from the root to be on the watch, to awake early, to hasten. ROD, O motah, a wand or walking staff; as Moses' rod, (Exod. ch. 4,) Aaron's, (Exod. 7. 9,) Jonathan's, (1 Sam. 14. 17.) Moses' rod was the visible means chosen by the Almighty for the instrument of his wonders at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness. After it had been consecrated by the first miraculous change in Midian, (Exod. 4. 4,) it is sometimes called the rod of God. (Exod. 4. 20; 17. 9.) As the wonders wrought by the instrumentality of Moses and Aaron's rods attracted the attention of neighbouring nations, it is not extraordinary if, in course of time, these personages were interwoven with mythology. And it has been plausibly conjectured, that Aaron's rod, which in its serpent state devoured the serpent-rods of the Egyptian magicians, was the prototype of the caduceus, or wonder-working rod of Mercury, which was figured as entwined with two serpents. Aaron's rod was caused to blossom miraculously, and bring forth almonds, (Numb. 17. 8,) to show God's election for the priesthood. Parkhurst thinks that the rods of the chiefs among the Israelites were of the almond tree, to denote vigilance; that being an early tree, flowering before all others. The almond-rod seen by Jeremiah (1. 11,) (vide supra,) is rendered by the Vulgate "virgam vigilantem," the vigilant rod. וטה Rod, motah, figuratively means strength, assistance, as in Psalm 110. 2. Rod, a shebet, a rod or staff for correction, (Exod. 21. 20; 2Sam. 7. 14;) hence, figuratively, punishment, affliction, as in Job 9. 34. A mark of authority, often rendered "sceptre" in our version, as Esther 8. 4; hence, figuratively, the merciful power of God (Psalm 23. 4,) and his glorious power. (Ezek. 21. 10.) A shepherd's staff or crook, symbol of authority over the flock. Passing under the rod to select the tithe of the flock, (Levit. 27. 32,) is explained by the Rabbins that the lambs were shut into a fold with a narrow door, that permitted but one to pass at a time; the dams were left without, and the lambs, forcing their way out to them, were counted by the shepherd as they passed; and when the tenth came, the shepherd held down his crook, smeared with ochre, close to the lamb, which, touching as it passed under, had its fleece marked. Ezek. 20. 37, alludes to this practice; and symbolizes God as thus marking off his people after the Babylonish captivity; and distinguishing the righteous from the ungodly. ROD, choter, more properly a branch or shoot; "In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride." (Prov. 14. 3.) Figuratively, for something flourishing in words, like a branch blossoming, or shooting out. Rhabdomancy, or divining by rods, became a common superstition or idolatrous custom among the Jews, arising, doubtlessly, from the ideas of supernatural agency attached to the rods of Moses and Aaron. It is alluded to in Hosea 4. 12: "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them." It was performed, first, by inscribing certain characters on small rods, and then drawing them, like lots, out of a vessel; secondly, by measuring the rod in spans, and saying, alternately, words expressing a negative and an affirmative, and then determining, according to the last span, whether negative or affirmative, to do the intended action or not; thirdly, by erecting two sticks, repeating a charm, and then determining by certain rules, according as the sticks fell backwards or forwards, to the right or to the left. M. ROE, ROE-BUCK, 3 tzebi, 4oрkas (Antilope Dorcas.) The wild gazelle, which is still common in Africa and Western Asia, is the roe or roe-buck of our translators. It is one of the most beautiful animals of the deer kind, and is particularly remarkable for its large beaming eye, its wreathed horns, and its singularly light and graceful step or bound. It is generally from twenty-two to twenty-seven inches in height, covered on the back with hair of a delicate fawn colour, which passes into a brown band on the sides, suddenly interrupted by the white of the belly. These graceful creatures are easily domesticated, and are favourite pets with Asiatic The Roebuck. of foot, especially in the hills, where the rapidity with ladies. In their wild state they are exceedingly swift which they bound from rock to rock, and from precipice to precipice, frequently baffles the skill of the most enterprising hunters. When heated in the chase, howin order to obtain the refreshment of water, and hence ever, they will expose themselves to the greatest danger the hunters generally watch for them in the vicinity of some spring or mountain stream. The Oriental poets abound in comparisons deduced from the graceful form, lovely eyes, and agile step of the gazelle; the Song of from these particulars; indeed, there is no animal that Solomon has several complimentary eulogies derived has contributed more to the language of poetry and compliment in the East. ROLL. See Book. ROME, ROMAN. This great metropolis of the ancient world is situated on the river Tiber, in the west of Italy, in lat. 41° 58' N., and long. 12° 25' E. The period of its foundation is uncertain; but the general opinion is that it was founded by its first king, Romulus, on the 12th of the Kalends of May, a little before the beginning