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On this page: Prostates – Prostimema – Prothesis – Prothyron – Protrygaea – Provincia

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PROTHESMIA.

during the civil commotions of subsequent years, This was the case during the triumvirate of Antonius, Caesar, and Lepidus. (43 b. c.) Their proscription was even far more formidable than that of Sulla, for 2000 equites and 300 senators are said to have been murdered, and the motive of the triumvirs was nothing but a cold-blooded thirst for vengeance. Fortunately no more than these two cases of proscription occur in the history of Rome. (Appian, B. C. iv. 5 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 66 ; Suet. Aug. 27; Liv. Epit. lib. 120.) [L. S.J PROSTAS. [domus, p. 425, b.]

PROSTATES (TTpOO-TCtTTJs). [LlBERTUS, p. i 0 ^) f\ * IVrFTOT^OT "1

pro'states'tou demou (irpoo-rdr^rov

S^aou), a leader of the people, denoted at Athens and in other democratical states, a person who by his character and eloquence placed himself at the head of the people, and whose opinion had the greatest sway amongst them (Plato, Rep. viii. p. 565. c.) : such was Pericles. It appears, how­ever, that TTppcrrdr^s rov Srj/xou was also the title of a public officer in those Dorian states in which the government, was democratical. Thus we read of a TTpocrrdrfis rov stj/iou atCorcyra(Thuc.iii. 70), at Syracuse (Time. vi. 35), at Elis (Xen. Hell. iii. 2. § 27), at Mantineia (Xen. Hell. v. 2. § 3), and at other places. (Muller, Dor. iii. 9. § 1 ; Wachsmuth, Hell. Alterthumsk. vol. i. p. 819, 2d ed.; Arnold, ad Thuc. vi. 35 ; G. C. Muller, de Corcyr. Rep. p. 49 ; K. F. Hermann, Le/irbuch, &c. § 69. n. 3, 4.)

PROSTIMEMA (flr/rocrrf/w^a). [TiMEMA.] PROSTOON. [domus, p. 425, a.] PROSTY'LOS. [templum.] PROTELEIA GAMON [matrimonium, p. 737, a.]

PROTHESIS. (7i7>o'0e<m). [funus, p. 555, a.] PROTHE'SMIA (Trpodeffula), the term limited for bringing actions and prosecutions at Athens. In all systems of jurisprudence some limitation of this sort has been prescribed, for the sake of quiet­ing possession, and affording security against vexatious litigation. The Athenian expression TTpodecrjuias vofiof corresponds to our statute of limitations. The time for commencing actions to recover debts, or compensation for injuries, ap­pears to have been limited to five years at Athens. ToTs a5i/coV|Ueyois 6 ~%6\&v to, Trevre er?7 ikclvov 7)yr}crary tiv<u elffTrpd^acrOai. (Demosth. pro Phorm. 952, c. Nausim. 989; Harpoc. s. v. Upo-deo-^ias v6p,os.} Inheritance causes stood on a peculiar footing. When an estate had been ad­judged to a party, he was still liable to an action at the suit of a new claimant for the whole period of his. life ;' and his heir for five years after­wards. This arose from the anxiety of the Athe­nians to transmit inheritance in the regular line of succession. [.herbs (greek).] The liability of bail continued only for a year (eyyvai eirereioi ?/o-av), and of course no proceeding could be taken against them after the expiration of the year. (Demosth. c. Apatur. 901.) It is doubtful whether any period was prescribed for bringing criminal pro­secutions, at least for offences of the more serious kind, though of course there would be an indis­position in the jury to convict, if a long time had ,elapsed since the offence was committed. (Lys. c. Simon. 98, frepl rov. o~7]Kov, 109, c. Agor. 137, ed. Steph.) Certain cases, however, must be ex-eepted. The ypa^Tj Trapaycfy.tcoj' could only be

PROVINCIA.

brought within a year after the propounding of the law. {Hapa.vofjt.uiv ypatyy, and Schom. de Comil, p. 278.) And the evOvvai against magistrates were limited to a certain period, according to Pollux (viii. 45). Amnesties or pardons, granted by special decrees of the people, scarcely belong to this subject. (See Aesch. c. Timarcli^ 6, ed. Steph.) The term TrpoQecr^ia is applied also to the time which was allowed to a defendant for paying da­ mages, after the expiration of which, if he had not paid them, he was called uTrep^epos, virepTrp66e<T- /xos, or eKirpoOeo'fj.os. (Meier, Alt. Proc. pp. 636, 746.) [C. R. K.J

PROTHYRON. [aithousa ; domus, p. 424, b ; janua, p. 627, a.J

PROTRYGAEA (7rporpvyaia\ a festival cele­ brated in honour of Dionysus, surnamed Protrygcs, and of Poseidon. (Hesych. ,<?. v.; Aelian. V. IT. iii. 41.) The origin and mode of celebration of this festival at Tyre are described by Achilles Tatius (ii. init). [L. S.]

PROVINCIA. The original meaning of this word seems to be " a duty " or " matter entrusted to a person," as we see in various passages. The word is an abbreviated form of Providentia, as Hugo has suggested. All other proposed deriva­tions ought to be rejected. In the Medicean MS. of Livy (xxi. 17), the word is written Provintia, and also in Ulpian, Frag. xi. 20, ed. Bb'cking. That the word originally had not the signification of a territory merely appears from such expressions as Urbana Provincia (Liv. xxxi. 6); and the ex­pression Urbana Provincia was still used, after the term Provincia was used to express a ter­ritory beyond Italy which had a regular orga­nization and was under Roman administration. This is the ordinary sense of the word, that of a foreign territory in a certain relation of subordina­tion to Rome. But the word was also used, before the establishment of any provincial governments, to denote a district or enemy's country which was assigned to a general as the field of his operations.

The Roman State in its complete development consisted of two parts with a distinct organization, Italia and the Provinciae. There were no Pro-vinciae in this sense of the word till the Romans had extended their conquests beyond Italy ; and Sicily (Cic. Verr. ii. 2) was the first country that was made a Roman Province, B. c. 241 ; Sardinia was made a Province b. c. 235. The Roman pro­vince of Gallia Ulterior in the time of Caesar was sometimes designated simply by the term Provincia (Caesar, Bell. Gall. i. 1, 7, &c.)

A conquered country received its provincial organization either from the Roman commander, whose acts required the approval of the Senate ; or the government was organized by the com­mander and a body of commissioners appointed by the Senate out of their own number. (Plutarch, Lucull. 35, 36.) The mode of dealing with a con­quered country was not uniform. When constituted a Provincia, it did not become to all purposes an integral part of the Roman State ; it retained its national existence, though it lost its sovereignty. The organization of Sicily was completed by P. Rupilius with the aid of ten legates, and his con­stitution is sometimes referred to under the name of Leges Rupiliae. The island was formed into two districts, with Syracusae for the chief town of the eastern and Lilybaeum of the western district: the whole island was administered by a governor