Glossary

An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in London, Volume 3, Roman London. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1928.

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'Glossary', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in London, Volume 3, Roman London, (London, 1928) pp. 197. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/london/vol3/p197 [accessed 26 March 2024]

Glossary.

Acanthus.—A plant, the leaves of which are used in the decoration of the Corinthian and Composite Orders of architecture.

Amphora-ae.—An earthenware vessel for storing wine or oil, generally of large size and with a blunt point at the base.

Arretine Ware.—A type of red glazed pottery made chiefly at Arretium (Arezzo) in Tuscany.

Basilica.—A large hall used as a court of justice and for other public purposes.

Cantharus.—A fountain or cistern in an atrium or courtyard.

Castor Ware.—Coarse pottery sometimes with applied slip-ornament, made in the neighbourhood of Castor in Northamptonshire.

Chalcedony.—A semi-precious stone of quartz.

Crater.—A vessel, for mixing wine and water, often bell-shaped and standing on a foot.

Denarius.—A Roman silver coin, equivalent to ten asses.

Dupondius.—A Roman coin, equivalent to two asses.

Fibula-ae.—A brooch with a pin, guard and catch, generally on the principle of the modern safety-pin.

Guilloche.—A running ornament consisting of curved interlacing or intersecting bands.

Hallstatt Culture.—A central and western European culture of the end of the Bronze and the beginning of the Iron Age (c. 1000–500 B.C.); so called from a cemetery in Upper Austria.

Hypocaust.—A low space contrived under some of the rooms of a Roman house for the circulation of hot air; the floor of the room above was commonly supported on a series of small piers called pilae.

Lachrymatory or tear-bottle, a fanciful use attributed in the 17th and 18th centuries to small glass vessels, actually used for holding perfumes or ointments.

La Tène Culture.—A western European culture equating with the early Iron Age; so called from a site on Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Its stages are differentiated by the numbers I, II and III, and in this country IV is sometimes used for the latest stage which overlaps the Roman period.

Mortarium-a.—A flat basin with a flange and a roughened inner surface for pounding food.

Opus Signinum.—A form of flooring composed of cement mixed with pounded brick.

Patera-ae.—A shallow saucer-like dish used, inter alia, for pouring the libation at a sacrifice.

Pila-ae.—A small pier used to support the floor of a room over a hypocaust.

Samian ware or terra sigillata.—A red glazed ware made in Gaul and Germany and often stamped with the name of the potter. So called from its false identification with the pottery of Samos.

Strygil.—A curved instrument, generally of metal, used to remove sweat from the body.

Taurobolium-a—The rite of purification by the blood of a sacrificed bull, in the worship of Cybele and other deities.

Tessera-ae.—Small cubes of stone, marble, earthenware or glass used in the composition of mosaic pavements.

Thyrsos or Thyrsus.—A staff, terminating in a pine-cone and entwined with ivy, used in the rites of Bacchus.

Upchurch Ware.—A grey coarse pottery made at Upchurch and other places in Kent and Essex.