tius Rufus, Hist. Alex. 4, 15, 27; cf. Apuleius, Met. 11, 6, 765; 12, 778.

The sceptre was usually held in the right hand, although we find mention of the use of the left hand also. Ovid, Fast. 6, 37: cur igitur regina vocor princepsque dearum? | aurea cur dextrae sceptra dedere meae?' Vergil, Aen. 12, 206; Ovid, Met. 3, 264; Am. 3, 1, 34; Seneca, Oed. 642; Left: Ovid, Met. 7, 506; Am. 3, 1, 13; Valerius Flaccus, Arg. 2, 590.

Upon such associations as these must be based the explanation of the specific mention of the right hand in certain connections, such as:

In commanding silence: Persius, 4, 8; Lucan, Phars. 1, 297; Claudian, 15, 133.

In making an address: Vergil, Aen. 12, 196; 579; Statius, Theb. 12, 255; Silius Italicus, Pun. 2, 26; Apuleius, Met. 2, 21, 142; Orestis Tragoedia, 685.1

In restraining: Vergil, Aen. 2, 592; 12, 311; Valerius Flaccus, Arg. 3, 269; Suetonius, Tib. 25, 22; Apuleius, Met. 1, 17, 57; 25, 76; 26, 79; Plato, Protagoras, 335 D.

In pointing out an object: Apuleius, Met., 1, 12, 46. Vengeance is inflicted upon an enemy with the right hand. Seneca, Medea, 531: 'Nunc summe toto Iuppiter caelo tona | intende dextram, vindices flammas para.' Prudentius, Cath. 5, 82: qui domitam Pharon plagis multimodis cedere praesuli cogis iustitiae vindice dextera,' Seneca, Phoen. 91; Silius Italicus, Il. Lat. 819;2 Pun. 15, 793.

'Dextram conferre' is used by Prudentius in the sense of 'join in battle with.' Psychomachia, 240: 'quam pudet, o Mavors et Virtus, conscia, talem contra stare aciem ferroque lacessere nugas, et cum virgineis dextram conferre choreis.' Cf. Plautus, Merc., 964; Amm. Marc. 16, 12, 37. Since it is with the right hand that any action requiring

1 Baehrens, Poet. Lat. Min. 5, p. 249, No. 55.

2 Baehrens, 1. c., 3, p. 47.

strength is performed, dextra is itself often identified with strength or valor. Ovid, Met. 14, 108: "magna petis,” dixit "vir factis maxime cuius | dextera per ferrum, pietas spectata per ignes." Vergil, Aen. 2, 291; Seneca, Herc. Oet. 1174; Silius Italicus, Pun. 9, 436; 13, 151; 184; 378; 452; 15, 92; 258; 733; 16, 32; 85; 550; 668; Il. Lat. 275; 330; Juvenal, 3, 48.

1

Worthy of comparison is the use of the abstract noun 'dexteritas,' coined from dexter, with the meaning aptness or readiness. Livy, 28, 18, 6: 'tanta autem inerat comitas Scipioni atque ad omnia naturalis ingenii dexteritas, ut Livy, 37, 7, 15; Aulus Gellius, 13, 17, 1.

Dextra is twice found used for the whole man. This transference is quite natural. Still more common is dextrae equal to milites. Since it is the most essential part of a soldier, the entire man is, as it were, identified with his right hand. dextravir. Silius Italicus, Pun. 7, 63: "certaverit unus | ter centum dextris.' Lucan, Phars. 3, 310.

Quite similar is the occurrence of dextella and dextera in the sense of right hand man.' Cicero, Att. 14, 20, 5: Quintus filius, ut scribis, Antonii est dextella.' Elegia in Maecenatem, 13:2 Regis eras, Etrusce, genus; tu Caesaris almi | Dextera, Romanae tu vigil urbis eras.'

