Dolon or Dolo, R. (δόλων). (1) A long stick armed with an iron point. (2) A cane, in the hollow of which a poniard was concealed. (3) The fore-topsail of a vessel.
Fig. 260. Heraldic Dolphin.
Dolphin, Her. A favourite fish with heralds. It is best known as the armorial ensign of the Dauphin, the eldest son and heir apparent of the kings of France—Or, a Dolphin az. In Christian archæology the dolphin is the symbol of swiftness, diligence, and love; it is often met with entwined with an anchor. The first Christians often wore these two symbols united in a ring, which was known as a nautical anchor. (See also Delphin.)
Dome, It. (1) Literally, the house of God. When a city possesses several churches, the name is applied to the cathedral only. (2) The interior of a cupola.
Dominions, in Christian art. (See Angels.)
Fig. 261. Plan of a Greek house.
Domus, Gr. and R. (Gr. δόμος, οἶκος). A house, in contradistinction to insula, a group of houses. The Greek house is divided into two parts by the central chambers. The external, the Andronitis, contains the men’s, and the inner, or Gynæconitis, the women’s apartments. The whole building was generally long and narrow, occupying a comparatively small frontage to the street, and the outside wall was plain without windows. Outside the door was often an altar of Apollo Agyieus, or an obelisk, or sometimes a laurel-tree, or a bust of the god Hermes. A few steps, called Anabathmoi, led up to the house door (αὐλεία θύρα), over which there was generally a motto inscribed: the passage (θυρωρεῖον, πυλὼν, θυρὼν) (A B in the plan) had the stables on one side, and the porter’s lodge opposite, and led to C, the Peristyle or Aula of the men’s quarters, a Hypæthral, or open air court, surrounded by porticoes called Stoai, and by the men’s apartments, which were large banqueting-rooms (οἶκοι, ἀνδρῶνες), smaller sitting-rooms (ἐξέδραι), and sleeping-chambers (δωμάτια, κοιτῶνες, οἰκήματα). The door to the passage D was called μέταυλος or μέσαυλος (i. e. the middle of the aulæ), and gave admission to E, the peristyle or aula of the Gynæconitis. The rooms numbered 10 to 17 were the chambers of the women; P P were called the Thalamos and Amphithalamos; H H and G were the ἱστῶνες, or rooms for working in wool; and at I was the garden door (κηπαία θύρα). There was usually an upper story where guests and slaves were lodged (ὑπερῷον, διῆρες), the stairs leading to which were outside the house. The roofs were flat, and it was customary to walk upon them. The floors were of stone, in later times ornamental or coloured. The construction and decoration varied with the ages; painted ceilings were a late introduction.
