FASCĬA, a band or fillet of cloth, worn, (1) round the head as an ensign of royalty;—(2) by women over the breast;—(3) round the legs and feet, especially by women. When the toga had fallen into disuse, and the shorter pallium was worn in its stead, so that the legs were naked and exposed, fasciae crurales became common even with the male sex.
FASCĬNUM (βασκανία), fascination, enchantment. The belief that some persons had the power of injuring others by their looks, was prevalent among the Greeks and Romans. The evil eye was supposed to injure children particularly, but sometimes cattle also; whence Virgil (Ecl. iii. 103) says,
“Nescio quis teneros oculos mihi fascinat agnum.”
Various amulets were used to avert its influence.
FASTI. Fas signifies divine law: the epithet fastus is properly applied to anything in accordance with divine law; and hence those days upon which legal business might, without impiety (sine piaculo), be transacted before the praetor, were technically denominated fasti dies, i.e. lawful days. The sacred books in which the fasti dies of the year were marked were themselves denominated fasti; the term, however, was employed to denote registers of various descriptions. Of these the two principal are the Fasti Sacri or Fasti Kalendares, and Fasti Annales or Fasti Historici.—I. Fasti Sacri or Kalendares. For nearly four centuries and a half after the foundation of the city a knowledge of the calendar was possessed exclusively by the priests. One of the pontifices regularly proclaimed the appearance of the new moon, and at the same time announced the period which would intervene between the Kalends and the Nones. On the Nones the country people assembled for the purpose of learning from the rex sacrorum the various festivals to be celebrated during the month, and the days on which they would fall. In like manner all who wished to go to law were obliged to inquire of the privileged few on what day they might bring their suit, and received the reply as if from the lips of an astrologer. The whole of this lore, so long a source of power and profit, and therefore jealously enveloped in mystery, was at length made public by a certain Cn. Flavius, scribe to App. Claudius; who, having gained access to the pontifical books, copied out all the requisite information, and exhibited it in the forum for the use of the people at large. From this time forward such tables became common, and were known by the name of Fasti. They usually contained an enumeration of the months and days of the year; the Nones, Ides, Nundinae, Dies Fasti, Nefasti, Comitiales, Atri, &c., together with the different festivals, were marked in their proper places: astronomical observations on the risings and settings of the fixed stars, and the commencement of the seasons were frequently inserted. [[Calendarium]; [Dies].]—II. Fasti Annales or Historici. Chronicles such as the Annales Maximi, containing the names of the chief magistrates for each year, and a short account of the most remarkable events noted down opposite to the days on which they occurred, were, from the resemblance which they bore in arrangement to the sacred calendars, denominated fasti; and hence this word is used, especially by the poets, in the general sense of historical records. In prose writers fasti is commonly employed as the technical term for the registers of consuls, dictators, censors, and other magistrates, which formed part of the public archives. Some most important fasti belonging to this class, executed probably at the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, have been partially preserved, and are deposited in the Capitol in Rome, where they are known by the name of the Fasti Capitolini.
FASTĬGĬUM. An ancient Greek or Roman temple, of rectangular construction, is terminated at its upper extremity by a triangular figure, both in front and rear, which rests upon the cornice of the entablature as a base, and has its sides formed by the cornices which terminate the roof. The whole of this triangle above the trabeation is implied in the term fastigium, called ἀέτωμα by the Greeks, pediment by our architects. The dwelling-houses of the Romans had no gable ends; consequently when the word is applied to them, it is not in its strictly technical sense, but designates the roof simply, and is to be understood of one which rises to an apex, as distinguished from a flat one. The fastigium, properly so called, was appropriated to the temples of the gods; therefore, when the Romans began to bestow divine honours upon Julius Caesar, amongst other privileges which they decreed to him, was the liberty of erecting a fastigium to his house, that is, a portico and pediment towards the street, like that of a temple.
Fastigium. (From a Coin.)
FAX (φανός), a torch. As the principal use of torches was to give light to those who went abroad after sunset, the portion of the Roman day immediately succeeding sun-set was called fax or prima fax. The use of torches after sun-set, and the practice of celebrating marriages at that time, probably led to the consideration of the torch as one of the necessary accompaniments and symbols of marriage. Among the Romans the fax nuptialis having been lighted at the parental hearth, was carried before the bride by a boy whose parents were alive. The torch was also carried at funerals (fax sepulchralis), both because these were often nocturnal ceremonies, and because it was used to set fire to the pile.
FĒCIĀLES. [[Fetiales].]