Dextrae milites: Claudian, 5, 262: Spernisne tuas, dux optime, dextras | Quas tibi victrices totiens Bellona probavit.' Livy, 23, 9, 6; Lucan, Phars. 4, 207; 7, 366; Silius Italicus, Pun. 1, 348; 8, 402; 14, 238; 15, 495; 564; 16, 18.

Interesting in this connection as showing the belief in the general superiority of the right over the left, are two passages from Pliny, Nat. Hist. 9, 15, 50: 'thynni dextera ripa intrant, exeunt laeva, id accidere existumatur, quia dextro oculo plus cernant utroque natura hebeti"; and 17, 21, 153: 'sic palmites, nepotes, uvae, folia, pampini gignuntur, mir

umque firmiora esse in dextera parte genita.' Apologia, 51, 5.

Cf. Apuleius,

By the recognition of this same idea is furnished also an explanation for Seneca, Ep. Mor. 6, 1, 7: 'Dubio et incipiente morbo quaeritur nomen, qui ubi talaria coepit intendere et utrosque dextros pedes fecit, necesse est podagram fateri.'

Further evidence for the precedence taken over the left hand by the right is furnished by the ancient system of finger counting. In this units and tens were counted on the left hand, hundreds and thousands on the right.1 Juvenal, 10, 248: 'Felix nimirum, qui tot per saecula mortem | Distulit atque suos iam dextra computat annos.' 'Nestor, who has lived three saecula (i. e. 100 years), is beginning to tell his years on the right hand.' Plautus, Mil. 203; Suetonius, Claud. 21, 32.

It is in these fundamental conceptions that the ultimate reason for the association of the right with the lucky and favorable and of the left with the unlucky and unfavorable must be sought. From such a starting point the development is natural and easily understood.

THE RIGHT HAND AS A PLEDGE OF GOOD FAITH

The use of the right hand as a pledge of good faith is a practice which belonged to the Romans in common with many other peoples. The explanation of its origin is obvious. As has been already noted, in fighting the weapons for attack were carried in the right hand. When peace therefore was made between two adversaries, in approaching one another the right hand was naturally extended to show that it was weaponless and that no treachery was contemplated. Then to ratify the truce the two right hands were clasped. Thus very easily

1 Mayor, Note on Juvenal, 10, 249: Wilson, Note on Juvenal, 10, 249.

arose the conception that the right hand was the especial seat of good faith, and whenever a sign of good faith was required, the right hand was involved as its symbol. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 11, 45, 250: 'inest et aliis partibus quaedam religio, sicut dextera osculis aversa adpetitur, in fide porrigitur.' Either the actual physical hand was grasped, or it might be used in a purely symbolical sense. Here may be mentioned the several signs by means of which an enemy indicated his desire to make peace. This might be done by simply stretching out his right hand. Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 4, 2, 17-19: ÈK TOÚTOV ἐκ τούτου πέμπει τὸν ἕτερον αὐτῶν πρὸς αὐτούς, τάξας λέγειν, εἰ φίλοι εἰσίν, ὡς τάχιστα ὑπαντᾶν τὰς δεξιὰς ἀνατείναντας· . καὶ οἴχεται ὁ ἕτερος τῶν ἀγγέλων πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων τις σὺν αὐτῷ, ἐροῦντες, εἰ φίλοι εἰσίν, ὑπαντιάζειν τὰς δεξιὰς ἀνατείναντας πάντας.... οἱ δὲ Ὑρκάνιοι ἀκούσαντες τῶν ἀγγέλων ἥσθησάν τε καὶ ἀναπηδήσαντες ἐπὶ τοὺς ἵππους παρῆσαν τὰς δεξιὰς, ὥσπερ εἴρητο, προτείνοντες. Plutarch, Sulla, 467 C. Or the right shoulder might be uncovered. Caesar, B. G., 7, 50, 2: hi similitudine armorum vehementer nostros perterruerunt, ac tametsi dextris humeris exsertis animadvertebantur, quod insigne pacatorum esse consuerat, tamen id ipsum sui fallendi causa milites ab hostibus factum existimabant."

