fons

is fons mali fuit
that was the source of evil

fōns, fontis, m.: a spring, fountain, 1.244; water, 2.686; living water, 12.119; lake, 4.512.

fons, fontis, m. [root in Gr. χέϝω, χεύσω, to pour, χύμα, χοή, etc.; Lat. fundo, futtilis. Fons, i. e. stem font, for fovont = χεϝοντ-; cf. Varr. L. L. 5, § 123 Müll.; and Paul. ex Fest. p. 84], a spring, fountain, well-source (syn.: scaturigo, puteus).

• I Lit.: late parvus aquaï Prata riget fons, Lucr. 5, 603: fons dulcis aquaï, id. 6, 890: fons aquae dulcis, cui nomen Arethusa est, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 53, § 118: rivorum a fonte deductio, id. Top. 8, 33: est apud Hammonis fanum fons luce diurna Frigidus, et calidus nocturno tempore, Lucr. 6, 848 sq.; cf. ib. 873: eunt ad fontem, nitidant (i. e. abluunt) corpora, Enn. ap. Non. 144, 16 (Trag. v. 166 ed. Vahl.); Caes. B. C. 2, 24 fin.; 3, 49, 5: (Romulus) locum delegit fontibus abundantem, Cic. Rep. 2, 6: fontium qui celat origines, Nilus, Hor. C. 4, 14, 45; id. Ep. 1, 16, 12; id. Epod. 2, 27: fontes Alandri, Liv. 38, 15, 15: Padi fons diebus aestivis aret, Plin. 2, 102, 105, § 229: vestris amicum fontibus et choris, Hor. C. 3, 4, 25: fas pervicaces est mihi Thyiadas Vinique fontem lactis et uberes Cantare rivos, the fountains or streams of wine drawn from the earth by the stroke of the thyrsus, id. ib. 2, 19, 10: cum tui fontes vel inimicis tuis pateant, Cic. Mur. 4, 9.—
• • B Esp.
  • • 1 A mineral spring, healing waters, = aquae, frigidi medicatique fontes, Cels. 4, 5; cf.: caput et stomachum supponere fontibus Clusinis, Hor. Ep. 1, 15, 8: fons calidus medicae salubritatis, Plin. 5, 15, 16, § 72: medicatorum fontium vis, id. 2, 93, 95, § 207.—
    • 2 Transf., spring-water, water (poet.): utrum fontine an Libero imperium te inhibere mavis? Plaut. Stich. 5, 4, 26 (708): alii fontemque ignemque ferebant, Verg. A. 12, 119; Luc. 5, 337. —
• II Trop., a fountain-head, source, origin, cause: meos amicos...ad Graecos ire jubeo, ut ea a fontibus potius potius hauriant, quam rivulos consectentur, Cic. Ac. 1, 2, 8; so opp. rivuli, id. de Or. 2, 27, 117; id. Cael. 8, 19: fons maledicti, id. Planc. 23, 57: hic fons, hoc principium est movendi, id. Rep. 6, 25: scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons, Hor. A. P. 309; cf.: Cilicia origo et fons belli, Flor. 3, 6: ab illo fonte et capite Socrate, Cic. de Or. 1, 10, 42: quorum (philosophorum) fons ipse Socrates, Quint. 1, 10, 13; cf.: atqui rerum caput hoc erat et fons, Hor. Ep. 1, 17, 45: oratorum partus atque fontes, Cic. Brut. 13, 49: haec omnia ex eodem fonte fluxerunt, id. N. D. 3, 19, 48: omnes omnium rerum, quae ad dicendum pertinerent, fontes animo ac memoria continere, id. de Or. 1, 21, 94: philosophiae fontes aperire, id. Tusc. 1, 3, 6: totos eloquentiae aperire, Quint. 6, 1, 51: dicendi facultatem ex intimis sapientiae fontibus fluere, id. 12, 2, 6; cf. id. 5, 10, 19: fontes ut adire remotos Atque haurire queam vitae praecepta beate, Hor. S. 2, 4, 94: ex iis fontibus unde omnia ornamenta dicendi sumuntur, Cic. de Or. 2, 11, 45; id. Rep. 5, 3: causa atque fons maeroris, id. Tusc. 3, 28, 67: benevolentia, qui est amicitiae fons a natura constitutus, id. Lael. 14, 50: is fons mali hujusce fuit, Liv. 39, 15, 9: fons vitii et perjurii, thou source of all iniquity, Plaut. Truc. 2, 7, 51 (601); cf. Petr. 24.—
• III Fons, personified as a deity, with a chapel, Cic. N. D. 3, 20, 52.

