A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

by William Smith

REX (βασιλεύς, ἄναξ), king.—(1) Greek. In the heroic age, as depicted in the poems of Homer, the kingly form of government was universal. The authority of these kings and its limitations were derived not from any definite scheme, or written code, but from the force of traditionary usage, and the natural influence of the circumstances in which the kings were placed, surrounded as they were by a body of chiefs or nobles, whose power was but little inferior to that of the kings themselves. Even the title βασιλῆες is applied to them as well as to the king. The maintenance of regal authority doubtless depended greatly on the possession of personal superiority in bravery, military prowess, wisdom in council and eloquence in debate. When old age had blunted his powers and activity, a king ran a great chance of losing his influence. There was, however, an undefined notion of a sort of divine right connected with the kingly office, whence the epithet διοτρεφής, so commonly applied to kings in Homer. The characteristic emblem of the kingly office was the σκῆπτρον. [[Sceptrum].] Our information respecting the Grecian kings in the more historical age is not ample or minute enough to enable us to draw out a detailed scheme of their functions. Respecting the kings of Sparta the reader is referred to the article [Ephori]. As an illustration of the gradual limitation of the prerogatives of the king or chief magistrate, the reader may consult the article [Archon]. The title Basileus was sometimes applied to an officer who discharged the priestly functions of the more ancient kings, as in Athens. [[Archon].]—(2) Roman. Rome was originally governed by kings. All the ancient writers agree in representing the king as elected by the people for life, and as voluntarily entrusted by them with the supreme power in the state. No reference is made to the hereditary principle in the election of the first four kings; and it is not until the fifth king Tarquinius Priscus obtained the sovereignty, that anything is said about the children of the deceased king. Since the people had conferred the regal power, it returned to them upon the death of the king. But as a new king could not be immediately appointed, an Interrex forthwith stepped into his place. The necessity for an immediate successor to the king arose from the circumstance that he alone had had the power of taking the auspicia on behalf of the state; and as the auspicia devolved upon the people at his death, it was imperative upon them to create a magistrate, to whom they could delegate the auspicia, and who would thus possess the power of mediating between the gods and the state. Originally the people consisted only of the patres or patricii; and accordingly on the death of the king, we read res ad patres redit, or, what is nearly the same thing, auspicia ad patres redeunt. [[Augur].] The interrex was elected by the whole body of the patricians, and he appointed (prodebat) his successor, as it was a rule that the first interrex could not hold the comitia for the election; but it frequently happened that the second interrex appointed a third, the third a fourth, and so on, till the election took place. The Interrex presided over the comitia curiata, which were assembled for the election of the king. The person whom the senate had selected was proposed by the interrex to the people in a regular rogatio, which the people could only accept or reject, for they had not the initiative and could not themselves propose any name. If the people voted in favour of the rogation, they were said creare regem, and their acceptance of him was called jussus populi. But the king did not immediately enter upon his office. Two other acts had still to take place before he was invested with the full regal authority and power. First, his inauguratio had to be performed, as it was necessary to obtain the divine will respecting his appointment by means of the auspices, since he was the high priest of the people. This ceremony was performed by an augur, who conducted the newly-elected king to the arx, or citadel, and there placed him on a stone seat with his face turned to the south, while the people waited below in anxious suspense until the augur announced that the gods had sent the favourable tokens confirming the king in his priestly character. The inauguratio did not confer upon him the auspicia; for these he obtained by his election to the royalty, as the comitia were held auspicato. The second act which had to be performed was the conferring of the imperium upon the king. The curiae had only determined by their previous vote who was to be king, and had not by that act bestowed the necessary power upon him; they had, therefore, to grant him the imperium by a distinct vote. Accordingly the king himself proposed to the curiae a lex curiata de imperio, and the curiae by voting in favour of it gave him the imperium. Livy in his first book makes no mention of the lex curiata de imperio, but he uses the expressions patres auctores fierent, patres auctores facti; but these expressions are equivalent to the lex curiata de imperio in the kingly period.—The king possessed the supreme power in the earliest times, and the senate and the comitia of the curiae were very slight checks upon its exercise. In the first place, the king alone possessed the right of taking the auspices on behalf of the state; and as no public business of any kind could be performed without the approbation of the gods expressed by the auspices, the king stood as mediator between the gods and the people, and in an early stage of society must necessarily have been regarded with religious awe. [[Augur].] Secondly, the people surrendered to the king the supreme military and judicial authority by conferring the imperium upon him. The king was not only the commander in war, but the supreme judge in peace. Seated on his throne in the comitium, he administered justice to all comers, and decided in all cases which were brought before him, civil as well as criminal. Again, all the magistrates in the kingly period appear to have been appointed by the king and not elected by the curiae. Further, the king was not dependent upon the people for his support; but a large portion of the ager publicus belonged to him, which was cultivated at the expense of the state on his behalf. He had also the absolute disposal of the booty taken in war and of the conquered lands. It must not, however, be supposed that the authority of the king was absolute. The senate and the assembly of the people must have formed some check upon his power. But these were not independent bodies possessing the right of meeting at certain times and discussing questions of state. They could only be called together when the king chose, and further could only determine upon matters which the king submitted to them. The only public matter in which the king could not dispense with the co-operation of the senate and the curiae was in declarations of war. There is no trace of the people having had anything to do with the conclusion of treaties of peace.—The insignia of the king were the fasces with the axes (secures), which twelve lictors carried before him as often as he appeared in public, the trabea, the sella curulis, and the toga praetexta and picta. The trabea appears to have been the most ancient official dress, and is assigned especially to Romulus: it was of Latin origin, and is therefore represented by Virgil as worn by the Latin kings. The toga praetexta and picta were borrowed, together with the sella curulis, from the Etruscans, and their introduction is variously ascribed to Tullus Hostilius or Tarquinius Priscus.

