ESSĔDA, or ESSĔDUM (from the Celtic _Ess_, a carriage), the name of
a chariot used, especially in war, by the Britons, the Gauls, and
the Germans. It was built very strongly, was open before instead of
behind, like the Greek war-chariot, and had a wide pole, so that the
owner was able, whenever he pleased, to run along the pole, and even
to raise himself upon the yoke, and then to retreat with the greatest
speed into the body of the car, which he drove with extraordinary
swiftness and skill. It appears also that these cars were purposely
made as noisy as possible, probably by the creaking and clanging of
the wheels; and that this was done in order to strike dismay into the
enemy. The warriors who drove these chariots were called _essedarii_.
Having been captured, they were sometimes exhibited in the
gladiatorial shows at Rome, and seem to have been great favourites
with the people. The essedum was adopted for purposes of convenience
and luxury among the Romans. As used by the Romans, the essedum may
have differed from the cisium in this; that the cisium was drawn by
one horse (see cut, p. 90), the essedum always by a pair.
EUMOLPĬDAE (εὐμολπίδαι), the most distinguished and venerable among
the priestly families in Attica. They were devoted to the service of
Demeter at Athens and Eleusis, and were said to be the descendants
of the Thracian bard Eumolpus, who, according to some legends, had
introduced the Eleusinian mysteries into Attica. The high priest of
the Eleusinian goddess (ἱεροφάντης or μυσταγωγός), who conducted the
celebration of her mysteries and the initiation of the mystae, was
always a member of the family of the Eumolpidae, as Eumolpus himself
was believed to have been the first hierophant. The hierophant was
attended by four _epimeletae_ (ἐπιμεληταί), one of whom likewise
belonged to the family of the Eumolpidae. The Eumolpidae had on
certain occasions to offer up prayers for the welfare of the state.
They had likewise judicial power in cases where religion was
violated. The law according to which they pronounced their sentence,
and of which they had the exclusive possession, was not written,
but handed down by tradition; and the Eumolpidae alone had the
right to interpret it, whence they are sometimes called _Exegetae_
(ἐξηγηταί). In cases for which the law had made no provisions, they
acted according to their own discretion. In some cases, when a person
was convicted of gross violation of the public institutions of his
country, the people, besides sending the offender into exile, added a
clause in their verdict that a curse should be pronounced upon him by
the Eumolpidae. But the Eumolpidae could pronounce such a curse only
at the command of the people, and might afterwards be compelled by
the people to revoke it, and purify the person whom they had cursed
before.
EUPATRĬDAE (εὐπατρίδαι), descended from noble ancestors, is the name
by which in early times the nobility of Attica was designated. In
the division of the inhabitants of Attica into three classes, which
is ascribed to Theseus, the Eupatridae were the first class, and
thus formed a compact order of nobles, united by their interests,
rights, and privileges. They were in the exclusive possession of all
the civil and religious offices in the state, ordered the affairs of
religion, and interpreted the laws human and divine. The king was
thus only the first among his equals, and only distinguished from
them by the duration of his office. By the legislation of Solon,
the political power and influence of the Eupatridae as an order
was broken, and property instead of birth was made the standard
of political rights. But as Solon, like all ancient legislators,
abstained from abolishing any of the religious institutions, those
families of the Eupatridae, in which certain priestly offices and
functions were hereditary, retained these distinctions down to a very
late period of Grecian history.