of the eighth Olympiad. Rome was originally built in a square form, whence it is called Roma Quadrata, on the Palatine hill. When the city was founded, and when it was at any subsequent period enlarged, the first care was to mark out the Pomorium, a consecrated space round the walls of the city on which it was unlawful to erect any edifice. This custom manifestly arose from the necessity of preventing besiegers from finding shelter near the fortifications; and in this, as in a thousand other instances, the early legislators gave utility the sanction of superstition. A set form was prescribed for marking the Pomorium; a bullock and heifer were yoked to a bronze or copper ploughshare, and a furrow was drawn marking the course of the future wall. The plough was so guided that all the sods fell to the inside, and if any went in an opposite direction, care was taken that they should be turned into the proper way. As the plough was sacred, it would have been profanation if anything impure passed over the ground which it had once touched; but as things clean and unclean must necessarily pass into a city, when the plough came to a place where the builders designed to place a gate, it was taken up, and carried to the spot where the wall was resumed. Hence the Latins named a gate porta, from the verb portare, to carry. The comitium, or place of public assembly, was next consecrated: the most remarkable part of this ceremony was the preparation of a vault, named mundus, in which were deposited the first-fruits of all things used to support life, and a portion of each colonist's native earth. To this structure many superstitious notions were attached; it was supposed to be the entrance to the invisible world; and it was opened three days in the year, with many solemn forms, to admit the spirits of the deceased. It is probable that the first extension of the Pomcerium was occasioned by inclosing the Quirinal hill for the Sabines, when, under Tatius, they united themselves to the people of Romulus. The next addition was the Coelian hill, on which the followers of Coles Vibenna, whoever that Etruscan adventurer may have been, erected their habitation. Tullus Hostilius inclosed the Viminal hill after the destruction of Alba, to which Ancus Martius added the Aventine, which was regarded as the peculiar habitation of the plebeians. In the reign of the first Tarquin, Rome was increased by the Esquiline and Capitoline; these completed the number of the seven hills for which the city was celebrated. At a much later period the Pincian and Vatican mounts were added; and these, with the Janiculum on the north bank of the Tiber, made the number ten. Ancus Martius was the first who fortified the city with outworks, especially by raising a castle and garrison on the Janiculum, which was connected with Rome by a wooden bridge (pons sublicius). But the elder Tarquin was the first who beautified his capital with splendid buildings, not only ornamental, but useful. To him the great sewer by which the city was drained, whose vast proportions still claim admiration, is generally attributed. Though Rome began to be more regularly built when it was restored after the departure of the Gauls, and many splendid edifices, both public and private, were erected, when wealth was so vastly increased as it must have been after the conquest of Carthage and Western Asia,-it could scarcely be called a splendid city before the reign of Augustus, who boasted that "he found it brick, and left it marble." When Corinth was subdued by Mummius, so little were the Romans acquainted with the fine arts, that many precious pieces of statuary were destroyed for the sake of their materials; but from that time taste was improved by a more constant intercourse with the Greeks, especially when Athens became the university of the empire. But the long civil wars between the aristocratic and democratic factions prevented the developement of these improvements, until the battle of Actium gave Rome tranquillity and a master. In the days of its greatest prosperity the circumference of Rome, inclosed by walls, was about twenty miles; but there were also very extensive suburbs. The city had thirty gates, some authors say more, of which the most remarkable were the Tergeminal, the Carmental, the Triumphal, and the Naval; to which we may add the Capena, near the great aqueduct. The most remarkable buildings were the amphitheatres, the Capitol with its temples, the senate-house, and the forum. The first amphitheatre was the Circus Maximus, erected by Tarquinius Priscus; but so enlarged by subsequent additions, that it was capable of containing two hundred thousand spectators. In the arena were exhibited the cruel fights of the gladiators, in which the Romans took a pleasure equally infamous and extravagant, together with races, exhibitions of strange animals, and combats of wild beasts. A still larger edifice was erected for the same purpose in the reign of Vespasian, whose massive ruins are called the Colosseum. Theatres, public baths, and buildings for the exhibition of naumachiæ, or naval combats, were erected by the emperors, who seemed anxious to compensate the people for the loss of their liberty by the magnificence of their public shows and entertainments. The Capitol was commenced on the