HŌRŎLŎGĬUM (ὡρολόγιον), the name of the various instruments by means
of which the ancients measured the time of the day and night. The
earliest and simplest horologia of which mention is made, were called
_polos_ (πόλος) and _gnomon_ (γνώμων). Both divided the day into
twelve equal parts, and were a kind of sun-dial. The _gnomon_, which
was also called _stoicheion_ (στοιχεῖον), was the more simple of the
two, and probably the more ancient. It consisted of a staff or pillar
standing perpendicular, in a place exposed to the sun (σκιάθηρον),
so that the length of its shadow might be easily ascertained. The
shadow of the gnomon was measured by feet, which were probably marked
on the place where the shadow fell. In later times the name gnomon
was applied to any kind of sun-dial, especially to its finger which
threw the shadow, and thus pointed to the hour. The _polos_ or
_heliotropion_ (ἡλιοτρόπιον), on the other hand, seems to have been a
more perfect kind of sun-dial; but it appears, nevertheless, not to
have been much used. It consisted of a basin (λεκανίς), in the middle
of which the perpendicular staff or finger (γνώμων) was erected, and
in it the twelve parts of the day were marked by lines.--Another
kind of horologium, was the _clepsydra_ (κλεψύδρα). It derived its
name from κλέπτειν and ὕδωρ, as in its original and simple form it
consisted of a vessel with several little openings (τρυπήματα) at
the bottom, through which the water contained in it escaped, as it
were by stealth. This instrument seems at first to have been used
only for the purpose of measuring the time during which persons were
allowed to speak in the courts of justice at Athens. It was a hollow
globe, probably somewhat flat at the top-part, where it had a short
neck (αὐλός), like that of a bottle, through which the water was
poured into it. This opening might be closed by a lid or stopper
(πῶμα), to prevent the water running out at the bottom. As the time
for speaking in the Athenian courts was thus measured by water, the
orators frequently use the term ὕδωρ instead of the time allowed to
them. An especial officer (ὁ ἐφ’ ὕδωρ) was appointed in the courts
for the purpose of watching the clepsydra, and stopping it when any
documents were read, whereby the speaker was interrupted. The time,
and consequently the quantity of water allowed to a speaker, depended
upon the importance of the case. The clepsydra used, in the courts of
justice was, properly speaking, no horologium; but smaller ones, made
of glass, and of the same simple structure, were undoubtedly used
very early in families for the purposes of ordinary life, and for
dividing the day into twelve equal parts. In these glass-clepsydrae
the division into twelve parts must have been visible, either on the
glass globe itself, or in the basin into which the water flowed.--The
first horologium with which the Romans became acquainted was a
sun-dial (_solarium_ or _horologium sciothericum_), and was said to
have been brought to Rome by Papirius Cursor twelve years before the
war with Pyrrhus. But as sun-dials were useless when the sky was
cloudy, P. Scipio Nasica, in his censorship, 159 B.C., established a
public clepsydra, which indicated the hours both of day and night.
This clepsydra was in after times generally called solarium. After
the time of Scipio Nasica several horologia, chiefly solaria, seem
to have been erected in various public places at Rome. Clepsydrae
were used by the Romans in their camps, chiefly for the purpose of
measuring accurately the four vigiliae into which the night was
divided. The custom of using clepsydrae as a check upon the speakers
in the courts of justice at Rome, was introduced by a law of Cn.
Pompeius, in his third consulship. Before that time the speakers had
been under no restrictions, but spoke as long as they deemed proper.
At Rome, as at Athens, the time allowed to the speakers depended upon
the importance of the case.
