Arundelian Marbles, a series of ancient sculptured marbles discovered by William Petty, who explored the ruins of Greece at the expense of and for Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, who lived in the time of James I and Charles I, and was a liberal patron of scholarship and art. After the Restoration they were presented by the grandson of the collector to the University of Oxford. Among them is the Parian Chronicle, a chronological account of the principal events in Grecian, and particularly in Athenian, history, during a period of 1186 years, from the reign of Cecrops (1450 B.C.) to the archonship of Diognetus (264 B.C.).
Arun´do. See Phragmites.
Aruspices (a-rus´pi-sēz), or Haruspices, a class of priests in ancient Rome, of Etrurian origin, whose business was to inspect the entrails of victims killed in sacrifice, and by them to foretell future events.
Aruwimi, a large river of equatorial Africa, a tributary of the Congo, on the north bank.
Arval Brothers (Fratres Arvāles), a college or company of twelve members elected for life from the highest ranks in ancient Rome, so called from offering annually public sacrifices for the fertility of the fields (Lat. arvum, a field).
Arve (a˙rv), a river rising in the Savoyan Alps, passes through the valley of Chamonix, and falls into the Rhone near Geneva, after a course of about 50 miles.
Arvic´ola, a genus of rodent animals, sub-ord. Muridæ or Mice. There are three British species. A. amphibia is the water-vole (or water-rat), and A. agrestis is the field-vole or short-tailed field-mouse. They are prolific animals, having three or four litters in the year, each consisting of from four to ten young.
A´ryan, or Indo-European Family of Languages. See Indo-European Family.
As, a Roman weight of 12 ounces, answering to the libra or pound, and equal to 237.5 grains avoirdupois, or 327.1873 grammes French measure. In the most ancient times of Rome the copper or bronze coin which was called as actually weighed an as, or a pound, but in 264 B.C. it was reduced to 2 ounces, in 217 to 1 ounce, and in 191 to ½ ounce.