Saturnian hill. which received the name Capitoline from a human head being found by the labourers digging the founda In the forum was the celebrated temple of Janus, built entirely of bronze, supposed to have been erected during the reign of Numa. Its gates were only closed three times in eight centuries, so incessant were the wars in which the Romans were engaged. Not far from this was the temple of Concord, in which the senate frequently assembled: storks were encouraged to build in the roof of the edifice, on account of the social instincts attributed to those birds. In the same quarter of the city was the temple of Vesta, where a perpetual fire was maintained by the Vestal virgins: in it were said to be preserved the Palladium, or sacred image of Pallas Minerva, on which the fate of Troy depended, and other relics consecrated by superstition. tion, in the reign of Tarquinius Priscus. It was erected | named Curtius, smothered there while the place was as on the northern summit of the hill; the rocky eminence yet a swamp. to the south was called the Tarpeian cliff, to commemorate the treason of Tarpeia; and public criminals were frequently executed by being precipitated from its peak. The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was usually regarded as the national sanctuary of the Romans: it was begun by Tarquinius Priscus, and Tarquinius Superbus, and it was almost yearly improved by the rich presents that successful generals and foreign princes, eager to conciliate the Romans, offered as votive gifts. Augustus alone presented gold and jewels exceeding five thousand pounds in value. During the civil wars between Marius and Sylla, this temple was burnt to the ground; but it was rebuilt with greater splendour; and Cicero informs us, that the statue of Jupiter Capitolinus was erected on its pedestal at the very time that the conspiracy of Catiline was discovered. It was destroyed twice again during the reigns of Vespasian and Domitian, but was restored each time with additional splendour. The Sibylline books, and other oracles, supposed to contain important predictions respecting the fate of the city, were preserved in the sanctuary, under the charge of fifteen persons of the highest rank, called the Quindecimviri. Here, also, were preserved the chronological archives of the city. A nail was annually driven into the temple by the chief magistrate; and this curious custom is supposed to have been the first rude mode of marking the lapse of time. There were several other temples on this hill, the most remarkable of which was that of Jupiter Feretrius, erected by Romulus, where the spolia opima were deposited. The spolia opima were the trophies presented by a Roman general who had slain the leader of the enemy with his own hand; they were only thrice offered, by Romulus, Cossus, and Marcellus. From the feretrum, or bier, on which these spoils were borne to the temple, the deity was called Feretrius. The Capitol was the citadel of Rome, except in the reign of Numa, when the Quirinal was chosen as the chief place of strength. This circumstance tends greatly to confirm Niebuhr's theory, that an ancient Sabine town, named Quirium, stood on that hill, which modern writers confounded with Cures: perhaps the doublefaced Janus, whose temple was closed during peace, was the symbol of the united cities, and the opening of the temple gates was to enable the inhabitants of the one in time of war to assist the other. " In the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills was the forum, or place of public assembly and great market. It was surrounded with temples, halls for the administration of justice, called basilica, and public offices; it was also adorned with statues erected in honour of eminent warriors and statesmen, and with various trophies from conquered nations. Among these memorials of conquest were several rostra, or prows of ships taken at Antium, which were used to ornament the pulpits from which the magistrates and public orators harangued the general assemblies of the people: from this custom the phrase "to mount the rostrum originated. In the middle of the forum was a drained marsh, called the Curtian Lake, to which a singular legend was attached. Traditions recorded that an immense chasm had suddenly opened in this place, which the augurs declared could not be closed until the most precious things in Rome were thrown into it. Curtius, a Roman knight, armed and mounted, leaped into the yawning pit, declaring that nothing was more valuable than courage and patriotism; after which it is added that the fissure closed. A much more probable account is, that the place derived its name from a Sabine general The senate-house was above the pulpits belonging to the public orators; it was said to have been originally erected by Tullus Hostilius: but the senate had several other places of meeting, frequently assembling in the temples. Near it was the comitium, or court in which the patrician curia were convened; it was not roofed until the end of the second Punic war, soon after which the comitia curiata fell gradually into disuse. This space, before it was covered, was called a temple; because templum properly signifies not merely an edifice, but an inclosure consecrated by the augurs. The principal theatres