ĔLEUTHĔRĬA (ἐλευθέρια), the feast of liberty, a festival which the Greeks, after the battle of Plataeae (479 B.C.), instituted in honour of Zeus Eleutherios (the deliverer). It was intended not merely to be a token of their gratitude to the god to whom they believed themselves to be indebted for their victory over the barbarians, but also as a bond of union among themselves; for, in an assembly of all the Greeks, Aristeides carried a decree that delegates (πρόβουλοι καὶ θεωροί) from all the Greek states should assemble every year at Plataeae for the celebration of the Eleutheria. The town itself was at the same time declared sacred and inviolable, as long as its citizens offered the annual sacrifices which were then instituted on behalf of Greece. Every fifth year these solemnities were celebrated with contests, in which the victors were rewarded with chaplets.
ELLŌTĬA or HELLŌTĬA (ἐλλώτια or ἑλλώτια), a festival with a torch race celebrated at Corinth in honour of Athena as a goddess of fire.
ĒMANCĬPĀTĬO, was an act by which the patria potestas was dissolved in the lifetime of the parent, and it was so called because it was in the form of a sale (mancipatio). By the laws of the Twelve Tables it was necessary that a son should be sold three times in order to be released from the paternal power, or to be sui juris. In the case of daughters and grandchildren, one sale was sufficient. The father transferred the son by the form of a sale to another person, who manumitted him, upon which he returned into the power of the father. This was repeated, and with the like result. After a third sale, the paternal power was extinguished, but the son was re-sold to the parent, who then manumitted him, and so acquired the rights of a patron over his emancipated son, which would otherwise have belonged to the purchaser who gave him his final manumission.
EMBAS (ἐμβάς), a shoe worn by men, and which appears to have been the most common kind of shoe worn at Athens. Pollux says that it was invented by the Thracians, and that it was like the low cothurnus. The embas was also worn by the Boeotians, and probably in other parts of Greece.
EMBĂTEIA (ἐμβατεία). In Attic law this word (like the corresponding English one, entry), was used to denote a formal taking possession of real property. Thus, when a son entered upon the land left him by his father, he was said ἐμβατεύειν or βαδίζειν εἰς τὰ πατρῳα, and thereupon he became seised, or possessed of his inheritance. If any one disturbed him in the enjoyment of this property, with an intention to dispute the title, he might maintain an action of ejectment, ἐξούλης δίκη. Before entry he could not maintain such action.
EMBLĒMA (ἔμβλημα, ἔμπαισμα), an inlaid ornament. The art of inlaying was employed in producing beautiful works of two descriptions, viz.;—1st, those which resembled our marquetry, buhl, and Florentine mosaics; and 2dly, those in which crusts (crustae), exquisitely wrought in bas-relief and of precious materials, were fastened upon the surface of vessels or other pieces of furniture. To the latter class of productions belonged the cups and plates which Verres obtained by violence from the Sicilians, and from which he removed the emblems for the purpose of having them set in gold instead of silver.
ĒMĔRĬTI, the name given to those Roman soldiers who had served out their time, and had exemption (vacatio) from military service. The usual time of service was twenty years for the legionary soldiers, and sixteen for the praetorians. At the end of their period of service they received a bounty or reward (emeritum), either in lands or money, or in both.
ĒMISSĀRĬUM (ὑπόνομος), a channel, natural or artificial, by which an outlet is formed to carry off any stagnant body of water. Such channels may be either open or underground; but the most remarkable works of the kind are of the latter description, as they carry off the waters of lakes surrounded by hills. In Greece, the most striking example is presented by the subterraneous channels which carry off the waters of the lake Copais in Boeotia, which were partly natural and partly artificial. Some works of this kind are among the most remarkable efforts of Roman ingenuity. Remains still exist to show that the lakes Trasimene, Albano, Nemi, and Fucino, were all drained by means of emissaria, the last of which is still nearly perfect, and open to inspection, having been partially cleared by the present king of Naples. Julius Caesar is said to have first conceived the idea of this stupendous undertaking, which was carried into effect by the Emperor Claudius.
EMMĒNI DĬKAE (ἔμμηνοι δίκαι), suits in the Athenian courts, which were not allowed to be pending above a month. This regulation was confined to those subjects which required a speedy decision; and of these the most important were disputes respecting commerce (ἐμπορικαὶ δίκαι). All causes relating to mines (μεταλλικαὶ δίκαι) were also ἔμμηνοι δίκαι, as well as those relating to ἔρανοι. [[Erani].]
EMPŎRĬUM (τὸ ἐμπόριον), a place for wholesale trade in commodities carried by sea. The name is sometimes applied to a sea-port town, but it properly signifies only a particular place in such a town. The word is derived from ἔμπορος, which signifies in Homer a person who sails as a passenger in a ship belonging to another person; but in later writers it signifies the merchant or wholesale dealer, and differs from κάπηλος, the retail dealer. The emporium at Athens was under the inspection of certain officers, who were elected annually (ἐπιμεληταὶ τοῦ ἐμπορίου).