HORRĔUM (ὡρεῖον, σιτοφυλακεῖον, ἀποθήκη) was, according to its
etymological signification, a place in which ripe fruits, and
especially corn, were kept, and thus answered to our granary. During
the empire the name horreum was given to any place destined for the
safe preservation of things of any kind. Thus we find it applied
to a place in which beautiful works of art were kept, to cellars
(_horrea subterranea_, _horrea vinaria_), to depôts for merchandise,
and all sorts of provisions (_horreum penarium_). Seneca even calls
his library a horreum. But the more general application of the word
horreum was to places for keeping fruit and corn; and as some kinds
of fruit required to be kept more dry than others, the ancients had
besides the horrea subterranea, or cellars, two other kinds, one of
which was built like every other house upon the ground; but others
(_horrea pensilia_ or _sublimia_) were erected above the ground,
and rested upon posts or stone pillars, that the fruits kept in
them might remain dry.--From about the year 140 after Christ, Rome
possessed two kinds of public horrea. The one class consisted of
buildings in which the Romans might deposit their goods, and even
their money, securities, and other valuables. The second and more
important class of horrea, which may be termed public granaries, were
buildings in which a plentiful supply of corn was constantly kept at
the expense of the state, and from which, in seasons of scarcity, the
corn was distributed among the poor, or sold at a moderate price.
HORTUS (κῆπος), garden. Our knowledge of the horticulture of the
Greeks is very limited. In fact the Greeks seem to have had no
great taste for landscape beauties, and the small number of flowers
with which they were acquainted afforded but little inducement to
ornamental horticulture. At Athens the flowers most cultivated
were probably those used for making garlands, such as violets and
roses. In the time of the Ptolemies the art of gardening seems to
have advanced in the favourable climate of Egypt so far, that a
succession of flowers was obtained all the year round. The Romans,
like the Greeks, laboured under the disadvantage of a very limited
flora. This disadvantage they endeavoured to overcome, by arranging
the materials they did possess in such a way as to produce a striking
effect. We have a very full description of a Roman garden in a letter
of the younger Pliny, in which he describes his Tuscan villa. In
front of the _porticus_ there was generally a _xystus_, or flat piece
of ground, divided into flower-beds of different shapes by borders
of box. There were also such flower-beds in other parts of the
garden. Sometimes they were raised so as to form terraces, and their
sloping sides planted with evergreens or creepers. The most striking
features of a Roman garden were lines of large trees, among which
the plane appears to have been a great favourite, planted in regular
order; alleys or walks (_ambulationes_) formed by closely clipped
hedges of box, yew, cypress, and other evergreens; beds of acanthus,
rows of fruit-trees, especially of vines, with statues, pyramids,
fountains, and summer-houses (_diaetae_). The trunks of the trees
and the parts of the house or any other buildings which were visible
from the garden, were often covered with ivy. In one respect the
Roman taste differed most materially from that of the present day,
namely, in their fondness for the _ars topiaria_, which consisted in
tying, twisting, or cutting trees and shrubs (especially the box)
into the figures of animals, ships, letters, &c. Their principal
garden-flowers seem to have been violets and roses, and they also
had the crocus, narcissus, lily, gladiolus, iris, poppy, amaranth,
and others. Conservatories and hot-houses are frequently mentioned
by Martial. Flowers and plants were also kept in the central place
of the peristyle [DOMUS], on the roofs and in the windows of houses.
An ornamental garden was also called _viridarium_, and the gardener
_topiarius_ or _viridarius_. The common name for a gardener is
villicus or cultor hortorum.
[Illustration: Hortus, Garden. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)]
HOSPĬTĬUM (ξενία, προξενία), hospitality, was in Greece, as well as
at Rome, of a two-fold nature, either private or public, in so far as
it was either established between individuals, or between two states.
(_Hospitium privatum_ and _hospitium publicum_, ξενία and προξενία.)
In ancient Greece the stranger, as such (ξένος and _hostis_), was
looked upon as an enemy; but whenever he appeared among another tribe
or nation without any sign of hostile intentions, he was considered
not only as one who required aid, but as a suppliant, and Zeus was
the protecting deity of strangers and suppliants (Ζεὺς ξένιος).