and public baths were erected in this vicinity. The election of magistrates, reviews of troops, and the census or registration of the citizens, were held in the Campus Martius, which was also the favourite exerciseground of the young nobles. It was originally a large common, which had formed part of the estate of the younger Tarquin, and, being confiscated after the banishment of that monarch, was dedicated to the god of war, because the Romans believed Mars to be the father of their founder. It long remained unimproved; but in the reign of Augustus it began to be surrounded by several splendid edifices; ornamental trees and shrubs were planted in different parts, and porticoes erected, under which the citizens might continue their exercises in rainy weather. Most of these improvements were due to Marcus Agrippa, the best general and wisest statesman in the court of Augustus. He erected, near the Campus Martius, the celebrated Pantheon, or temple of all the gods; the most perfect and splendid monument of ancient Rome that has survived the ravages of time*. At present it is used as a Christian church, and is universally admired for its circular form, and the beautiful dome that forms its roof. Near the Pantheon were the gardens and public baths, which Agrippa at his death bequeathed to the Roman people. Perhaps no public edifices at Rome were more remarkable than the aqueducts for supplying the city with water. Pure streams were sought at a great distance, and conveyed in these artificial channels, supported by arches, many of which were more than a hundred feet high, over steep mountains, deep valleys, and, what was still more difficult, dangerous morasses, which less enterprising architects would have deemed insuperable. The first aqueduct was erected during the censorship of Appius Cæcus, about four hundred years after the foundation of the city; but under the emperors not fewer than twenty of these stupendous and useful structures were raised, which brought such an abundant supply of water to the metropolis, that rivers seemed to flow through the streets and sewers. Even at the present day, when only three of the aqueducts remain, after the * The Colosseum in the Regent's Park is built on the model of the Pantheon. ROME. lapse of centuries, the neglect of rulers, and the ravages of barbarians, no city in Europe has a better supply of wholesome water than Rome. It would be tedious to enumerate all the public buildings that decorated "the Eternal City;" we may therefore conclude by observing, that Rome, when in the zenith of its glory, contained four hundred and twenty temples, five regular theatres, two amphitheatres, and seven circuses of vast extent: there were sixteen public baths, built of marble, and furnished with every convenience that could be desired. From the aqueducts a prodigious number of fountains were supplied, many of which were remarkable for their architectural beauty. 1159 The palaces, public halls, columns, porticoes, and obelisks, were without number; and to these must be added the triumphal arches erected by the later emperors. Among the triumphal arches with which Rome was decorated, that of Titus, ercted to commemorate the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem, was far the most remarkable, and its remains at the present day afford many valuable illustrations of the Jewish and Roman costumes and manners in the apostolic age. The conqueror is seen advancing in the magnificent chariot used on these occasions, surrounded by the companions of his victory, shouting the customary Io Triumphe, and behind them comes the crowd of unfortunate captives, forced to endure the taunts and insults of an excited | trophies; and these spoils must have greatly aggravated multitude. The various articles of furniture used in the the grief of the wretched Jews, who saw the objects of Temple are displayed and borne in the procession as their highest veneration perverted to purposes of idol atry. The only antiquities connected with the apostolic age of Christianity in Rome are the places which tradition points out as the graves of the martyrs, or the scenes of their sufferings; and the identity of these sites is very disputable. The public roads in various parts of the empire, but more especially in Italy, though less ostentatious than the aqueducts, were not inferior to them in utility and costliness. Of these the most remarkable was the Appian road, from Rome to Brundusium, through the Pomptine marshes, which were kept well drained during the flourishing ages of the empire, but by subsequent neglect became a pestilential swamp. This road extended three hundred and fifty miles, and was paved through its entire length with enormous square blocks of hard stone. Nineteen centuries have elapsed since it was formed, and yet many parts of it still appear nearly as perfect as when it was first made. Rome was inferior to Athens in architectural beauty, but it far surpassed it in works of public utility. Every succeeding emperor deemed it necessary to add something to the edifices that had been raised for the comfort and convenience of the citizens: even after the seat of government had been transferred to Constantinople, we find the son of Constantine evincing his gratitude for the reception he met with in the