BARBA (πώγων, γένειον, ὑπήνη), the beard. The Greeks seem generally to have worn the beard till the time of Alexander the Great; and a thick beard was considered as a mark of manliness. The Greek philosophers in particular were distinguished by their long beards as a sort of badge. The Romans in early times wore the beard uncut, and the Roman beards are said not to have been shaved till B.C. 300, when P. Ticinius Maena brought over a barber from Sicily; and Pliny adds, that the first Roman who is said to have been shaved every day was Scipio Africanus. His custom, however, was soon followed, and shaving became a regular thing. In the later times of the republic there were many who shaved the beard only partially, and trimmed it, so as to give it an ornamental form; to them the terms bene barbati and barbatuli are applied. In the general way at Rome, a long beard (barba promissa) was considered a mark of slovenliness and squalor. The first time of shaving was regarded as the beginning of manhood, and the day on which this took place was celebrated as a festival. There was no particular time fixed for this to be done. Usually, however, it was done when the young Roman assumed the toga virilis. The hair cut off on such occasions was consecrated to some god. Thus Nero put his up in a gold box, set with pearls, and dedicated it to Jupiter Capitolinus. Under the emperor Hadrian the beard began to revive. Plutarch says that the emperor wore it to hide some scars on his face. The practice afterwards became common, and till the time of Constantine the Great, the emperors appear in busts and coins with beards. The Romans let their beards grow in time of mourning; the Greeks, on the other hand, on such occasions shaved the beard close.
BARBĬTUS (βάρβιτος), or BARBĬTON (βάρβιτον), a stringed instrument, the original form of which is uncertain. Later writers use it as synonymous with the lyra. [[Lyra].]
BASCAUDA, a British basket. This term, which remains with very little variation in the Welsh “basgawd” and the English “basket,” was conveyed to Rome together with the articles denoted by it.
BĂSĬLĬCA (sc. aedes, aula, porticus—βασιλική, also regia), a building which served as a court of law and an exchange, or place of meeting for merchants and men of business. The word was adopted from the Athenians, whose second archon was styled archon basileus (ἄρχων βασιλεύς), and the tribunal where he adjudicated stoa basileius (ἡ βασίλειος στοά), the substantive aula or porticus in Latin being omitted for convenience, and the distinctive epithet converted into a substantive. The first edifice of this description at Rome was not erected until B.C. 182. It was situated in the forum adjoining the curia, and was denominated Basilica Porcia, in commemoration of its founder, M. Porcius Cato. Besides this there were twenty others erected at different periods, within the city of Rome. The forum, or, where there was more than one, the one which was in the most frequented and central part of the city, was always selected for the site of a basilica; and hence it is that the classic writers not unfrequently use the terms forum and basilica synonymously. The ground plan of all these buildings is rectangular, and their width not more than half, nor less than one-third of the length. This area was divided into three naves, consisting of a centre (media porticus), and two side aisles, separated from the centre one, each by a single row of columns. At one end of the centre aisle was the tribunal of the judge, in form either rectangular or circular, as is seen in the annexed plan of the basilica at Pompeii. In the centre of the tribunal was placed the curule chair of the praetor, and seats for the judices and the advocates. The two side aisles, as has been said, were separated from the centre one by a row of columns, behind each of which was placed a square pier or pilaster (parastata), which supported the flooring of an upper portico, similar to the gallery of a modern church. The upper gallery was in like manner decorated with columns, of lower dimensions than those below; and these served to support the roof, and were connected with one another by a parapet-wall or balustrade (pluteus), which served as a defence against the danger of falling over, and screened the crowd of loiterers above (sub-basilicani) from the people of business in the area below. Many of these edifices were afterwards used as Christian churches, and many churches were built after the model above described. Such churches were called basilicae, which name they retain to the present day, being still called at Rome basiliche.
Ground Plan of a Basilica.
BASTERNA, a kind of litter (lectica) in which women were carried in the time of the Roman emperors. It appears to have resembled the Lectica [[Lectica]] very closely; and the only difference apparently was, that the lectica was carried by slaves, and the basterna by two mules.
BAXA, or BAXĔA, a sandal made of vegetable leaves, twigs, or fibres, worn on the stage by comic actors.
BĒMA (βῆμα). [[Ecclesia].]
BENDĬDEIA (βενδίδεια), a Thracian festival in honour of the goddess Bendis, who is said to be identical with the Grecian Artemis and with the Roman Diana. The festival was of a bacchanalian character. From Thrace it was brought to Athens, where it was celebrated in the Peiraeeus, on the 19th or 20th of the month Thargelion, before the Panathenaea Minora. The temple of Bendis was called Bendideion.