On the 14th we occupied Vita, or San Vito, and on the 15th came in sight of the enemy, who, occupying Calatafimi and knowing of our approach in that direction, had spread out the great part of their forces on the heights called Il Pianto dei Romani.

The hills of Vita are confronted by the heights of the Pianto dei Romani, where the enemy deployed his columns.

For the "Romani nominis umbra," the shadow of the mighty race whom they had conquered, lay heavy on our forefathers for centuries.

Imperii Romani majestas, et fortuna interiit, et profligata est; The fortune and majesty of the Roman Empire decayed and vanished, as that heathen in Minutius formerly bragged, when the Jews were overcome by the Romans, the Jew's God was likewise captivated by that of Rome; and Rabsakeh to the Israelites, no God should deliver them out of the hands of the Assyrians.

Ut olim Romani, Hispani hodie, &c. 675.

Vos Romani procreatos filios feris et canibus exponitis, nunc strangulatis vel in saxum eliditis, &c. 2290.

Puto si Romani contra hos venire tardassent, aut hiatu terrae devorandam fuisse civitatem, aut diluvio perituram, aut fulmina ac Sodoma cum incendio passuram, ob desperatum populi, &c. 4627.

Pontifex Romanus prorsus inermis regibus terrae jura dat, ad regna evehit ad pacem cogit, et peccantes castigat, &c. quod imperatores Romani 40.

Nonne Romani sine Deo vestro regnant et fruuntur orbe toto, et vos et Deos vestros captivos tenent, &c. Minutius Octaviano. 6641.

Romani olim putabant fortunam regna et imperia dare:

Cedite Romani Scriptores, cedite Graii.

The oldest and most imposing of these were the Ludi Romani or Magni, lasting from September 5 to September 19 in Cicero's time.

After they became regular and annual, any entertainment vowed by a general had to take place on other days; thus in the year 70 B.C. Pompey's triumphal ludi votivi immediately preceded the Ludi Romani of that year, giving the people in all some thirty days of holiday.

The centre-point, and original day, of the Ludi Romani was the Ides (13th) of September, which was also the day of the epulum Jovis, and the dies natalis (dedication day) of the Capitoline temple of Jupiter; and the whole ceremonial was closely connected with that temple and its great deity.

All such shows and processions were dear to the Roman people, and this seems to have become a permanent feature of the Ludi Romani, whether or no an actual triumph was to be celebrated, and also of some other ludi, e.g. the Apollinares and the Megalenses.

Thus the idea was kept up that the greatness and prosperity of Rome were especially due to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, who, since the days of the Tarquinii, had looked down on his people from his temple on the Capitol.[470] The Ludi Plebeii in November seem to have been a kind of plebeian duplicate of the Ludi Romani.

Certain sums were set aside for this purpose, differing in amount from time to time; thus in 217 B.C., for the Ludi Romani, on which up to that time 200,000 sesterces (£16,600) had been spent, the sum of 333,333-1/3 sest.

The government, as we may guess from the history of the ludi which has just been sketched, seems to have been careful at first not to go too far with this policy, and it was some time before any ludi but the Romani were made annual and extended to the length they eventually reached.

These had originally consisted entirely of shows of a military character, as we have seen in the case of the Ludi Romani, and especially of chariot-racing in the old Circus Maximus.

The Ludi Romani consisted chiefly of chariot-races until 364 B.C. (when plays were first introduced), together with other military evolutions or exercises, such perhaps as the ludus Troiae of the Roman boys, described by Virgil in the fifth Aeneid.

[Footnote 470: For full accounts of this procession, and the whole question of the Ludi Romani, see Friedländer, l.c.; Wissowa, Religion und Kultus, p. 383 foll.

[Footnote 471: On the parallelism between the Ludi Plebeii and Romani see Mommsen, Staatsrecht, ii.

Lunæ, Latonæ, Lucinæ, Matribus magnis Antonius Orbis Romani Imperator Bonis Oeis Altare.

CLINTON, HENRY FYNES, a distinguished chronologist, author of "Fasti Hellenici" and "Fasti Romani" (1781-1852).

HEINECCIUS, JOHANN GOTTLIEB, a celebrated German jurist, born at Eisenberg; was successively professor of Philosophy and subsequently of Law at several universities of Germany; he wrote several learned works in law treated from a philosophical standpoint; mention may be made of his "Historia Juris Civilis Romani" and "Elementa Juris Naturæ Gentium" (1681-1741).