CŬNĔUS was the name applied to a body of foot soldiers, drawn up in
the form of a wedge, for the purpose of breaking through an enemy’s
line. The common soldiers called it a _caput porcinum_, or pig’s
head. The name _cuneus_ was also applied to the compartments of
seats in circular or semi-circular theatres, which were so arranged
as to converge to the centre of the theatre, and diverge towards
the external walls of the building, with passages between each
compartment.
CŬNĪCŬLUS (ὑπόνομος), a mine or passage underground, was so called
from its resemblance to the burrowing of a rabbit. Fidenae and Veii
are said to have been taken by mines, which opened, one of them into
the citadel, the other into the temple of Juno.
CŪPA, a wine-vat, a vessel very much like the _dolium_, and used for
the same purpose, namely, to receive the fresh must, and to contain
it during the process of fermentation. The inferior wines were drawn
for drinking from the _cupa_, without being bottled in _amphorae_,
and hence the term _vinum de cupa_. The _cupa_ was either made of
earthenware, like the _dolium_, or of wood, and covered with pitch.
It was also used for fruits and corn, forming rafts, and containing
combustibles in war, and even for a sarcophagus.
CŪRĀTOR. Till a Roman youth attained the age of puberty, which was
generally fixed at fourteen years of age, he was incapable of any
legal act, and was under the authority of a _tutor_ or guardian;
but with the attainment of the age of puberty, he became capable of
performing every legal act, and was freed from the control of his
_tutor_. As, however, a person of that tender age was liable to be
imposed upon, the lex Plaetoria enacted that every person between
the time of puberty and twenty-five years of age should be under
the protection of a _curator_. The date of this lex is not known,
though it is certain that the law existed when Plautus wrote (about
B.C. 200), who speaks of it as the _lex quina vicemaria_. This law
established a distinction of age, which was of great practical
importance, by forming the citizens into two classes, those above
and those below twenty-five years of age (_minores viginti quinque
annis_). A person under the last-mentioned age was sometimes simply
called _minor_. The object of the lex was to protect persons under
twenty-five years of age against all fraud (_dolus_). A person who
wasted his property (_prodigus_), and a person of unsound mind
(_furiosus, demens_), were also placed under the care of a _curator_.
CŪRĀTŌRES were public officers of various kinds under the Roman
empire, such as the _curatores annonae_, the _curatores ludorum_, the
_curatores regionum_, &c.
CŪRĬA, signifies both a division of the Roman people and the place
of assembly for such a division. Each of the three ancient Romulian
tribes, the Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres, was subdivided into 10
curiae, so that the whole body of the populus or the patricians was
divided into 30 curiae. The plebeians had no connection whatever
with the curiae. All the members of the different gentes belonging
to one curia were called, in respect of one another, _curiales_.
The division into curiae was of great political importance in the
earliest times of Rome, for the curiae alone contained the citizens,
and their assembly alone was the legitimate representative of the
whole people. [COMITIA CURIATA.] Each curia as a corporation had its
peculiar sacra, and besides the gods of the state, they worshipped
other divinities and with peculiar rites and ceremonies. For such
religious purposes each curia had its own place of worship, called
curia, in which the curiales assembled for the purpose of discussing
political, financial, religious and other matters. The religious
affairs of each curia were taken care of by a priest, _Curio_, who
was assisted by another called curialis Flamen. As there were 30
curiae, there were likewise 30 curiones, who formed a college of
priests, presided over by one of them, called _Curio Maximus_. The
30 curiae had each its distinct name, which are said to have been
derived from the names of the Sabine women who had been carried off
by the Romans, though it is evident that some derived their names
from certain districts or from ancient eponymous heroes. Curia
is also used to designate the place in which the senate held its
meetings, such as curia Hostilia, curia Julia, curia Pompeii, and
from this there gradually arose the custom of calling the senate
itself in the Italian towns curia, but never the senate of Rome. The
official residence of the Salii, which was dedicated to Mars, was
likewise styled curia.