi heredes_, and _proximi cognati_. Emancipated children could
claim as well as those who were not emancipated, and adoptive as well
as children of the blood; but not children who had been adopted into
another family. If a freedman died intestate, leaving only a wife
(in manu) or an adoptive son, the patron was entitled to the bonorum
possessio of one half of his property.
BŎŌNAE (βοῶναι), persons in Athens who purchased oxen for the
public sacrifices and feasts. They are spoken of by Demosthenes
in conjunction with the ἱεροποιοί and those who presided over the
mysteries.
BORĔASMUS (βορεασμός or βορεασμοί), a festival celebrated by the
Athenians in honour of Boreas, which, as Herodotus seems to think,
was instituted during the Persian war, when the Athenians, being
commanded by an oracle to invoke their γαμβρὸς ἐπίκουρος, prayed to
Boreas. But considering that Boreas was intimately connected with
the early history of Attica, we have reason to suppose that even
previous to the Persian wars certain honours were paid to him, which
were perhaps only revived and increased after the event recorded by
Herodotus. The festival, however, does not seem ever to have had any
great celebrity.
BOULĒ (βουλή--ἡ τῶν πεντακοσίων). In the heroic ages, represented to
us by Homer, the _boulé_ is simply an aristocratical council of the
elders amongst the nobles, sitting under their king as president,
which decided on public business and judicial matters, frequently in
connection with, but apparently not subject to an _agora_, or meeting
of the freemen of the state. [AGORA.] This form of government, though
it existed for some time in the Ionian, Aeolian, and Achaean states,
was at last wholly abolished in these states. Among the Dorians,
however, especially among the Spartans, this was not the case, for
they retained the kingly power of the Heracleidae, in conjunction
with the _Gerousia_ or assembly of elders, of which the kings were
members. [GEROUSIA.] At Athens on the contrary, the _boulé_ was a
representative, and in most respects a popular body (δημοτικόν). The
first institution of the Athenian _boulé_ is generally attributed to
Solon; but there are strong reasons for supposing that, as in the
case of the _Areiopagus_, he merely modified the constitution of a
body which he found already existing. But be this as it may, it is
admitted that Solon made the number of his _boulé_ 400, 100 from
each of the four tribes. When the number of the tribes was raised
to ten by Cleisthenes (B.C. 510), the council also was increased to
500, fifty being taken from each of the ten tribes. The _bouleutae_
(βουλευταί) or councillors were appointed by lot, and hence they are
called councillors made by the bean (οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ κυάμου βουλευταί),
from the use of beans in drawing lots. They were required to submit
to a scrutiny or _docimasia_, in which they gave evidence of being
genuine citizens, of never having lost their civic rights by
_atimia_, and also of being above 30 years of age. They remained
in office for a year, receiving a drachma (μισθὸς βουλευτικός) for
each day on which they sat: and independent of the general account
(εὐθύναι), which the whole body had to give at the end of the year,
any single member was liable to expulsion for misconduct by his
colleagues. The senate of 500 was divided into ten sections of fifty
each, the members of which were called _prytanes_ (πρυτάνεις), and
were all of the same tribe; they acted as presidents both of the
council and the assemblies during thirty-five or thirty-six days,
as the case might be, so as to complete the lunar year of 354 days
(12×29½). Each tribe exercised these functions in turn; the period
of office was called a _prytany_ (πρυτανεία), and the tribe that
presided the _presiding tribe_; the order in which the tribes
presided was determined by lot, and the four supernumerary days were
given to the tribes which came last in order. Moreover, to obviate
the difficulty of having too many in office at once, every fifty
was subdivided into five bodies of ten each; its prytany also being
portioned out into five periods of seven days each; so that only ten
senators presided for a week over the rest, and were thence called
_proedri_ (πρόεδροι). Again, out of these proedri an _epistates_
(ἐπιστάτης) was chosen for one day to preside as a chairman in the
senate, and the assembly of the people; during his day of office
he kept the public records and seal. The prytanes had the right of
convening the council and the assembly (ἐκκλησία). The duty of the
proedri and their president was to propose subjects for discussion,
and to take the votes both of the councillors and the people;
for neglect of their duty they were liable to a fine. Moreover,
whenever a meeting, either of the council or of the assembly, was
convened, the chairman of the proedri selected by lot nine others,
one from each of the non-presiding tribes; these also were called
proedri, and possessed a chairman of their own, likewise appointed
by lot from among themselves. But the proedri who proposed the
subject for discussion to the assembly belonged to the presiding
tribe. It is observed, under AREIOPAGUS, that the chief object of
Solon, in forming the senate and the areiopagus, was to control the
democratical powers of the state: for this purpose he ordained that
the senate should discuss and vote upon all matters before they were
submitted to the assembly, so that nothing could be laid before the
people on which the senate had not come to a previous decision.
