CISSAMPELINE. : 



CISSAMPELOS PAREIRA. 



946 



In order to lighten the weight of the materials used in the con- 

 struction of the arch which supports the seats of the Circus of Cara- 

 calla, large amphone have been employed in the crown of the arch. 

 Under this archway the people passed to the various openings with 

 steps which led to the seats. The archway formed one great vonii- 

 torium. _ Although there were twelve carceres, the number of chariots 

 varied ; in a representation of a chariot-race on a sepulchral monument 

 at Foligno, nine are represented. 



The Circus Maximus, which was situated in a valley between the 

 Palatine and Aventine hills, was very similar in form to that of 

 Caracalla. According to Veuuti, it was 210 French toises long by 

 85 wide, that is, 1343'160 feet by 543'2 ; but other authorities have 

 made the dimensions much greater. To Tarquinius Priscus tradition 

 ;i.-*i;,'iied the first building of a circus, on the site of which the Circus 

 Maximus was afterwards erected. If ever there was a Circus of Tar- 

 quin, it may have been rebuilt after the destruction of the city by the 

 Gauls. This edifice, whatever may have been its origin, was enlarged 

 by Csesar, and embellished by Augustus and Tiberius. In the time of 

 Xero it was burnt down (Tacit., ' Annal.,' xv. 35) ; Trajan repaired it ; 

 and under Antoninus it became partially ruined, but was afterwards 

 restored. The exterior of the circus, except at the carceres, consisted 

 of two stories, adorned with columns, and finished with a terrace. The 

 ground floor was occupied by merchants, except on the days appointed 

 for the games. There were four towers more in the'Circus Maximus 

 than in that of Caracalla ; one in the centre over the carceres (equi- 

 distant from those at each end of the carceres), one over the principal 

 entrance, and one at each end of the semicircle, where it joined the 

 straight sides of the circus : these towers were crowned with quadriga;. 

 The spina, which was rather more than 8 feet high and 12 broad, was 

 decorated with temples in miniature, statues, and obelisks. Augustus 

 brought an obelisk from Egypt, 126 feet high, and placed it in this 

 circus ; Constantius also erected in the circus the obelisk now called 

 the Lateran, which is the largest of all the Roman obelisks. 



There are traces of a circus at Tarragona, at Merida, at Murviedro 

 (the ancient Saguutum), all in Spain; also at Nismes, Milan, Autioch, 

 at Constantinople, and other places. 



The games, which derived their name, ludi Circenaes, from the 

 circumstance that, after the time of Tarquinius, they were celebrated 

 in the circus, were, according to tradition, instituted by Romulus 



under the name of Consualia (Living, i. 9), in honour of the god Consus 

 (or Neptune). They were exhibited on various occasions and for 

 various purposes ; sometimes, for example, by magistrates and some- 

 times by private citizens ; either as rejoicings for success in war, or to 

 avert the anger of some god. A grand procession from the capital to 

 the circus opened the games, and the images of the gods were taken 

 along in carriages (tfunxe). The combatants, dancers, musicians, and 

 others followed, and last of all the consuls and priests advanced to per- 

 form the sacred rites. The exhibition consisted chiefly of chariot and 

 horse races. The charioteers were divided into four classes, distin- 

 guished by the colour of their dress ; one was white, another red, 

 another sky-coloured, and another green. Domitian added two more, 

 the golden and the purple. The favour of the people to one class or 

 another was determined quite as much by the dress as by the skill dis- 

 played. Serious consequences often followed the disputes on the supe- 

 riority of one colour above another. The order in which the chariots 

 stood was determined by lot ; and the signal for starting was given by 

 dropping a cloth (mappa, or pannug). The chariot which first ran 

 seven times round the course was victorious; and the driver, after 

 being proclaimed by the herald, was crowned with a palm-wreath, and 

 received a considerable sum of money. There were usually twenty-five 

 such heats in the course of a day. Contests in the five exercises 

 (quinquertinm, the Greek Trivra.Q\ov), running, leaping, boxing, wrest- 

 ling, and throwing the discus, also formed part of the exhibition. 