1. fōns, fontis, m. (v. fundo, s. Varro LL. 5, 123. Paul. ex Fest. 84, 16), I) die Quelle, f. Bandusiae, Hor.: f. Aponi, Suet.: f. calidus, frigidus, Lucr. u. Ov.: fontes frigidi medicatique, Cels.: caldi frigidique fontes, Liv. epit.: benignissimus fons (im Bilde = Urquell der Gnade), Sen.: f. perennis, Hirt. b. G.: putealis, Col.: suscitare et elicere fontem, Plin. ep.: fons aquae prorumpebat ab ea parte, Hirt. b. G.: solum pingue crebri fontes rigant, Curt.: fontes celeriter aestibus exarescebant, Caes.: quo facto repente perennis exaruit fons, Hirt. b. G.: in hac insula extrema est fons aquae dulcis, cui nomen Arethusa est, Cic.: im Bilde, T. Livius lacteo eloquentiae fonte manans, Hieron. epist. 53, 1. – meton. (poet.) = Quellwasser, Verg. u.a. – II) übtr., die Quelle = der Ursprung, die Ursache (oft verb. fons et caput, s. caputno. I, B a. E.), philosophiae, Cic.: iuris, Liv.: mali, Liv.: a fonte repetere, Liv. – ➳ ungew. Abl. Sing. fonti, nach Varro LL. 9, 112: arch. Abl. Sing. fontei, Corp. inscr. Lat. 1, 199, 6: arch. Akk. Plur. fonteis, nach Charis. 129, 19.

