STUPRUM. [[Adulterium].]
SUBSIGNĀNI, privileged soldiers in the time of the empire, who fought under a standard by themselves, and did not form part of the legion. They seem to have been the same as the vexillarii.
SUFFRĀGĬA SEX. [[Equites].]
SUFFRĀGĬUM, a vote. At Athens the voting in the popular assemblies and the courts of justice was either by show of hands (χειροτονία) or by ballot (ψῆφος). Respecting the mode of voting at Rome, see [Comitia], [p. 107], and [Leges Tabellariae].
SUGGESTUS, means in general any elevated place made of materials heaped up (sub and gero), and is specially applied: (1) To the stage or pulpit from which the orators addressed the people in the comitia. [[Rostra].]—(2) To the elevation from which a general addressed the soldiers.—(3) To the elevated seat from which the emperor beheld the public games, also called cubiculum. [[Cubiculum].]
SUOVĔTAURĪLĬA. [[Sacrificium], [p. 325]; [Lustratio]; and woodcut on [p. 343].]
SUPPĂRUM. [[Navis], [p. 267], b.]
SUPPLĬCĀTĬO, a solemn thanksgiving or supplication to the gods, decreed by the senate, when all the temples were opened, and the statues of the gods frequently placed in public upon couches (pulvinaria), to which the people offered up their thanksgivings and prayers. [[Lectisternium].] A supplicatio was decreed for two different reasons. 1. As a thanksgiving, when a great victory had been gained: it was usually decreed as soon as official intelligence of the victory had been received by a letter from the general in command. The number of days during which it was to last was proportioned to the importance of the victory. Sometimes it was decreed for only one day, but more commonly for three or five days. A supplication of ten days was first decreed in honour of Pompey at the conclusion of the war with Mithridates, and one of fifteen days after the victory over the Belgae by Caesar, an honour which had never been granted to any one before. Subsequently a supplicatio of twenty days was decreed after his conquest of Vercingetorix. A supplicatio was usually regarded as a prelude to a triumph, but it was not always followed by one. This honour was conferred upon Cicero on account of his suppression of the conspiracy of Catiline, which had never been decreed to any one before in a civil capacity (togatus).—2. A supplicatio, a solemn supplication and humiliation, was also decreed in times of public danger and distress, and on account of prodigies, to avert the anger of the gods.
SȲCŎPHANTĒS (συκοφάντης). At an early period in Attic history a law was made prohibiting the exportation of figs. Whether it was made in a time of dearth, or through the foolish policy of preserving to the natives the most valuable of their productions, we cannot say. It appears, however, that the law continued in force long after the cause of its enactment, or the general belief of its utility, had ceased to exist; and Attic fig-growers exported their fruit in spite of prohibitions and penalties. To inform against a man for so doing was considered harsh and vexatious; as all people are apt to think that obsolete statutes may be infringed with impunity. Hence the term συκοφαντεῖν, which originally signified to lay an information against another for exporting figs, came to be applied to all ill-natured, malicious, groundless, and vexatious accusations. Sycophantes in the time of Aristophanes and Demosthenes designated a person of a peculiar class, not capable of being described by any single word in our language, but well understood and appreciated by an Athenian. He had not much in common with our sycophant, but was a happy compound of the common barrator, informer, pettifogger, busybody, rogue, liar, and slanderer. The Athenian law permitted any citizen (τὸν βουλόμενον) to give information against public offenders, and prosecute them in courts of justice. It was the policy of the legislator to encourage the detection of crime, and a reward (such as half the penalty) was frequently given to the successful accuser. Such a power, with such a temptation, was likely to be abused, unless checked by the force of public opinion, or the vigilance of the judicial tribunals. Unfortunately, the character of the Athenian democracy and the temper of the judges furnished additional incentives to the informer. Eminent statesmen, orators, generals, magistrates, and all persons of wealth and influence were regarded with jealousy by the people. The more causes came into court, the more fees accrued to the judges, and fines and confiscations enriched the public treasury. The prosecutor therefore in public causes, as well as the plaintiff in civil, was looked on with a more favourable eye than the defendant, and the chances of success made the employment a lucrative one. It was not always necessary to go to trial, or even to commence legal proceedings. The timid defendant was glad to compromise the cause, and the conscious delinquent to avert the threat of a prosecution, by paying a sum of money to his opponent. Thriving informers found it not very difficult to procure witnesses, and the profits were divided between them.
SȲLAE (σῦλαι). When a Greek state, or any of its members, had received an injury or insult from some other state or some of its members, and the former was unwilling, or not in a condition, to declare open war, it was not unusual to give a commission, or grant public authority to individuals to make reprisals. This was called σύλας, or σῦλα, διδόναι. This ancient practice may be compared with the modern one of granting letters of marque and reprisal.