FRĬTILLUS (φιμός), a dice-box of a cylindrical form, and therefore
called also _turricula_, or _pyrgus_, and formed with parallel
indentations (_gradus_) on the inside, so as to make a rattling noise
when the dice were shaken in it.
FRŪMENTĀRĬAE LEGES. The supply of corn at Rome was considered
one of the duties of the government. The superintendence of the
corn-market belonged in ordinary times to the aediles, but when
great scarcity prevailed, an extraordinary officer was appointed
for the purpose under the title of _Praefectus Annonae_. Even in
early times it had been usual for the state on certain occasions,
and for wealthy individuals, to make occasional donations of corn to
the people (_donatio_, _largitio_, _divisio_; subsequently called
_frumentatio_). But such donations were only casual; and it was not
till B.C. 123, that the first legal provision was made for supplying
the poor at Rome with corn at a price much below its market value.
In that year C. Sempronius Gracchus brought forward the first _Lex
Frumentaria_, by which each citizen was entitled to receive every
month a certain quantity of wheat (_triticum_) at the price of 6⅓
asses for the modius, which was equal to 1 gallon and nearly 8 pints
English. This was only a trifle more than half the market price. Each
person probably received five modii monthly, as in later times. About
B.C. 91, the tribune M. Octavius brought forward the _Lex Octavia_,
which modified the law of Gracchus to some extent, so that the public
treasury did not suffer so much. Sulla went still further, and by his
_Lex Cornelia_, B.C. 82, did away altogether with these distributions
of corn; but in B.C. 73, the Lex Sempronia was renewed by the _Lex
Terentia Cassia_, which enacted that each Roman citizen should
receive 5 modii a month at the price of 6⅓ asses for each modius. The
Leges Frumentariae had _sold_ corn to the people; but by the _Lex
Clodia_ of the tribune Clodius, B.C. 58, the corn was distributed
without any payment; the abolition of the payment cost the state a
fifth part of its revenues. When Caesar became master of the Roman
world, he resolved to remedy the evils attending the system, so
far as he was able. He did not venture to abolish altogether these
distributions of corn, but he did the next best thing in his power,
which was reducing the number of the recipients. During the civil
wars numbers of persons, who had no claim to the Roman franchise,
had settled at Rome in order to obtain a share in the distributions.
Caesar excluded from this privilege every person who could not prove
that he was a Roman citizen; and thus the 320,000 persons, who had
previously received the corn, were at once reduced to 150,000. The
useful regulations of Caesar fell into neglect after his death; and
in B.C. 5, the number of recipients had amounted to 320,000. But
in B.C. 2, Augustus reduced the number of recipients to 200,000,
and renewed many of Caesar’s regulations. The chief of them seem to
have been: 1. That every citizen should receive monthly a certain
quantity of corn (probably 5 modii) on the payment of a certain
small sum. Occasionally, in seasons of scarcity, or in order to
confer a particular favour, Augustus made these distributions quite
gratuitous; they then became _congiaria_. [CONGIARIUM.] 2. That those
who were completely indigent should receive the corn gratuitously,
and should be furnished for the purpose with _tesserae nummariae_
or _frumentariae_, which entitled them to the corn without payment.
The system which had been established by Augustus, was followed by
his successors; but as it was always one of the first maxims of the
state policy of the Roman emperors to prevent any disturbance in the
capital, they frequently lowered the price of the public corn, and
also distributed it gratuitously as a _congiarium_. Hence, the cry
of the populace _panem et circenses_. In course of time, the sale
of the corn by the state seems to have ceased altogether, and the
distribution became altogether gratuitous. Every corn-receiver was
therefore now provided with a _tessera_, and this tessera, when
once granted to him, became his property. Hence it came to pass,
that he was not only allowed to keep the tessera for life, but even
to dispose of it by sale, and bequeath it by will. Every citizen
was competent to hold a tessera, with the exception of senators.
Further, as the corn had been originally distributed to the people
according to the thirty-five tribes into which they were divided, the
corn-receivers in each tribe formed a kind of corporation, which came
eventually to be looked upon as the tribe, when the tribes had lost
all political significance. Hence, the purchase of a tessera became
equivalent to the purchase of a place in a tribe; and, accordingly,
we find in the Digest the expressions _emere tribum_ and _emere
tesseram_ used as synonymous. Another change was also introduced at a
later period, which rendered the bounty still more acceptable to the
people. Instead of distributing the corn every month, wheaten bread,
called _annona civica_, was given to the people. It is uncertain at
what time this change was introduced, but it seems to have been the
custom before the reign of Aurelian (A.D. 270-275).
FRŪMENTĀRĬI, officers under the Roman empire, who acted as spies
in the provinces, and reported to the emperors anything which
they considered of importance. They appear to have been called
_Frumentarii_ because it was their duty to collect information in the
same way as it was the duty of other officers, called by the same
name, to collect corn.
FŪCUS (φῦκος), the paint which the Greek and Roman ladies employed
in painting their cheeks, eye-brows, and other parts of their
faces. The practice of painting the face was very general among
the Greek ladies, and probably came into fashion in consequence
of their sedentary mode of life, which robbed their complexions
of their natural freshness, and induced them to have recourse to
artificial means for restoring the red and white of nature. The
eye-brows and eye-lids were stained black with στίμμι or στίμμις,
a sulphuret of antimony, which is still employed by the Turkish
ladies for the same purpose. The eye-brows were likewise stained
with ἄσβολος, a preparation of soot. Among the Romans the art of
painting the complexion was carried to a still greater extent than
among the Greeks, and even Ovid did not disdain to write a poem on
the subject, which he calls (_de Art. Am._ iii. 206) “parvus, sed
cura grande, libellus, opus;” though the genuineness of the fragment
of the _Medicamina faciei_, ascribed to this poet, is doubtful.
The Roman ladies even went so far as to paint with blue the veins
on the temples. The ridiculous use of patches (_splenia_), which
were common among the English ladies in the reign of Queen Anne and
the first Georges, was not unknown to the Roman ladies. The more
effeminate of the male sex at Rome, and likewise in Greece, also
employed paint.
[Illustration: Girl painting herself. (From a Gem.)]