REX SACRĬFĬCŬLUS, REX SACRĬFĬCUS, or REX SACRORUM. When the civil and military powers of the king were transferred to two praetors or consuls, upon the establishment of the republican government at Rome, these magistrates were not invested with that part of the royal dignity by virtue of which the king had been the high priest of his nation and had conducted several of the sacra publica, but this priestly part of his office was transferred to a priest called Rex Sacrificulus or Rex Sacrorum. The first rex sacrorum was designated, at the command of the consuls, by the college of pontiffs, and inaugurated by the augurs. He was always elected and inaugurated in the comitia curiata under the presidency of the pontiffs, and as long as a rex sacrificulus was appointed at Rome, he was always a patrician, for as he had no influence upon the management of political affairs, the plebeians never coveted this dignity. Considering that this priest was the religious representative of the kings, he ranked indeed higher than all other priests, and even higher than the pontifex maximus, but in power and influence he was far inferior to him. He held his office for life, was not allowed to hold any civil or military dignity, and was at the same time exempted from all military and civil duties. His principal functions were: 1. To perform those sacra publica which had before been performed by the kings; and his wife, who bore the title of regina sacrorum, had also, like the queens of former days, to perform certain priestly functions. These sacra publica he or his wife had to perform on all the Calends, Ides, and the Nundines; he to Jupiter, and she to Juno in the regia. 2. On the days called regifugium he had to offer a sacrifice in the comitium. [[Regifugium].] 3. When extraordinary portenta seemed to announce some general calamity, it was his duty to try to propitiate the anger of the gods. 4. On the nundines, when the people assembled in the city, the rex sacrorum announced (edicebat) to them the succession of the festivals for the month. This part of his functions, however, must have ceased after the time of Cn. Flavius. He lived in a domus publica on the via sacra, near the regia and the house of the vestal virgins.

RHĒDA or RĒDA, a travelling carriage with four wheels. Like the [Covinus] and the [Essedum] it was of Gallic origin, and may perhaps contain the same root as the German reiten and our ride. It was the common carriage used by the Romans for travelling, and was frequently made large enough not only to contain many persons, but also baggage and utensils of various kinds. The word Epirhedium, which was formed by the Romans from the Greek preposition ἐπι and the Gallic rheda, is explained by the Scholiast on Juvenal as “Ornamentum rhedarum aut plaustrum.”

RHĒTRAE (ῥῆτραι), specially the name of the ordinances of Lycurgus. The word Rhetra means a solemn compact, either originally emanating from, or subsequently sanctioned by the gods, who are always parties to such agreements. The Rhetra of Lycurgus emanated from the Delphian god: but the kings, senators, and people all bound themselves, both to each other and to the gods, to obey it.

RHYTON (ῥυτόν), a drinking-horn (κέρας). Its original form was probably the horn of the ox, but one end of it was afterwards ornamented with the heads of various animals and birds. The rhyton had a small opening at the bottom, which the person who drank put into his mouth, and allowed the wine to run in: hence it derived its name.

Rhyton, drinking-horn. (Museo Borbonico.)

RĪCA. [[Flamen].]

RĪCĪNĬUM, an article of female dress, appears to have been a kind of mantle, with a sort of cowl attached to it, in order to cover the head. The mavortium, mavorte, or mavors of later times was thought to be only another name for what had formerly been called ricinium.

RŌBĪGĀLĬA, a public festival in honour of the god Robigus, to preserve the fields from mildew, is said to have been instituted by Numa, and was celebrated April 25th. The sacrifices offered on this occasion consisted of the entrails of a dog and a sheep, accompanied with frankincense and wine: a prayer was presented by a flamen in the grove of the ancient deity, whom Ovid and Columella make a goddess. A god Robigus or a goddess Robigo is a mere invention from the name of this festival, for the Romans paid no divine honours to evil deities.