 Wrestlers were anointed with ointment by slaves ; boxers used gloves 

 strengthened with lead or iron to give force to their blows ; all under- 

 went a preparatory training and dieting. These exercises were per- 

 formed by the combatants almost entirely naked, and hence were 

 called sometimes certctmen f/ymnicum ; the combatants had only a slight 

 covering round the middle. A mock fight, called Indus Tnj<e, was 

 performed by young noblemen on horseback, an exhibition which was 

 revived by Julius Cresar. (Virgil, 'jEn.,'v. 561.) A sea-fight (naumackia) 

 was sometimes represented : Domitian afterwards built a sea-fight 

 theatre. (Suetonius, ' Domit.,' c. 5.) 



The exhibition of the wild beasts (veaatio) was one of the most 

 attractive parts of their public entertainments. Wild beasts fought 

 either with one another or with men ; and the men were either forced 

 to this combat as a punishment, or were induced to enter it by hire. 

 Great expense was incurred to provide beasts for this exhibition, and 



1000 Feet 



[Scale for the Circus Maximo-, according to Vcnuti's plan.] 



they were collected from the most remote parts of the empire. In the 

 .lays of imperial splendour and profusion, the public exhibitions of 

 Rome contained nearly every rare wild animal that western Asia and 

 northern Africa could produce. The beasts were kept in mclosures 

 (rfroria) till the time appointed for the show. The exhibitor of the' 



i ...\ ..,.;, I..,] IITI a ,. it ( <rn1 t'fnnv\ nf. TMP sniit.n 



KUQ6B tiiac tue exiuvwiuu * **n*>i \ 



man Games ") was commonly used to signify the two prime necessaries 

 of life to the Roman populace. The crowds brought together by the 

 games naturally attracted such persons as conjurers, jugglers, and 

 fortune-tellers to the place, which is hence called by Horace (Sat. i. 6 

 ) folia c " deceitful." The splendour of the exhibition increased 

 the later times of the republic. P. Cornelius Scipio and P. Lentulus 

 once exhibited 63 panthers and 40 bears and elephants (Liyius, xliv. 18); 

 id Poinpev on one occasion is said to have exhibited 500 lions (a num- 

 ber beyond all belief), which were all despatched in five days. (Dion. 

 Cass., xxzix. 38.) 



;A.MPELINE. [PIWWM.] 



CISS'AMPELOS PAREIRA, the 1'arcira-brava, a native ot several 



AH'IS ASD SCI. CIV. VOL. II. 



of the West Indian islands, of New Spain, and of Brazil. The root of 

 this plant arrives in Europe in pieces from two to three feet long, vary- 

 ing in thickness from that of a finger to an arm, curved, fun-owed, and 

 warty, with a thin closely adhering bark of a grayish-brown colour. 

 The woody part is tough, but so porous that air can be blown from 

 one end to the other of a long piece ; the concentric circles are very 

 conspicuous ; the axis is not in the centre. The odour is very faint, 

 but the taste is at first sweetish or liquorice-like, afterwards nauseous 

 and bitter. Analysed by Feneuille it was found to consist of 



Soft resin ; a yellow bitter principle (tonic) ; a brown principle ; 

 animalised matter, starch, malate of lime, nitrate of potash, anil other 

 salts. Wiggers states that it contains a peculiar alkaloid, which he 

 terms Cissampeline. 



The juice of the fresh plant in its native country is said to be a very 

 efficacious application to the bites of serpents ; but in Europe the root 

 is employed only as a tonic diuretic. It is particularly valuable in 

 cases where there is a copious discharge of urine with a ropy alkaline 

 mucus. (Brodie's ' Lectures on Diseases of the Urinary Organs.') It 

 is also serviceable in catarrhus vcsicic, ivuJ other affections of the uriuo- 

 geuital organs. 



8 1 



