Cyclas, O. E. The name of a long sleeveless gown worn by knights over their armour (from ciclatoun, q.v., of which it was made).
Fig. 231. Cyclopean Masonry.
Cyclopean (masonry, monuments), Gr. and R. (κυκλώπειον). Ancient structures, also known as Pelasgian, as being the work of Pelasgians who had learned in the school of Phœnician workmen called Cyclopes. These ancient structures are formed of enormous irregularly-shaped stones (Fig. [231]), placed one above the other without cement or mortar. Remains of them are found in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy; they consist chiefly of the walls of acropoles.
Fig. 232. Cylix. A Gallic drinking-cup.
Cylix, Gr. and R. A vase also known as a calix or cup. It was a wide flat drinking-cup, very shallow, of a circular form, with two handles, and mounted on a tolerably tall foot. Fig. [232] shows a silver cylix or Gaulish cup, found in the ruins of Alisia.
Fig. 233. Decorated Cyma.
Cyma, Cymatium (Eng. Ogee, Gr. κυμάτιον). An architectural moulding, named from the Greek κῦμα (wave or billow), the moulding consisting of an undulation. A cyma, the outline of which is convex at the top and concave below, is called cyma reversa; when it is hollow in the upper part, it is called a cyma recta. (Fig. [233].)