Over the seats was a portico, or covered gallery, for the accommodation of the lower class of people. The place flu' the emperor was called pa Ivinur, the situation of which is not known : it is supposed to have been a magnificent To render the seats more comfortable, they were covered with wood.
The extremity of the circus, opposite to the semicircular end, was called the oppiduin. and consisted of a series of t hir teen arcades. The centre arch, of the same height. but wider than the rest, served as an entrance to the circus. At each extremity of the oppidum, was a tower, which surmounted every other part of the edifice. This combination of arches and towers, seen at a distance., gave the idea ofa castle, whence was derived the name of oppidum. To what purpose these towers were appropriated, is not known. The twelve remain ing arcades were the earcerai, whence the chariot-raee began. These c:•eer•e were placed six oil each side of the entrance, which was intended for the use of the processions, and are so disposed, by the inclination of the chorddine of the segment on which they May be said to be set oft, dint the starting of the twelve chariots was equalized. The divisions of the arcades within, on the front, were ornamented with Hermes supporting a cornice, in the manner of Caryatides : the carcera3 were closed with grated doors, to the height of the springing of the arch, and the semicircular opening above was tilled with a marble lattice. Two of these lattices, very elegantly ornamented, are at present to be found in the court of the palace Mattel, which is founded upon a part of the Flaminian Circus. The top of the carcerm formed a terrace, upon which was placed the tribune of the consul.
The spina, as being dedicated to the gods, was the most sacred place in the circus. It consisted of a platform, nearly two-thirds of the length of the circus, and, running down the middle of the arena, divided itself nearly into two equal parts, resembling the spine of a fish, whence it took its name. At the extremities of the spina were placed the metre, or goals, which consisted of three cones placed in a triangle. On the summits of these cones was placed a large egg, in memo rial of the eggs of Castor and Pollux. The mete rested upon the vault of a semicircular temple or chapel, a little wider than the spina. The circular part of these little chapels was at the first goal, turned towards the triumphal gate, and their entrances were in passages between them and the spina. The long extent of the spina was ornamented with columns, statues, and altars. It is remarkable that the spina was not situated in the middle of the arena, nor parallel to the sides of the circus, but in an inclined direction, so that the course was wider on the right side of the circus, where it began, than on the left, and diminished gradually all the way. The reason seems to be this, that the chariots, starting all toge ther, required more room in the first course, than when they came in separately.
In several of the eirei, the arena was surrounded at the foot of the podium with a canal, called euripus, which was 10 feet wide, and probably of the same depth, for the defence of the spectators, in eases where the podium was not suffi ciently elevated : it does not appear, however, to have been absolutely necessary, since Nero had that of the Circus Maximus covered over, in order to enlarge its area; neither is there any euripus in the circus of Caracalla.
The following description of the games exhibited in the circus may be interesting. These games, according to tra dition, mere instituted by Romulus, under the name of Con sulia, in honour of the god Consus (Neptune). They were exhibited on various occasions, and for various purposes, somethnes by the magistrates, sometimes by private citizens. The games were opened by a grand procession from the capital to the circus, in which the images of the gods were borne in carriages, followed by dancers, tnusicians, combatants and others; and, last of all, by the priests, to perform the sacred rites. The exhibition consisted chiefly of chariot and horse races ; the charioteers were divided into four classes, distinguished by the colours of their dresses. The order in which the chariots stood was determined by lot ; and the signal for starting was given by dropping a cloth. The chariot which first ran seven times round the course, was victorious, and the driver, after being proclaimed by the herald, was crowned by a palm-wreath, and received a sum of money. Besides these races, were contests in running, leaping, boxing, wrestling, and throwing the discus. Wrestlers were anointed with ointment by slaves ; boxers used gloves strengthened with lead or iron, to give force to their blows; the combatants were almost entirely naked, and all underwent a preparatory training and dieting—sometimes sea-fights (n au mach ia) were represented, and Julius Ctesar revived the exhibition of mock-fights by young noblemen on horse back.
The most attractive of these public entertainments, how ever, were the combats of wild beasts, either with one another, or with men. Great expense was incurred to provide the beasts for this exhibition, and they were collected for the purpose from the most remote parts of the empire. The men engaged in such contests, were either forced to the combat as a punishment, or induced to enter it by sums of money. The beasts were kept in indosures (vivaria) till the time appointed for the show. So passionately fond were the people of these games, that the expression Pun em et Circenses, 'Bread and the Circensian Games,' was com monly used to signify the two prime necessaries of life to the Roman populace. The splendour of these exhibitions increased in the latter clays of the republic, and the number of rare wild animals that were exhibited but to be destroyed, is almost incredible. It is said, that on one occasion, Pompey exhibited live hundred lions, which were all despatched in five days.
MOW, or CtSSOID, in geometry, a curve line of the second order, invented by Diodes, an ancient Greek geome trician, for the purpose of finding two mean proportionals between two given lines, of such property, as that if on the extremity, a, of the diameter, A B, of the circle, A 0 13, the indefinite perpendicular, C a D, be erected, and if from this, several lines be drawn to the other extremity, A, to cut the circle in f, 0, N, and if upon these lines be set the correspond ing equal distances, viz. n NI =A 1, F 0 = A 0, C L = A N, then the curve line drawn through all the points, M, o, 1,, is the cisoid. Other methods of constructing this curve may be seen in Newton's Universal Arithmetic, and Emerson on Curve Lines.