CLĬPĔUS (ἀσπίς), the large shield worn by the Greeks and Romans,
which was originally of a circular form, and is said to have been
first used by Proetus and Acrisius of Argos, and therefore is called
_clipeus Argolicus_, and likened to the sun. But the clipeus is
often represented in Roman sculpture of an oblong oval, which makes
the distinction between the common buckler and that of Argos. The
outer rim was termed ἄντυξ by the Greeks; and in the centre was a
projection called ὀμφάλος or _umbo_, which served as a sort of weapon
by itself, or caused the missiles of the enemy to glance off from the
shield. In the Homeric times, the Greeks merely used a leather strap
(τελαμών) to support the shield, but subsequently a handle (ὄχανον or
ὀχάνη). The usual form of the clipeus is exhibited in the figure of
the Greek warrior on p. 41. When the census was instituted by Servius
Tullius at Rome, the first class only used the _clipeus_, and the
second were armed with the _scutum_ [SCUTUM]; but after the Roman
soldiery received pay, the _clipeus_ was discontinued altogether for
the _scutum_.
CLĪTELLAE, a pair of panniers, and therefore only used in the plural
number.
CLŎĀCA, a sewer, a drain. Rome was intersected by numerous sewers,
some of which were of an immense size: the most celebrated of them
was the _cloaca maxima_, the construction of which is ascribed to
Tarquinius Priscus. It was formed by three tiers of arches, one
within the other, the innermost of which is a semicircular vault
of 14 feet in diameter. The manner of its construction is shown in
the preceding cut. Under the republic, the administration of the
sewers was entrusted to the censors: but under the empire, particular
officers were appointed for that purpose, called _cloacarum
curatores_, who employed condemned criminals in cleansing and
repairing them.
[Illustration: Cloaca Maxima at Rome.]
CŌA VESTIS, the Coan robe, was a transparent dress, chiefly worn by
women of loose reputation. It has been supposed to have been made of
silk, because in Cos silk was spun and woven at a very early period.
[Illustration: Coa Vestis. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)]
CŎACTOR, the name of collectors of various sorts, _e.g._ the servants
of the publicani, or farmers of the public taxes, who collected
the revenues for them, and those who collected the money from the
purchasers of things sold at a public auction. Horace informs us that
his father was a coactor of this kind. Moreover, the servants of the
money-changers were so called, from collecting their debts for them.
The “coactores agminis” were the soldiers who brought up the rear of
a line of march.
CŎCHLĔA (κοχλίας), which properly means a snail, was also used to
signify other things of a spiral form. (1) A screw, used in working
clothes-presses, and oil and wine presses.--(2) A spiral pump for
raising water, invented by Archimedes, from whom it has ever since
been called the Archimedean screw.--(3) A peculiar kind of door
through which the wild beasts passed from their dens into the arena
of the amphitheatre.
COCHLĔAR. (κοχλιάριον), a kind of spoon, which appears to have
terminated with a point at one end, and at the other was broad and
hollow like our own spoons. The pointed end was used for drawing
snails (_cochleae_) out of their shells, and eating them, whence it
derived its name; and the broader part for eating eggs, &c. Cochlear
was also the name given to a small measure like our spoonful.
CŌDEX, identical with _caudex_, as _Claudius_ and _Clodius_,
_claustrum_ and _clostrum_, _cauda_ and _coda_, originally signified
the trunk or stem of a tree. The name codex was especially applied
to wooden tablets bound together and lined with a coat of wax, for
the purpose of writing upon them, and when, at a later age, parchment
or paper, or other materials were substituted for wood, and put
together in the shape of a book, the name of codex was still given
to them. In the time of Cicero we find it also applied to the tablet
on which a bill was written. At a still later period, during the
time of the emperors, the word was used to express any collection
of laws or constitutions of the emperors, whether made by private
individuals or by public authority, as the _Codex Gregorianus_,
_Codex Theodosianus_, and _Codex Justinianeus_.