This decision, or bill, was called _probouleuma_ (προβούλευμα); but
then not only might this _probouleuma_ be rejected or modified by
the assembly, but the latter also possessed and exercised the power
of coming to a decision completely different from the will of the
senate. In addition to the bills which it was the duty of the senate
to propose of their own accord, there were others of a different
character, viz. such as any private individual might wish to have
submitted to the people. To accomplish this, it was first necessary
for the party to obtain, by petition, the privilege of access to
the senate, and leave to propose his motion; and if the measure met
with their approbation, he could then submit it to the assembly. A
proposal of this kind, which had the sanction of the senate, was
also called _probouleuma_, and frequently related to the conferring
of some particular honour or privilege upon an individual. Thus the
proposal of Ctesiphon for crowning Demosthenes is so styled. In the
assembly the bill of the senate was first read, perhaps by the crier,
after the introductory ceremonies were over; and then the proedri put
the question to the people, whether they approved of it. The people
declared their will by a show of hands (προχειροτονία). If it was
confirmed it became a _psephisma_ (ψήφισμα), or decree of the people,
binding upon all classes. The form for drawing up such decrees varied
in different ages. In the time of Demosthenes the decrees commence
with the name of the archon; then come the day of the month, the
tribe in office, and, lastly, the name of the proposer. The motive
for passing the decree is next stated; and then follows the decree
itself, prefaced with the formula δεδόχθαι τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ.
The senate-house was called _Bouleuterion_ (βουλευτηριον). The
prytanes also had a building to hold their meetings in, where they
were entertained at the public expense during their prytany. This
was called the _Prytaneion_, and was used for a variety of purposes.
[PRYTANEION.]
BRĀCAE, or BRACCAE (ἀναξυρίδες), trowsers, pantaloons, were common
to all the nations which encircled the Greek and Roman population,
extending from the Indian to the Atlantic ocean, but were not worn
by the Greeks and Romans themselves. Accordingly the monuments
containing representations of people different from the Greeks and
Romans exhibit them in trowsers, thus distinguishing them from the
latter people.
BRAURŌNĬA (βραυρώνια), a festival celebrated in honour of Artemis
Brauronia, in the Attic town of Brauron, where Orestes and
Iphigeneia, on their return from Tauris, were supposed by the
Athenians to have landed, and left the statue of the Taurian goddess.
It was held every fifth year, and the chief solemnity consisted in
the Attic girls between the ages of five and ten years going in
solemn procession to the sanctuary, where they were consecrated to
the goddess. During this act the priests sacrificed a goat, and the
girls performed a propitiatory rite, in which they imitated bears.
This rite may have simply risen from the circumstance that the bear
was sacred to Artemis, especially in Arcadia. There was also a
quinquennial festival called Brauronia, which was celebrated by men
and dissolute women, at Brauron, in honour of Dionysus.
BRUTTĬĀNI, slaves whose duty it was to wait upon the Roman
magistrates. They are said to have been originally taken from among
the Bruttians.
BUCCĬNA (βυκάνη), a kind of horn trumpet, anciently made out of a
shell (_buccinum_), the form of which is exhibited in the specimen
annexed. The _buccina_ was distinct from the _cornu_; but it is
often confounded with it. The buccina seems to have been chiefly
distinguished by the twisted form of the shell, from which it was
originally made. In later times it was carved from horn, and perhaps
from wood or metal, so as to imitate the shell. The _buccina_ was
chiefly used to proclaim the watches of the day and of the night,
hence called _buccina prima_, _secunda_, &c. It was also blown at
funerals, and at festive entertainments both before sitting down to
table and after.
[Illustration: Buccina, Trumpet. (Blanchini, De Mus. Instrum. Vet.)]
BULLA, a circular plate or boss of metal, so called from its
resemblance in form to a bubble floating upon water. Bright studs
of this description were used to adorn the sword belt; but we most
frequently read of _bullae_ as ornaments worn by children, suspended
from the neck, and especially by the sons of the noble and wealthy.
Such an one is called _heres bullatus_ by Juvenal. The bulla was
usually made of thin plates of gold. The use of the bulla, like that
of the praetexta, was derived from the Etruscans. It was originally
worn only by the children of the patricians, but subsequently by all
of free birth.
[Illustration: Bulla. (From the Collection of Mr. Rogers; the gold
chord added from a specimen in the Brit. Mus.)]