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^as fin *5 ot tae arch, and the semicircular opening abovefilled with a marble lattice. “
tile
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Two of these lattices, very
of ^ orn amented, are at present to be found in the court^ a, nin' aCe which is founded upon a part of the
Up on j a . n Circus . The top of the career® formed a terrace,Tl, e 1 . was placed th& tribune of the consul.
8ac red S i^ lna ; as being dedicated to the gods, was the mosttw°, h P> Uce ’ n the circus. It consisted of a platform, nearlytaiddi e r tbe ^ en £ tb the circus, and, running down theparts r ° arena, divided itself nearly into two equalAt th e e3ernbiin S the spine of a fish, whence it took its name,goals w)?' X i. rem ' t ' es tbe s P' na were placed the met®, orthe sL . consisted of three cone? placed in a triangle. Onrial 0 f lts °f these cones was placed a large egg, in memo-. e eggs 0 f Castor and Pollux . The met® rested
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Wid er ., e Va ult of a semicircular temple or chapel, a littleWas ,^ n the spina. The circular part of these little chapelstheir em e " rst goal, turned towards the triumphal gate, andThe , 0 jances were in passages between them and the spina.8ta tues ° e ? tent of the spina was ornamented with columns,S| tuat e ’j ana a 'tars. It is remarkable that the spina was notth e c ' n tbe m >ddle of the arena, nor parallel to the sidesWas wid rcus > but in an inclined direction,* so that the coursethan 0n on 'he right side of the circus, where it began,fe ason s ^ and diminished gradually all the way. Thel her ) r eq 6e . ms to be this, that the chariots, starting all toge-aaitie ; " Ulre< l more room in the first course, than when theyIn 8qv Se Parately.
[°°t 0 f j. era ^ of the circi, the arena was surrounded at the0 fe e t y) j P 0f bum with a canal, called euripus, which wasthe si) C> and P r °bably of the same depth, for the defenceGently q j ectat °rs, in cases where the podium was not suffi-?y 3 ol U t e j Vate< T : b does not appear, however, to have been• nece ssary, since Nero had that of the Circus
' 8 *^ er e . C0Ver cd over, in order to enlarge its area; neither. ^ ,le tj e V r ‘P U8 in the circus of Caracalla .
, lr etts uj a °wmg description of the games exhibited in the'bon, T be interesting. These games, according to tra-in i 16 1Ilst 'tuted by Romulus, under the name of Con-s* l 'biteq 10110ur of the god Consus (Neptune.) They wereTh' <it ’ ttl es l> n Var ' ous occasions, and for various purposes,f . gam e T tbe magistrates, sometimes by private citizens.l P’tal to tli VVe . re opened by a grand procession from thea j q Car . e O'rcus, in which the images of the gods werej ’ otl, erg ["'ages, followed by dancers, musicians, combatants,h^d rit ea ’ aad, last of all, by the priests, to perform ther,i ^ ra Ceg ’ - The exhibition consisted chiefly of chariot andVi ■"'Saislig’j ! he eharioteers were divided into four classes,Bio'' 6 ' 1 big .i . the colours of their dresses. The order inc ^al for g ( lai ’. ots 8t ood was determined by lot; and thevj ct r, °t vi,; c | art ' n g was given by dropping a cloth. TheW^fion^ „ ', ^ rst ra n seven times round the course, wasof 4 d > Was C fi‘ e driver, after being proclaimed by thel e >ne y . j,°'y n ed by a palm-wreath, and received a sumboxi n „ eSl ^ es fi lese races, were contests in running,8trg an oimp /> y rest ling, and throwing the discus. Wrestlerst) lg W'th ointment by slaves; boxers used gloves
8 r,^ Qr,| batn»,' Vlt ' 1 lead or iron, to give force to their blows ;, ants Wero j -n —--
e Par,
n Qu • - mory ? Ve . re . almost entirely naked, and all underwentle j ra ' n mg and dieting — sometimes sea-fights
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'‘ a yC “ JU10n of mock-fights by young noblemen onhorse-afiractive of these public entertainments, how-
jJ'fi'er, _ tbe combats of wild beasts, either vKvid Mh B ^ lth ® en - Great expense was
be asts for this exhibition, and they were collected
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for the purpose from the most remote parts of the empire.The men engaged in such contests, were either forced tothe combat as a punishment, or induced to enter it by sumsof money. The beasts were kept in inclosures (vivaria)till the time appointed for the show. So passionately fondwere the people of these games, that the expression Panernet Circenses, 1 Bread and the Circensian Games,’ was com-monly used to signify the two prime necessaries of life to theRoman populace. The splendour of these exhibitions increasedin the latter days of the republic, and the number of rarewild animals that were exhibited but to be destroyed, isalmost incredible. It is said, that on one occasion, Pompey exhibited five hundred lions, which were all despatched infive days.
CISOID, or Cissoid, in geometry, a curve line of thesecond order, invented by Diodes , an ancient Greek geome-trician, for the purpose of finding two mean proportionalsbetween two given lines, of such property, as that if on theextremity, b, of the diameter, a b, of the circle, A o b, theindefinite perpendicular, cbd, be erected, and if from this,several lines be drawn to the other extremity, A, to cut thecircle in i, o, n, and if upon these lines be set the correspond-ing equal distances, viz. hm = ai, f o = a o, c l = a n, &c.,then the curve line drawn through all the points, m, o, i., isthe cisoid. Other methods of constructing this curve maybe seen in Newton’s Universal Arithmetic, and Emerson onCurve Lines.
CISTERN , an artificial reservoir or receptacle for holdingwater, beer, or other liquor, as in domestic uses, breweries,and distilleries.
Cisterns of earth must be lined with good cement, tomake them retain the water, and the bottoms should becovered with sand to keep it sweet.
Water for the use of a house, may be preserved in thecellar, where a cistern or cisterns may be constructed in thefollowing manner: first lay a good bed of sound well-temperedclay, for a bottom, on which place a flooring of bricks, orimpervious stones, cemented with plaster-of-paris, or terras-rnortar. The sides should then be built up, leaving a spacebetween them and the walls of the house, which is afterwardsto be filled up with clay, well rammed down ; this will keepthe water from oozing, and effectually preserve the founda-tion of the house. As a substitute for plaster-of-paris, orterras-mortar, a composition of slacked lime sifted, linseedoil and tow or cotton, will be found very serviceable.A cistern of this kind, viz. of clay lined with bricks, willanswer in any shady place, as well as in a cellar, providedit be kept covered. And though the cistern be not alwaysfull of water, the clay will not lose its requisite degree ofmoisture.
When a cistern is to be made above ground, it may beconstructed of planks, plain or straight jointed, put togetherwith white lead, and pinned to bearers and uprights. If thecistern be large, suppose 10 feet in altitude, and 20 feetsquare, the planks may be 2^-inch yellow deals, the joistsand uprights may be 4 inches thick, and 6 inches deep, placedabout 2 feet 6 inches distant from each other. There shouldbe two pins at each intersection of a board and upright, orbearer; every pin may be three-fourths of an inch thick, andwedged again with a small pin at the narrow end, to preventthe possibility of its drawing: the pins should all have adraught, to bring the joists as close as possible. This cistern,placed u|Son a firm well-tempered bed of clay, should besurrounded with a stone or brick wall, at 8 or 12 inchesdistance, and the cavity filled in with clay, as above described.This will retain the water, and answer extremely well forthe supply of a oity or village.