FULLO (κναφεύς, γναφεύς), also called NACCA, a fuller, a washer or
scourer of cloth and linen. The fullones not only received the cloth
as it came from the loom in order to scour and smooth it, but also
washed and cleansed garments which had been already worn. The clothes
were first washed, which was done in tubs or vats, where they were
trodden upon and stamped by the feet of the fullones, whence Seneca
speaks of _saltus fullonicus_. The ancients were not acquainted with
soap, but they used in its stead different kinds of alkali, by which
the dirt was more easily separated from the clothes. Of these, by far
the most common was the urine of men and animals, which was mixed
with the water in which the clothes were washed. When the clothes
were dry, the wool was brushed and carded to raise the nap, sometimes
with the skin of a hedgehog, and sometimes with some plants of the
thistle kind. The clothes were then hung on a vessel of basket-work
(_viminea cavea_), under which sulphur was placed in order to whiten
the cloth. A fine white earth, called Cimolian by Pliny, was often
rubbed into the cloth to increase its whiteness. The establishment
or workshop of the fullers was called _Fullonica_, _Fullonicum_, or
_Fullonimn_. The Greeks were also accustomed to send their garments
to fullers to be washed and scoured. The word πλύνειν denoted the
washing of linen, and κναφεύειν or γναφεύειν the washing of woollen
clothes.
FŪNAMBŬLUS (καλοβάτης σχοινοβάτης), a rope-dancer. The art of
dancing on the tight-rope was carried to as great perfection among
the Romans as it is with us. The performers placed themselves in an
endless variety of graceful and sportive attitudes, and represented
the characters of bacchanals, satyrs, and other imaginary beings.
One of the most difficult exploits was running down the rope at the
conclusion of the performance. It was a strange attempt of Germanicus
and of the emperor Galba to exhibit elephants walking on the rope.
FUNDA (σφενδόνη), a sling. Slingers are not mentioned in the Iliad;
but the light troops of the Greek and Roman armies consisted in great
part of slingers (_funditores_, σφενδονήται). The most celebrated
slingers were the inhabitants of the Balearic islands. Besides
stones, plummets, called _glandes_ (μολυβδίδες), of a form between
acorns and almonds, were cast in moulds to be thrown with slings.
The manner in which the sling was wielded may be seen in the annexed
figure of a soldier with a provision of stones in the sinus of his
pallium, and with his arm extended in order to whirl the sling about
his head.
[Illustration: Funda, Sling. (Column of Trajan.)]