On his arrival, therefore, the stranger was kindly received, and
provided with every thing necessary to make him comfortable. It
seems to have been customary for the host, on the departure of the
stranger, to break a die (ἀστράγαλος) in two, one half of which he
himself retained, while the other half was given to the stranger;
and when at any future time they or their descendants met, they had
a means of recognising each other, and the hospitable connection was
renewed. Hospitality thus not only existed between the persons who
had originally formed it, but was transferred as an inheritance from
father to son. What has been said hitherto, only refers to _hospitium
privatum_; but of far greater importance was the _hospitium publicum_
(προξενία, sometimes simply ξενία) or public hospitality, which
existed between two states, or between an individual or a family on
the one hand, and a whole state on the other. Of the latter kind of
public hospitality many instances are recorded, such as that between
the Peisistratids and Sparta, in which the people of Athens had no
share. The hospitium publicum among the Greeks arose undoubtedly from
the hospitium privatum, and it may have originated in two ways. When
the Greek tribes were governed by chieftains or kings, the private
hospitality existing between the ruling families of two tribes may
have produced similar relations between their subjects, which, after
the abolition of the kingly power, continued to exist between the new
republics as a kind of political inheritance of former times. Or a
person belonging to one state might have either extensive connections
with the citizens of another state, or entertain great partiality
for the other state itself, and thus offer to receive all those who
came from that state either on private or public business, and to
act as their patron in his own city. This he at first did merely
as a private individual, but the state to which he offered this
kind service would naturally soon recognise and reward him for it.
When two states established public hospitality, and no individuals
came forward to act as the representatives of their state, it was
necessary that in each state persons should be appointed to show
hospitality to, and watch over the interests of, all persons who
came from the state connected by hospitality. The persons who were
appointed to this office as the recognised agents of the state
for which they acted were called _proxeni_ (πρόξενοι), but those
who undertook it voluntarily _etheloproxeni_ (ἐθελοπρόξενοι). The
office of _proxenus_, which bears great resemblance to that of a
modern consul or minister-resident, was in some cases hereditary in
a particular family. When a state appointed a proxenus, it either
sent out one of its own citizens to reside in the other state, or it
selected one of the citizens of this state, and conferred upon him
the honour of proxenus. The former was, in early times, the custom
of Sparta, where the kings had the right of selecting from among the
Spartan citizens those whom they wished to send out as proxeni to
other states. But in subsequent times this custom seems to have been
given up, for we find that at Athens the family of Callias were the
proxeni of Sparta, and at Argos, the Argive Alciphron. The principal
duties of a proxenus were to receive those persons, especially
ambassadors, who came from the state which he represented; to procure
for them admission to the assembly, and seats in the theatre; to
act as the patron of the strangers, and to mediate between the two
states if any disputes arose. If a stranger died in the state, the
proxenus of his country had to take care of the property of the
deceased.--The hospitality of the Romans was, as in Greece, either
hospitium privatum or publicum. Private hospitality with the Romans,
however, seems to have been more accurately and legally defined than
in Greece. The character of a _hospes_, _i.e._ a person connected with
a Roman by ties of hospitality, was deemed even more sacred, and to
have greater claims upon the host, than that of a person connected by
blood or affinity. The relation of a hospes to his Roman friend was
next in importance to that of a cliens. The obligations which the
connection of hospitality with a foreigner imposed upon a Roman, were
to receive in his house his hospes when travelling; and to protect,
and, in case of need, to represent him as his patron in the courts of
justice. Private hospitality thus gave to the hospes the claims upon
his host which the client had on his patron, but without any degree
of the dependence implied in the clientele. Private hospitality
was established between individuals by mutual presents, or by the
mediation of a third person, and hallowed by religion; for Jupiter
hospitalis was thought to watch over the jus hospitii, as Zeus xenios
did with the Greeks, and the violation of it was as great a crime and
impiety at Rome as in Greece. When hospitality was formed, the two
friends used to divide between themselves a _tessera hospitalis_,
by which, afterwards, they themselves or their descendants--for the
connection was hereditary as in Greece--might recognise one another.