:6

Or a branch of olive might be extended in the right hand. Silius Italicus, Pun. 13, 68: 'tum, pignora pacis praetendens dextra ramum canentis olivae.'

In all of these, of course, the object is to prove the absence of

weapons.

Other similar uses of the right hand are:

As a pledge of friendship and alliance: Vergil, Aen. 3, 83: 'iungimus hospitio dextras et tecta subimus'; Euripides, Iph. in Aulis, 57: καί νιν εἰσῆλθεν τάδε, | ὅρκους συνάψαι δεξιάς τε συμβαλεῖν | μνηστῆρας ἀλλήλοισι; [Caesar], Bell. Alex. 24, 2; Vergil, Aen. 1, 408; 514; 6, 697; 8, 163; 169; 467; 9, 741; 11, 165; 292; Livy, 7, 42, 6; 22, 30, 6; 23, 9, 3; 25, 16, 13; Ovid, Met. 6, 447; 506; Her. 2, 31; 12, 90; Curtius Rufus, Hist. Alex. 6, 5, 4; 10, 11; Seneca,

Herc. Fur. 371; Valerius Flaccus, Arg. 3, 18; 6, 12; 7, 344; Statius, Theb. 1, 470; 2, 149; 3, 699; 6, 268; Silius Italicus, Pun. 6, 421; 8, 59; 11, 149; 13, 76; 15, 288; 16, 154; Suetonius, Caes. 81, 22; Aulus Gellius, 12, 8, 3; Claudian, 3, 223; 13, 7; 15, 352; Maximianus, Elegiae, 3, 75;1 Anthol. Lat. 198, l. 712; 208, 1. 473; Baehrens, Poet. Lat. Min. 5, p. 421, No. 113, l. 5; No. 118, l. 86; Aristophanes, Frogs, 789; Xenophon, Cyrop. 4, 2, 7 and 13; 6, 10; 5, 2, 14; 6, 3, 13; Oec. 4, 25.

The right hand was given to ratify a treaty or an agreement, and also as a pledge of reconciliation. Livy, 3, 2, 3:' legatos in concilium gentis missos nuntiare iussit Q. Fabium consulem dicere se ex Aequis pacem Romam tulisse, ab Roma Aequis bellum adferre eadem dextera armata, quam pacatam illis antea dederat' '; ; Plutarch, Crassus, 562 F: Σουρήνας δὲ . . . τὴν δὲ δεξιὰν προὔτεινεν, ἐκάλει δὲ τὸν Κράσσον ἐπὶ συμβάσεις ; Cornelius Nepos, 2 (Them.) 8, 4; Livy, 1, 1, 8; Curtius Rufus, Hist. Alex. 6, 7, 35; 8, 12, 10; Sophocles, Philoct. 942; Euripides, Medea, 898; Xenophon, Anab. 1, 66; 7, 3, 1; Cyrop. 3, 2, 14; 8, 8, 2; Hist. Graec. 4, 1, 15 and 29; Plutarch, Flamininus, 372 A.

Hence the use of dextra data, dextrae datae, in the sense of treaty or agreement. Vergil, Aen. 10, 515: 'Pallas, Evander, in ipsis omnia sunt oculis, mensae, quas advena primas | tunc adiit, dextraeque datae'; Vergil, Aen. 4, 307; 7, 366; Livy, 30, 13, 8; 41, 25, 1. 11; Ovid, Met. 14, 297; Silius Italicus, Pun. 17, 67.

The data or datae is frequently omitted, and dextra or dextrae is given the same signification. Livy, 29, 24, 3: 'litteras dat ad regem, quibus etiam atque etiam monet eum, ne iura hospitii secum neu cum populo Romano initae societatis neu fas, fidem, dexteras, deos testes atque arbitros conventorum fallat'; Vergil, Aen., 6, 613; Valerius Flaccus, Arg. 7, 651;

1 Baehrens, Poet. Lat. Min. 5, p. 336, No. 57.

2 Baehrens, l. c., 4, p. 195.

Baehrens, l. c., 4, p. 239.