EXŎDĬA (ἐξόδια, from ἐξ and ὁδός) were old-fashioned and laughable
interludes in verse, inserted in other plays, but chiefly in the
Atellanae. The exodium seems to have been introduced among the Romans
from Italian Greece; but after its introduction it became very
popular among the Romans, and continued to be played down to a very
late period.
EXŌMIS (ἐξωμίς), a dress which had only a sleeve for the left arm,
leaving the right with the shoulder and a part of the breast free,
and was for this reason called _exomis_. The exomis was usually worn
by slaves and working people.
[Illustration: Exomis (Bronze in British Museum).]
EXŌMŎSĬA (ἐξωμοσία). Any Athenian citizen when called upon to appear
as a witness in a court of justice (κλητεύειν or ἐκκλητεύειν), was
obliged by law to obey the summons, unless he could establish by
oath that he was unacquainted with the case in question. This oath
was called ἐξωμοσία, and the act of taking it was expressed by
ἐξόμνυσθαι. A person appointed to a public office was at liberty to
decline it, if he could take an oath that the state of his health
or other circumstances rendered it impossible for him to fulfil the
duties connected with it (ἐξόμνυσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν, or τὴν χειροτονίαν):
and this oath was likewise called ἐξωμοσία, or sometimes ἀπωμοσία.
EXOSTRA (ἐξώστρα, from ἐξωθέω), a theatrical machine, by means of
which things which had been concealed behind the curtain on the stage
were pushed or rolled forward from behind it, and thus became visible
to the spectators.
EXPĔDĪTUS is opposed to _impeditus_, and signifies unincumbered with
armour or with baggage (_impedimenta_). Hence the epithet was often
applied to any portion of the Roman army, when the necessity for
haste, or the desire to conduct it with the greatest facility from
place to place, made it desirable to leave behind every weight that
could be spared.