Hospitality, when thus once established, could not be dissolved
except by a formal declaration (_renuntiatio_), and in this case the
tessera hospitalis was broken to pieces. Public hospitality seems
likewise to have existed at a very early period among the nations
of Italy; but the first direct mention of public hospitality being
established between Rome and another city, is after the Gauls had
departed from Rome, when it was decreed that Caere should be rewarded
for its good services by the establishment of public hospitality
between the two cities. The public hospitality after the war with the
Gauls gave to the Caerites the right of isopolity with Rome, that is,
the civitas without the suffragium and the honores. [COLONIA.] In
the later times of the republic we no longer find public hospitality
established between Rome and a foreign state; but a relation which
amounted to the same thing was introduced in its stead, that is,
towns were raised to the rank of municipia, and thus obtained the
civitas without the suffragium and the honores; and when a town was
desirous of forming a similar relation with Rome, it entered into
clientela to some distinguished Roman, who then acted as patron of
the client-town. But the custom of granting the honour of hospes
publicus to a distinguished foreigner by a decree of the senate,
seems to have existed down to the end of the republic. His privileges
were the same as those of a municeps, that is, he had the civitas,
but not the suffragium or the honores. Public hospitality was, like
the hospitium privatum, hereditary in the family of the person to
whom it had been granted.
HỸĂCINTHĬA (ὑακίνθια), a great national festival, celebrated every
year at Amyclae by the Amyclaeans and Spartans, probably in honour of
the Amyclaean Apollo and Hyacinthus together. This Amyclaean Apollo,
however, with whom Hyacinthus was assimilated in later times, must
not be confounded with Apollo, the national divinity of the Dorians.
The festival was called after the youthful hero Hyacinthus, who
evidently derived his name from the flower hyacinth (the emblem of
death among the ancient Greeks), and whom Apollo accidentally struck
dead with a quoit. The Hyacinthia lasted for three days, and began
on the longest day of the Spartan month Hecatombeus, at the time
when the tender flowers, oppressed by the heat of the sun, drooped
their languid heads. On the first and last day of the Hyacinthia
sacrifices were offered to the dead, and the death of Hyacinthus was
lamented. During these two days, nobody wore any garlands at the
repasts, nor took bread, but only cakes and similar things, and when
the solemn repasts were over, everybody went home in the greatest
quiet and order. The second day, however, was wholly spent in public
rejoicings and amusements, such as horse-races, dances, processions,
&c. The great importance attached to this festival by the Amyclaeans
and Lacedaemonians is seen from the fact, that the Amyclaeans, even
when they had taken the field against an enemy, always returned home
on the approach of the season of the Hyacinthia, that they might not
be obliged to neglect its celebration; and that in a treaty with
Sparta, B.C. 421, the Athenians, in order to show their good-will
towards Sparta, promised every year to attend the celebration of this
festival.
HYBRĔŌS GRĂPHĒ (ὕβρεως γραφή), an action prescribed by the Attic law
for wanton and contumelious injury to the person, whether in the
nature of indecent (δι’ αἰσχρουργίας) or other assaults (διὰ πληγῶν).
The severity of the sentence extended to confiscation or death.
HYDRAULIS (ὕδραυλις), an hydraulic organ, invented by Ctesibius
of Alexandria, who lived about B.C. 200. Its pipes were partly of
bronze, and partly of reed. The number of its stops, and consequently
of its rows of pipes, varied from one to eight. It continued in use
so late as the ninth century of our era. The organ was well adapted
to gratify the Roman people in the splendid entertainments provided
for them by the emperors and other opulent persons. Nero was very
curious about organs, both in regard to their musical effect and
their mechanism. A contorniate coin of this emperor, in the British
Museum, shows an organ with a sprig of laurel on one side, and a man
standing on the other.
[Illustration: Hydraulis, water-organ. (Coin of Nero in British
Museum.)]
HYDRĬAPHŎRĬA (ὑδριαφορία), was the carrying of a vessel with water
(ὑδρία), which service the married alien (μέτοικοι) women had to
perform to the married part of the female citizens of Athens, when
they walked to the temple of Athena in the great procession at the
Panathenaea.
HỸPORCHĒMA (ὑπόρχημα), a lively kind of mimic dance which accompanied
the songs used in the worship of Apollo, especially among the
Dorians. A chorus of singers at the festivals of Apollo usually
danced around the altar, while several other persons were appointed
to accompany the action of the song with an appropriate mimic
performance (ὑπορχεῖσθαι). The hyporchema was thus a lyric dance, and
often passed into the playful and comic.