ĂLĂBARCHĒS (ἀλαβάρχης), the chief magistrate of the Jews at Alexandria, whose duties, as far as the government was concerned, chiefly consisted in raising and paying the taxes.
ĂLĂBASTER or ĂLĂBASTRUM, a vessel or pot used for containing perfumes, or rather ointments, made of that species of marble which mineralogists call gypsum, and which is usually designated by the name of alabaster. When varieties of colour occur in the same stone, and are disposed in bands or horizontal strata, it is often called onyx alabaster; and when dispersed irregularly, as if in clouds, it is distinguished as agate alabaster. The term seems to have been employed to denote vessels appropriated to these uses, even when they were not made of the material from which it is supposed they originally received their name. Thus Theocritus speaks of golden alabastra. These vessels were of a tapering shape, and very often had a long narrow neck, which was sealed; so that when Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is said by St. Mark to break the alabaster box of ointment for the purpose of anointing our Saviour, it appears probable that she only broke the extremity of the neck, which was thus closed.
ĀLĀRĬI. [[Ala].]
ĂLAUDA, a Gaulish word, the prototype of the modern French Alouette, denoting a small crested bird of the lark kind. The name alauda was bestowed by Julius Caesar on a legion of picked men, which he raised at his own expense among the inhabitants of Transalpine Gaul, about the year B.C. 55, which he equipped and disciplined after the Roman fashion, and on which he at a subsequent period bestowed the freedom of the state. The designation was, in all probability, applied from a plume upon the helmet, resembling the “apex” of the bird in question, or from the general shape and appearance of the head-piece.
ALBŎGĂLĒRUS. [[Apex].]
ALBUM, a tablet of any material on which the praetor’s edicts, and the rules relating to actions and interdicts, were written. The tablet was put up in a public place, in order that all the world might have notice of its contents. According to some authorities, the album was so called because it was either a white material or a material whitened, and of course the writing would be of a different colour. According to other authorities, it was so called because the writing was in white letters. Probably the word album originally meant any tablet containing anything of a public nature. We know that it was, in course of time, used to signify a list of any public body; thus we find album judicum, or the body out of which judices were to be chosen [[Judex]], and album senatorium, or list of senators.
ĀLĔA, gaming, or playing at a game of chance of any kind: hence aleo, aleator, a gamester, a gambler. Playing with tali, or tesserae, was generally understood, because this was by far the most common game of chance among the Romans. Gaming was forbidden by the Roman laws, both during the times of the republic and under the emperors, but was tolerated in the month of December at the Saturnalia, which was a period of general relaxation; and old men were allowed to amuse themselves in this manner at all times.
ĂLĬCŬLA (ἄλλιξ or ἄλληξ), an upper dress, in all probability identical with the chlamys.
ĂLIMENTĀRII PŬĔRI ET PŬELLAE. In the Roman republic the poorer citizens were assisted by public distributions of corn, oil, and money, which were called congiaria. [[Congiarium].] The Emperor Nerva was the first who extended them to children, and Trajan appointed them to be made every month, both to orphans and to the children of poor parents. The children who received them were called pueri et puellae alimentarii, and also (from the emperor) pueri puellaeque Ulpiani.
ĀLĬPĬLUS, a slave, who attended on bathers to remove the superfluous hair from their bodies.