CIRCUMCISION 



CIRCUS 



bold metaphor applies the word concision (kitttt- 

 tm,c ), which in tne Septuagint was applie<i only to 

 mutilations and incisions forbidden l>y the Mosaic 

 law, to the vaunted circumcision of the Judaising 

 Christians. The contrast of the material and 

 spiritual circumcision occurs elsewhere in St Paul 

 (Rom. ii. '25-29 ; Col. ii. 11 ). The use made in tin- 

 Old Testament of tin- intake of circumcision, as a 

 metaphor for purity, had prepared the way for the 

 apistle\ application compare the circumcision of 

 the heart (Lev. xxvi. 41), of the ear (Jer. vi. 10), 

 of tin* lips (Kx. \i. 12, 30). At the present time 

 the Ahyssinian Church alone among Christian 

 bodies recognises it as a religious rite. It existed 

 among the Arabs before the time of the Prophet ; 

 and though never mentioned in the Koran, circum- 

 cision is practised with much pomp and great 

 rejoicings in all Mohammedan populations. The 

 Arabs in the towns of Egypt have their boys cir- 

 cumcised at the age of five or six ; among the 

 peasants the age varies from twelve to fourteen. 

 A vivid account of the ceremonies is given in Lane's 

 Modern Egyptians. See a paper by Paul Lafargue 

 in the Bulletin de la Societe d'Anthropologie de 

 Paris (tome x., 3 serie, 1887). 



Circumcision, FEAST OF, a festival in honour 

 of Christ's circumcision, observed on 1st January in 

 the Roman Church since about 487 A.D., and in the 

 Anglican since 1549. See NEW-YEAR'S DAY. 



Circumference, or PERIPHERY, the curve 

 wliich incloses a circle, ellipse, oval, cardioid, or 

 other plane figure. In figures bounded by straight 

 lines, as the triangle, square, and polygon, the 

 term perimeter is employed to designate the sum 

 of all the bounding lines taken together. The 

 length of the circumference depends partly on the 

 nature of the curve ; thus, that of the Circle (q.v.) 

 = 2irr = ird; and that of the Ellipse (q.v.) 







- &c - 



where a is the semi-axis major, and e the eccen- 

 tricity. 



Circumlocution Office, the name under 

 which Dickens, in Little Don-it, satirised the 

 Civil Service. 



Circumnavigation, the term usually applied 

 to the act of sailing round the world, its literal 

 meaning being simply 'a sailing round.' The cir- 

 cumnavigation of the globe was at one time 

 considered a great feat, but it is now one of the 

 most commonplace affairs in a sailor's experience. 

 The first to circumnavigate the globe was Sebastian 

 d'Elcano, lieutenant of Magellan (1519-22); fifteen 

 years afterwards it was accomplished by two 

 Spanish seamen, Grijalva and Alvaradi ; and in 

 1577-80 by the illustrious Englishman, Sir Francis 

 Drake. The most celebrated of circumnavigators 

 was Captain James Cook, who, between 1768 and 

 1779, made three voyages round the world. 



Circumstantial Evidence. See EVIDENCE. 



Circumvallation, LINES OF, form a chain 

 of works surrounding an army engaged in besieg- 

 ing a fortress, but facing outwards towards the 

 country so as to guard against all attempts at 

 relief by a field army. Redoubts, either isolated 

 or connected by a line of parapet, were much 

 used for this purpose in the sieges of the ancient 

 and middle ages ; but the greater mobility of 

 modern armies makes it preferable to meet such 

 attempts in the open field, many miles from the 

 position occupied by the investing force. At 

 Sebastopol, owing to the smallness of the besieging 

 force compared with that of the besieged, an outer 

 circuit of redoubts and lines was necessary to keep 

 off the Russian field army, which at Inkermann 



very nearly succeeded in penetrating 

 defence. See CONTRA VALLATION, Sn 



this external 

 IEOE. 

 Circus, in ancient Rome, was a large oblong 



1 mil' I in;,' adapted for chariot-races and horne-races, 

 and used also for the exhibition of athletic exer- 

 cises, mock-contests, and conflicts of wild beasts. 

 The Circensian Games were alleged by tradition 

 to have originated in the time of Romulus ; and 

 Tarquinius Priscus celebrated a notable victory by 

 games. The games continued to be held annually, 

 and a permanent edifice was soon afterwards con- 

 structed. This was distinguished, subsequent to 

 the erection of the Flaminian and other large circi, 

 as the Circus Maximus. It must have l>een altered 

 and enlarged at various times. Dionysius says it 

 could hold 150,000 persons; Pliny, 260,000 ; and 

 P. Victor, 385,000. Its extent also has been vari- 

 ously estimated. In the time of Julius Ca*sar it 

 was three stadia or 1875 feet long, and one 

 stadium or 625 feet wide, while the depth of 

 the buildings surrounding the open space was half 

 a stadium, or about 312 feet. The plan was 

 oblong, rounded at one end and square at the 

 other. Along the sides and at the curved end were 

 ascending ranges of stone seats for the spectators. 

 At the other end were the carceres or stalls in 

 which the horses and chariots were kept, until, 

 on a given signal, the gates were simultaneously 

 Hung open. In the centre was the spina, a long 

 and broad wall round which the charioteers drove, 

 terminating at both ends at the metce or goals 

 conical pillars which marked the turnings of the 

 course. Julius C.-vsar made an euripus or canal 

 round the course to protect the spectators more 

 effectually during the conflicts of wild beasts. 



The circus was especially adapted for chariot- races, 

 an amusement of which the Romans were passion- 

 ately fond. The length of a race was seven circuits 

 round the spina, and twenty -five races were run in 

 each day. The number of chariots was usually 

 four. The athletic exercises, such as boxing and 

 wrestling, sometimes terminated fatally. A regular 

 battle was sometimes represented ( Pugna Equestris 

 et Pedestris). By the formation of canals and the 

 introduction of vessels, a Naumachia, or sea-fight, 

 was occasionally exhibited ; but, under the empire, 

 this species of exhibition, as well as the Venatio, 

 was gradually transferred to the Amphitheatre 

 (q.v.). Animals for the Venatio or hunting were 

 procured from every available part of the Roman 

 empire, including Africa and Asia. The exhibition 

 not only afforded an opportunity for the display of 

 private munificence or ostentation, but attained 

 the importance of a political engine, which none 

 who aspired to popularity could afford to overlook. 

 The turbulent classes often demanded doles of 

 bread and circus games (panem et circenses) from 

 candidates. When Pompey opened his new 

 theatre he is said to have given public exhibitions 

 in the circus for five days, during which five 

 hundred lions and twenty elephants were destroyed. 

 The Greek hippodrome was very similar in its 

 arrangements to the Roman circus. 



In modern times the circus survives but as the 

 shadow of a name. It is about the same size as 

 the modern theatre, and is employed principally 

 for the exhibition of feats of horsemanship and for 

 acrobatic displays. Modern circuses are of two 

 kinds those that hold performances in permanent 

 buildings, of which there are only a comparatively 

 small number in Britain and the United States, and 

 those that ' tent ' or occupy temporary erections in 

 spring and summer, and return to buildings in 

 winter. A circus manager on a tour must have a 

 plentiful supply of novelties in the shape of graceful 

 and daring riders, conjurers, and performing horses. 

 A stud of highly trained performing horses, often 

 of ureat value, 'is an important feature in every 



