FARTOR, a slave who fattened poultry.
FASCES, rods bound in the form of a bundle, and containing an axe
(_securis_) in the middle, the iron of which projected from them.
They were usually made of birch, but sometimes also of the twigs of
the elm. They are said to have been derived from Vetulonia, a city
of Etruria. Twelve were carried before each of the kings by twelve
lictors; and on the expulsion of the Tarquins, one of the consuls was
preceded by twelve lictors with the fasces and secures, and the other
by the same number of lictors with the fasces only, or, according to
some accounts, with crowns around them. But P. Valerius Publicola,
who gave to the people the right of provocatio, ordained that the
secures should be removed from the fasces, and allowed only one of
the consuls to be preceded by the lictors while they were at Rome.
The other consul was attended only by a single accensus [ACCENSUS].
When they were out of Rome, and at the head of the army, each of
the consuls retained the axe in the fasces, and was preceded by his
own lictors, as before the time of Valerius. The fasces and secures
were, however, carried before the dictator even in the city, and he
was also preceded by twenty-four lictors, and the magister equitum
by six. The praetors were preceded in the city by two lictors with
the fasces; but out of Rome and at the head of an army by six, with
the fasces and secures. The tribunes of the plebs, the aediles and
quaestors, had no lictors in the city, but in the provinces the
quaestors were permitted to have the fasces. The lictors carried the
fasces on their shoulders; and when an inferior magistrate met one
who was higher in rank, the lictors lowered their fasces to him.
This was done by Valerius Publicola, when he addressed the people,
and hence came the expression _submittere fasces_ in the sense of to
yield, to confess one’s self inferior to another. When a general had
gained a victory, and had been saluted as Imperator by his soldiers,
he usually crowned his fasces with laurel.
[Illustration: Fasces. (From the original in the Capitol at Rome.)]
FASCĬA, a band or fillet of cloth, worn, (1) round the head as an
ensign of royalty;--(2) by women over the breast;--(3) round the legs
and feet, especially by women. When the toga had fallen into disuse,
and the shorter pallium was worn in its stead, so that the legs were
naked and exposed, _fasciae crurales_ became common even with the
male sex.
FASCĬNUM (βασκανία), fascination, enchantment. The belief that
some persons had the power of injuring others by their looks, was
prevalent among the Greeks and Romans. The evil eye was supposed
to injure children particularly, but sometimes cattle also; whence
Virgil (_Ecl._ iii. 103) says,
“Nescio quis teneros oculos mihi fascinat agnum.”
Various amulets were used to avert its influence.
FASTI. _Fas_ signifies _divine law_: the epithet _fastus_ is
properly applied to anything in accordance with divine law; and
hence those days upon which legal business might, without impiety
(_sine piaculo_), be transacted before the praetor, were technically
denominated _fasti dies_, i.e. _lawful days_. The sacred books in
which the _fasti dies_ of the year were marked were themselves
denominated _fasti_; the term, however, was employed to denote
registers of various descriptions. Of these the two principal are
the _Fasti Sacri_ or _Fasti Kalendares_, and _Fasti Annales_ or
_Fasti Historici_.--I. FASTI SACRI or KALENDARES. For nearly four
centuries and a half after the foundation of the city a knowledge
of the calendar was possessed exclusively by the priests. One of
the pontifices regularly proclaimed the appearance of the new moon,
and at the same time announced the period which would intervene
between the Kalends and the Nones. On the Nones the country people
assembled for the purpose of learning from the rex sacrorum the
various festivals to be celebrated during the month, and the days
on which they would fall. In like manner all who wished to go to
law were obliged to inquire of the privileged few on what day they
might bring their suit, and received the reply as if from the lips
of an astrologer. The whole of this lore, so long a source of power
and profit, and therefore jealously enveloped in mystery, was at
length made public by a certain Cn. Flavius, scribe to App. Claudius;
who, having gained access to the pontifical books, copied out all
the requisite information, and exhibited it in the forum for the
use of the people at large. From this time forward such tables
became common, and were known by the name of _Fasti_. They usually
contained an enumeration of the months and days of the year; the
Nones, Ides, Nundinae, Dies Fasti, Nefasti, Comitiales, Atri, &c.,
together with the different festivals, were marked in their proper
places: astronomical observations on the risings and settings of the
fixed stars, and the commencement of the seasons were frequently
inserted. [CALENDARIUM; DIES.]--II. FASTI ANNALES or HISTORICI.
Chronicles such as the _Annales Maximi_, containing the names of the
chief magistrates for each year, and a short account of the most
remarkable events noted down opposite to the days on which they
occurred, were, from the resemblance which they bore in arrangement
to the sacred calendars, denominated _fasti_; and hence this word is
used, especially by the poets, in the general sense of _historical
records_. In prose writers _fasti_ is commonly employed as the
technical term for the registers of consuls, dictators, censors, and
other magistrates, which formed part of the public archives. Some
most important _fasti_ belonging to this class, executed probably
at the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, have been partially
preserved, and are deposited in the Capitol in Rome, where they are
known by the name of the _Fasti Capitolini_.
FASTĬGĬUM. An ancient Greek or Roman temple, of rectangular
construction, is terminated at its upper extremity by a triangular
figure, both in front and rear, which rests upon the cornice of the
entablature as a base, and has its sides formed by the cornices which
terminate the roof. The whole of this triangle above the trabeation
is implied in the term _fastigium_, called ἀέτωμα by the Greeks,
pediment by our architects. The dwelling-houses of the Romans had no
gable ends; consequently when the word is applied to them, it is not
in its strictly technical sense, but designates the roof simply, and
is to be understood of one which rises to an apex, as distinguished
from a flat one. The fastigium, properly so called, was appropriated
to the temples of the gods; therefore, when the Romans began to
bestow divine honours upon Julius Caesar, amongst other privileges
which they decreed to him, was the liberty of erecting a fastigium to
his house, that is, a portico and pediment towards the street, like
that of a temple.
[Illustration: Fastigium. (From a Coin.)]
FAX (φανός), a torch. As the principal use of torches was to
give light to those who went abroad after sunset, the portion of
the Roman day immediately succeeding sun-set was called _fax_ or
_prima fax_. The use of torches after sun-set, and the practice of
celebrating marriages at that time, probably led to the consideration
of the torch as one of the necessary accompaniments and symbols of
marriage. Among the Romans the _fax nuptialis_ having been lighted
at the parental hearth, was carried before the bride by a boy whose
parents were alive. The torch was also carried at funerals (_fax
sepulchralis_), both because these were often nocturnal ceremonies,
and because it was used to set fire to the pile.