Glossary 1199Chi-Rho A symbol formed by the fi rst two letters of Christ’s
Greek name (Christos), consisting of the letter Rho su-
perimposed onto the letter Chi.
chiton A belted, knee-length tunic of seamless cloth worn
by the ancient Greeks.
chlamys A short cloak worn by the ancient Greeks.
chóra Th e countryside surrounding a city.
chorobates A device resembling a long wooden bench,
which allowed ancient builders to ensure that fl oors and
other horizontal elements were correctly aligned and
level.
chorus A group of performers who sang and danced in
Greek dramas.
chronometer An accurate clock, particularly one used in
seafaring and navigation.
chultune An underground chamber that ancient Ameri-
cans used to collect water.
chun A Chinese skirt with pleats.
cinerary urn Containers used to hold the ashes of the
dead.
cinnabar Red pigment derive from mercury.
cist A burial chamber formed from stone slabs set on edge.
cistern Rain collection device, usually cut out of rock and
sealed with lime plaster.
citadel A city’s fortress or stronghold.
civic calendar A calendar based on the sun and recognized
for use in ordinary aff airs.
clan A group of related lineages or kin groups tied together
to a distant ancestor; oft en several lineage groups are
contained within one clan.
clepsydra “Water thief,” a term for water clocks of ancient
Greece.
cleruchy A type of Greek colony in which settlers received
shares of land (kleroi) but maintained citizenship in their
native polis.
clibanus In ancient Rome, a portable oven for baking bread.
clientage A social system in ancient Europe whereby a
member of the nobility provided a person or community
protection in exchange for services.
clogs Blocks of wood used in hunting, intended to trip a
running animal.
cloisonné An enameling process that uses thin wires to
create settings for precious stones.
cob A mixture of wet clay and straw used as a building ma-
terial.
codex A book in the modern sense of several groups (called
quires) of pages stitched together between a stiff cover.
cohort Th e basic tactical unit that replaced the maniple
around 100 b.c.e. and consisted of 400 to 600 heavy in-
fantry.
coil-build To lay rolled lengths of clay, shaped into rings,
on top of each other to form pottery.
cold cutting Carving a piece of glass with hammer and
chisel in the same fashion as one would carve stone.collegium (pl. collegia) A Roman society whose members
paid into a common fund to cover the expenses of their
funerals.
colonnade An outdoor walkway or gathering place, lined
with columns and generally roofed, at least partially, to
provide shade.
colonus (pl. coloni) A Roman peasant who was tied to the
land despite being legally free.
colophon An inscription at the end of a text, citing the facts
of its production.
columbarium An underground chamber housing the re-
mains of the Roman dead within small niches, which
held funerary urns marked by plaques and inscriptions.
combined arms Th e use of diff erently equipped soldiers in
a single fi ghting force.
commercium Th e right of any Latin or inhabitant of Lat-
ium to own Roman land and to enter into a contract with
a Roman.
compluvium A rectangular opening in the roof of the
atrium that admitted light and rainwater into a Roman
home.
composite bow A bow made by gluing together bone, sin-
ew, and diff erent bones for added strength, with a con-
sequently longer range than a bow carved from a single
piece of wood.
concentric Having a common axis or center point.
conciliar calendar A political calendar, in which the num-
ber of prytaneis, or months, varies with the number of
phylai, or groups of citizens.
concubine A woman who is acknowledged as the sexual
partner of a particular man; the man typically supports
her and acknowledges her children as his own.
confarreatio Th e ancient form of marriage practiced by the
Roman nobility.
confi nement pavilion An ancient Egyptian structure made
of plant materials and used to seclude a mother aft er the
birth of a child and possibly for the birth itself.
conscript In Egypt, free people forced into government
service for a week to a few months; their labor would sub-
stitute for paying taxes, or they would be paid.
conscripted Forced into public service.
consul Th e highest-ranking Roman offi cial; this magistrate
held imperium, the power to command Rome’s armies
anywhere and the power of life and death over citizens.
contagious magic Magic that looks to achieve its ends by
using an object that has come into contact with the per-
son or thing that a person is trying to infl uence.
contour rivalry Technique in which one set of lines creates
two diff erent images, as perceived by the viewer.
controversia In Roman rhetoric, an argument for or against
a particular legal case.
copal A resin obtained from certain tropical trees.
corbel vaulting A method for building rough arches or
domes; for a dome stones are laid in circles of successively1195-1234_SocCultAnctWrld-v4_bm.1199 1199 10/10/07 3:30:36 PM