A-dictionary-of-greek-and-roman-antiquities-william-smith

FASCIA. FASTI. 52 J
by men (Val. Max./. c. ; Phaed. v. 7. 37), were h
sign of extraordinary refinement in dress : the
mode of cleaning them was by rubbing them with
a white tenacious earth, resembling our pipe-clay
{fasciae cretatae, Cic. ad Att. ii. 3). The finer
fasciae, worn by ladies, were purple. (Cic. de
the secures should be removed from the fasces, and
allowed only one of the consuls to be preceded by
the lictors while they were at Rome. (Cic de
Rep. ii. 31 ; Valcr. Max. IT. 1. § 1.) The other
consul was attended only by a single accensus
[ Accbnsvs]. When they were out of Rome, and
at the head of the army, each of the consuls retiincd
the axe in the fasces, and was preceded by
his own lictors. (Dionys. v. 19 ; Liv. xxiv. 9,
xxviii 27.)
When the decemviri were first appointed, the
fasces were only carried before the one who pre
sided for the day (Liv. iii. 33) ; and it was not
till the second decemvirate, when they began to
act in a tyrannical manner, that the fasces with
the axe were carried before each of the ten. (Liv.
iii 36.) The fasces and secures were, however,
carried before the dictator even in the city (Liv.
it 1 8) : he was preceded by 24 lictors, and the
magister equitum by six.
The praetors were preceded in the city by two
lictors with the fasces (Censorin. De Die Natal.
24 ; Cic Agrar. ii. 34) ; but out of Rome and at
the head of an army by six, with the fasces and
secures, whence they are called by the Greek
writers orpoTiryol i(art\4Ktts. (Appian, Syr. 1 5 ;
Polyb. ii. 24. § 6, iii. 40. § 9, 106. § 6.) The
proconsuls also were allowed, in the time of Ulpian,
six fasces. (Dig. 1. tit 16. s. 14.) The tribunes
of the plebs, the aediles and quaestors, had no
lictors in the city (Pint. Quaes!. Horn. 81 ; Gell.
xiii. 12) ; but in the provinces the quaestors were
permitted to have the fasces. (Cic. Pro Plane
41.) The lictors carried the fasces on their shoulders,
as is seen in the coin of Brutus given above ; and
when an inferior magistrate met one who was
higher in rank, the lictors lowered their fasces to
him. This was done by Valerius Publieola, when
he addressed the people (Cic de Rep. ii. 31 ; Liv.
ii. 7 ; Valer. Max. iv. 1. § 1) ; and hence came
the expression submitters /usees in the sense of to
vield, to confess one's self inferior to another. (Cic
Brut. 6.)
When a general had gained a victory, and had
been sainted as Imperator by his soldiers, his
fasces were always crowned with laurel. (Cic. ad
Att. viiu 3. § 5, de Div. i 28 ; Cues. Bell. Oh.
iii. 71.)
FASCIA (rmvla), dim. FASCIOLA, a band
or fillet of cloth, worn, 1. round the head as an
ensign of royalty (Sueton. Jul. 79) [Diadema ;
woodcut to Falx] : 2. by women over the breast
(Ovid, De Art. Amat. iii. 622 ; Propert. iv. 10.
49 ; Fascia PectoraHs, Mart. xiv. 134) [Strophium]
: 3. round the legs and feet, especially
by women (see the woodcut under the article
Libra). Cicero reproached Clodius for wearing
fasciae upon his feet, and the Calantica, a female
ornament, upon his head (ap. Non. Mare. xiv. 2).
Afterwards, when the toga had fallen into disuse,
and the shorter pallium was worn in its stead,
so that the legs were naked and exposed, fasciae
crurales became common even with the male sex.
(Hor. Sat. ii. 3. 255 ; Val. Max. vi. 2. § 7 ; Grat
Cyneg. 338.) The emperor Alexander Scverus
(Lamprid. Ala. Sev. 40) always used them, even
although, when in town, be wore the toga. Quintilian,
nevertheless, asserts that the adoption of
them could only be excused on the plea of infirm
health. (Inst. Or. xi 3.) White fasciae, worn
Harusp. Resp. 21.) The bandages wound about
the legs, as shown in the illuminations of ancient
MSS., prove that the Roman usage was generally
adopted in Europe during the middle ages.
On the use of fasciae in the nursing of children
(Plaut. True. v. 13) see Incunabula. [J. Y.j
FA'SCIA (toivIo), in architecture, signifies (by
an obvious analogy with the ordinary meaning of
the word) any long flat surface of wood, stone, or
marble, such as the band which divides the archi
trave from the frieze in the Doric order, and the
surfaces into which the architrave itself is divided
in the Ionic and Corinthian orders. (See Epistylium,
and the cuts under Columna.) [P. S.]
FA'SCINUM (ffaoKavia), fascination, enchant
ment. The belief that some persons had the
power of injuring others by their looks, was as
prevalent among the Greeks and Romans as it is
among the superstitious in modern times. The
o