ancient capital, by sending thither two magnificent obelisks from Alexandria in Egypt. The privileges of a Roman citizen were exemption from capital and corporal punishment without a regular trial, and the privilege of appeal to the body of the people in the age of the Republic, and to the imperial tribunal under the emperors. Large sums were frequently given by the natives of the provinces to purchase the envied name of Roman, on account of the security it afforded against the exactions and cruelties of the provincial governors and other officers; but on some occasions the Senate and Roman people bestowed the privileges of citizenship upon all the inhabitants of some state or city which had done them eminent service. Tarsus in Cilicia was thus distinguished, and the Apostle Paul acquired all the rights and privileges of a Roman by being born in that free city. He availed himself of his franchise when menaced with examination by torture, and also when he appealed from the tribunals of Felix and Festus to the emperor's court in Rome. T. ROOF. The roofs of eastern houses are flat, to afford the inhabitants the advantage of the cool air, without the necessity of leaving their habitations. The Jews were commanded to protect their roofs with battlements, or a parapet wall, to prevent accidents by falling over; sometimes they were surrounded by a kind of railing. The Jews frequently slept on the roofs, either Egyptian roof. From Champollion. under a tent, or in small closets built for the purpose of wicker-work, and plastered at the bottom. It is to such a closet or cell that Proverbs 21. 9. alludes: "It is better to dwell in a corner of the house-top, than with a brawling woman in a wide house." They often performed their devotions on the roof: "And Peter went up on the roof to pray." (Acts 10. 9.) They made booths, or arbours of boughs, on the roof, to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. (Nehem. 8. 16.) And in their And in their lapses into idolatry, they often performed their sinful rites on the roof, and especially worshipped the stars there, as the most fitting place whence to behold them. (Zeph. 1. 5.) They were accustomed, in times of danger, to go to the roof to look out for the approach of enemies, (see Isai. ch. 21. 6, foretelling the invasion of Judea by the Persians.) The access to the roof was by stairs outside in the court, or sometimes, in poor houses, by a ladder; and there is a rabbinical injunction forbidding the Jews to keep a broken ladder for the purpose, lest any one be killed, or maimed, by its giving way. It was by these outside stairs that Our Lord recommended his followers to escape in the coming troubles, and not lose time by coming into the house through the door on the roof which led to the upper chamber. (Matt. 24. 17.) It was through this door on the roof that Lightfoot thinks the paralytic man was let down to Jesus (Lightfoot, on St. Mark 2. 4); that he was carried up the outer stairs to the roof, and the door being found too narrow, was widened by the removing of some of the stones and tiles. Other commentators, however, conceiving this to have been difficult of performance, without injuring the persons in the upper chamber, by the fall of rubbish, explain, that Christ and his hearers were in the court of the house; that being the place where assemblies were usually held, and which was covered, according to a common custom, with an awning; that the paralytic not being able to be carried through the crowd, was brought up to the roof, and let down along the wall, and the awning being drawn aside, the bed was thus lowered into the assembly. There seems, however, some difficulty in this: even supposing that the word σeyn in the Greek Testament (Mark 2. 4) will answer for awning: and ecopuţavies (digging through, or piercing, breaking through) for drawing aside, still how could they penetrate the crowd in the court to get at the stairs that led to the roof, if they could not penetrate to approach Our Lord? venience of the inhabitants, we are told by Jewish Though the tops of the houses were flat, for the conwriters that the roof of the Temple was arched or vaulted, because no one should repair thither for the same purposes as to the roofs of the houses. The roof of Dagon's temple (Judges 16. 27,) is said to have been crowded with 3000 persons to behold Samson's feats; but this can hardly mean the top of the temple, because the persons thereon could not have seen what was passing within. It appears rather to have been a loft or gallery running round the top of the building inside, and supported by pillars with two main posts, in the middle of the temple. M. ROOM. The convenience of dividing habitations into separate apartments early suggested itself. We read of various kinds of rooms in Scripture: bed chamber, inner chamber, upper chamber, bride chamber, guest chamber, guard chamber of the king's house. In early times the females and children of the family slept in one room, on separate beds; and the males in another. The bedchamber in which Jehoshabeath concealed Joash (2Chron. 22. 11) is thought not to have been the usual sleeping apartment, for it would have been but natural to have sought him there; but a room, in which the bedding was laid by, rolled up, when not in immediate |