SPORTŬLA. In the days of Roman freedom, clients were in the habit
of testifying respect for their patron by thronging his atrium at
an early hour, and escorting him to places of public resort when he
went abroad. As an acknowledgment of these courtesies, some of the
number were usually invited to partake of the evening meal. After
the extinction of liberty, the presence of such guests, who had
now lost all political importance, was soon regarded as an irksome
restraint, while at the same time many of the noble and wealthy
were unwilling to sacrifice the pompous display of a numerous body
of retainers. Hence the practice was introduced under the empire of
bestowing on each client, when he presented himself for his morning
visit, a certain portion of food as a substitute and compensation
for the occasional invitation to a regular supper (_coena recta_),
and this dole, being carried off in a little basket provided for the
purpose, received the name of _sportula_. For the sake of convenience
it soon became common to give an equivalent in money, the sum
established by general usage being a hundred quadrantes. The donation
in money, however, did not entirely supersede the sportula given in
kind, for we find in Juvenal a lively description of a great man’s
vestibule crowded with dependents, each attended by a slave bearing
a portable kitchen to receive the viands and keep them hot while
they were carried home. Under the empire great numbers of the lower
orders derived their whole sustenance, and the funds for ordinary
expenditure, exclusively from this source, while even the highborn
did not scruple to increase their incomes by taking advantage of the
ostentatious profusion of the rich and vain.
STĂDĬUM (ὁ στάδιος and τὸ στάδιον), a Greek measure of length, and
the chief one used for itinerary distances. It was equal to 600
Greek or 625 Roman feet, or to 125 Roman paces; and the Roman mile
contained 8 stadia. Hence the stadium contained 606 feet 9 inches
English. This standard prevailed throughout Greece, under the name
of the Olympic stadium, so called because it was the exact length
of the stadium or foot-race course at Olympia, measured between the
pillars at the two extremities of the course. The first use of the
measure seems to be contemporaneous with the formation of the stadium
at Olympia when the Olympic games were revived by Iphitus (B.C. 884
or 828). This distance doubled formed the δίαυλος, the ἱππικον was 4
stadia, and the δόλιχος is differently stated at 6, 7, 8, 12, 20, and
24 stadia. A day’s journey by land was reckoned at 200 or 180 stadia,
or for an army 150 stadia. The stadium at Olympia was used not only
for the foot-race, but also for the other contests which were added
to the games from time to time [OLYMPIA], except the horse-races,
for which a place was set apart, of a similar form with the stadium,
but larger; this was called the Hippodrome (ἱππόδρομος). The name
stadium was also given to all other places throughout Greece wherever
games were celebrated. The stadium was an oblong area terminated at
one end by a straight line, at the other by a semicircle having the
breadth of the stadium for its base. Round this area were ranges of
seats rising above one another in steps.
STĀTĒR (στατῆρ), which means simply _a standard_ (in this case
both of weight and more particularly of money), was the name of
the principal gold coin of Greece, which was also called _Chrysus_
(χρυσοῦς). The stater is said to have been first coined in Lydia by
Croesus, and probably did not differ materially from the stater which
was afterwards current in Greece, and which was equal _in weight_ to
_two_ drachmae, and _in value_ to _twenty_. The Macedonian stater,
which was the one most in use after the time of Philip and his son
Alexander the Great, was of the value of about 1_l._ 3_s._ 6_d._ In
calculating the value of the stater in our money the ratio of gold to
silver must not be overlooked. Thus the stater of Alexander, which we
have valued, according to the present worth of gold, at 1_l._ 3_s._
6_d._, passed for twenty drachmae, which, according to the present
value of silver, were worth only 16_s._ 3_d._ But the former is the
true worth of the stater, the difference arising from the greater
value of silver in ancient times than now.