armilla
armilla, a bracelet, armlet, armsing
- A circular ornament for the arm, a bracelet, armlet, for men and women: armillae, quae bracchialia vocantur, Cic. ap. Prisc. l. c.: Ubi illae armillae sunt, quas unā dedi? Plaut. Men. 3, 3, 13 (536); cf. Dig. 34, 2, 26: armillis decoratus, Quadrig. ap. Gell. 9, 13, 7: manipulum hastatorum armillis donavit, Liv. 10, 44; Plin. 28, 11, 47, § 172: armillas posui in manibus ejus, Vulg. Gen. 24, 47; ib. Ezech. 23, 42: monilia et armillae, ib. Isa. 3, 19.—
- II An iron hoop, ring, ferrule, Cato R. R. 21, 4; Vitr. 10, 6.
armellae, brachialia
prostitutae ‥ quae obrizo rutilante periscelidis ~aque lacertorum tereti ‥ comuntur
duas direxit ~as auri obrizi pensantes xxiiij d.
[Dani ] ei statuunt jusjuramentum in eorum ~a sacra
[rex ] aliquando dat mihi equum aut ~am [AS: ]beah
dextrocerium i. brachiale, ~um vel torium, earmbeag
~as bajulans in brachiis ambobus superbe
Godwinus regi ‥ dedit trierem ‥ electis lxxx militibus decoratam, quorum unusquisque habebat duas in suis brachiis aureas ~as xvj uncias pendentes
tactis sacrosanctis et super ~am S. Bege corporali me prestiti juramento
hoc ~um est ornamentum
accinctus ense similiter, ~as accipiat, dicente metropolitano: “accipe ~as sinceritatis et sapientie divineque circumdationis indicium”(
iste ~e in modum stole circa collum et ab utraque scapula usque ad compages brachiorum erunt dependentes
Cuthbertus ~a sue clementie maxillam tue nequitie perforat
Off a rex dedit ecclesie Wygorniensi ‥ magnam bibliam cum duabus ~is ex auro
instrumenta quibus experimur ea que sunt in celestibus cujusmodi vocantur ~e vel alia
rectangulum in remedium tediosi et difficilis operis ~arum ‥ concepimus ad rectificandum cursus et loca stellarum
aptemus ~am unam suspensoriam sive portatilem
ex parte sinistra a planta pedis usque ad ~as turgida fuit quasi ydropyca
- armus, a bracelet, armlet, armsing: aureae, L.
ARMILLA(ψέλιον, ὄφις), a bracelet or armlet. Ornaments of this kind were worn by men among the Persians and Medians, probably as a mark of distinction (cf. Hdt. 8.113; Xen. Anab. 1.2.27): in Greece, however, they seem to have been confined to the female sex, or to men of an effeminate character. With Greek ladies bracelets were a favourite ornament, and the female figures on the Greek vases are represented with bracelets of every kind. They were worn on one or both arms, sometimes on the wrist (περικάρπια), sometimes on the upper arm (περιβραχιόνια), sometimes even on both at once. One favourite kind of bracelet went several times round the arm, and seems to have had no clasp, over the wrist, and retained in its place by compressing the arm. These bracelets, from their resemblance to serpents, were known to the Greeks as δράκοντες or ὄφεις (cf. Hesych. s. v. ὄφεις). The above bracelets are of this description.
Bracelets were likewise worn at Rome by ladies of rank, but it was considered a mark of effeminacy for men in an ordinary way to use such female ornaments. (Suet. Cal. 52; Ner. 30.) They were, however, publicly conferred by a Roman general upon soldiers for deeds of extraordinary merit (Liv. 10.44; Plin. Nat.33.37; Festus, s. v.); in which case they were worn as a mark of honour, and probably differed in form from the ordinary ornaments of the kind. See the cut below.
The following cuts exhibit Roman bracelets. The first figure represents a gold bracelet discovered at Rome on the Palatine Mount (Caylus, Rec. d'Ant. vol. v. pl. 93). The rosette in the middle is composed of distinct and very delicate leaves. The two starlike flowers on each side of it have been repeated where the holes for securing them are still visible. The second figure represents a gold bracelet found in Britain, and preserved in the British Museum. It appears to be made of two gold wires twisted together, and the mode of fastening it upon the arm, by a clasp, is worthy of observation. It has evidently been a lady's ornament. The third figure represents an armilla, which must have been intended as a reward for soldiers, for it would be ridiculous to suppose such a massive ornament to have been designed for women. The original, of pure gold, is more than twice the length of the figure, and was found in Cheshire. (Archaeologia, 27.400.) The last example is from the Belotti Collection.
[J.Y] [J.H.O](ψέλεον, ὄφις). A bracelet or armlet. Among the Persians and Medes these ornaments were worn by men, probably as a mark of distinction (Herod.viii. 113); but in Greece they seem to have been confined to women, or to effeminate men. The Greek name ὄφεις (also δράκοντες) was given them because of their serpentine shape.
Bracelets were likewise worn at Rome by ladies of rank, but it was considered a mark of effeminacy for men in an ordinary way to use such feminine ornaments (Suet. Cal. 52; Suet. Ner. 30). They were, however, publicly conferred by a Roman general upon soldiers for deeds of extraordinary merit (Liv.x. 44; Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 37), in which case they were worn as a mark of honour, and probably differed in form from the ordinary ornaments of the kind.
The cut below shows the Roman military bracelet. The original, which is of pure gold, was found in Cheshire, England.