fons [CL] 1 spring; b (w. ref. to spring of the Muses as source of poetic inspiration); c (fig.); d (dist. as hot or salt); e (as headwaters of stream or conduit). f stream issuing from spring. Brittannia insula ‥ ornata ~tibus lucidis Gildas EB 3; ~tem aquae vivae ‥ de saxosa terra erumpere ‥ invenerunt V. Cuthb. III 3; est ibi ~s nomine Finnaun Guur Helic; non fluit rivus ex eo neque in eo. vadunt homines piscari ad ~tem Nen. HB 214–5; in ~te proximo, qui S. Bernaci ~s dicebatur, lapidi qui scaturigini ~tis supereminebat manum submittere Gir. EH I 42; quare quidam ~tes in estate replentur, in hieme desiccantur?  Quaest. Salern. B 112; a1217 sextam ‥ acram juxta fondem super Ingelbrec Couch. Furness II p. 135.  b et calido pectus Parnasi fonte refirma Alcuin Carm. 40. 4; fonte caballino si me respergat Apollo W. Chester Vers. Anselm. 1. 11.  c ave, virgo, que paventi / pax es et fons sicienti Walt. Wimb. Virgo 125; super tumulum ‥ [se] projecit ‥ lacrimarum ~tem exaggerante Mir. Fridesw. 11; ubi estis, ~tes lacrimarum, ut lugeam damna vite mee P. Blois Ep. Sup. 54. 5; ~s thesauri M. Par. Maj. V 537 (v. follosus).  d Brittania ‥ habet ~tes salinarum, habet et ~tes calidas Bede HE I 1; ~tes ‥ inveniuntur de salo a quibus ~tibus sal coquitur Nen. HB 213; c1154 concessi ‥ ~tem salis et pasturam Ch. Mowbray 48.  e 1369 in reparacione unius serure pro ~te conducti, ij d. Ac. Durh. 575; 1430 a ~te, qui dicitur Bolburnhede, descendendo secundum cursum ejusdem fontis versus orientem usque campum Feod. Durh. 10.n. 1 (v. 1f infra); rivus scaturiens a ~te suo Fortescue NLN I 36; prima aqua sive flumen de prima ~te vocatur Twede ‥ et secundus ~s vocatur Anater ‥ et tercius ~s vocatur Clyde et flumen ejus transit per Clydesdale W. Worc. Itin. 6.  f 8‥ ~s, burne WW; 1430 (v. 1e supra). 2 well; b (as used for divination or shrine). c (w. hauribilis, pendens, tractabilis, or tracticius) draw-well. considerantibus ‥ ~tem ‥ a Romania mire olim constructum V. Cuthb. IV 8; ~s, well Ælf. Sup. 178; 1279 (v. distuppare); 1362 M. filia W. M. ‥ etate octo annorum ‥ inventa fuit mortua in ~te R. de M. RCoron xliii; 1378 est in manerio de E. quedam ~s constructa de lapide IMisc 217/2 m. 4; hec ~s, A. welle ‥ hic ~s, A. welle WW; 1567 sunt infra Estoverton ‥, qui utuntur ad usum inhabitancium, ij communes ~tes vocati comon wells Surv. Pembr. 262.  b c738 ~tium auguria ‥ respuentes ‥ ad Deum convertemini Bonif. Ep. 43; 1102 ne quis ‥ ~tibus ‥ reverentiam ‥ exhibeat Conc. Syn. 678.  c [at the hanging well] ad pendentem ~tem of Cutoria Cart. Fount. II 566; 1295, 1296 (v. hauribilis); 1331 ~s tractabilis sit communis heredi et eidem Matill’ Cl 151 m. 16d.; 1339 in aqua wyndanda de ~e tracticio in claustro Ac. Durh. 536; 1349 item in ~te tractabili dictorum vicariorum [of St. Martin le Grand, Lond.] ‥ in cementaria et coopertoria ejusdem ad dampnum iiij s. IMisc 163/4. 3 (in place-names). b (in surnames). monasterium apud ~tem Ebraldi W. Malm. GR V 440; c1160 concessi ‥ monialibus de ~te Clericorum ‥ Cart. Clerkenwell 27; 1169 monachis de ~te Drogonis vij li. Pipe 78; a1185 ij acras terre apud ~tem Haroldi Cart. Osney IV 65; s1194 (v. fonticulus 1a); domno Johanni abbati de ~tibus, frater H. ‥ salutem Serlo Gram. Mon. Font. 1; Fontibus hec scribo (Vers.) M. Rievaulx 53. 1; habitum fratrum laicorum apud ~tes ‥ susceperat Studley 1 p. 367; c1245 ecclesia hospitalis de ~te Scotie Conc. Scot. I cccii; s1312 abbas quondam Frigidi ~tis in Vasconia Trokelowe 78; ~s Petrosus est ille juxta regiam viam prope Tiburne Elmh. Metr. Hen. V p. 99n; urbium ac civitatum tuarum laudationes, Wellie et Bathonie, sub nominibus ~tium ac Balneorum Chaundler Laud. 99.  b Guillelmus ‥ de ~tibus cum ‥ militibus ‥ qui Rogerio adherebant ‥ Ord. Vit. XIII 24 p. 65; 1198 Walerammus de ~te debet j m. Pipe 84; Gaufridi de ~tibus liber de infantia S. Eadmundi G. Font. Inf. S. Edm. tit.; 1222 Willelmus de ~te (v. de 16b); 1230 de dim. m. de Alano ad ~tem pro eodem Pipe 32. 4 font: a (for holy water); b (for baptism); c (~s baptismalis, sacer, or sim.). a a1260 renovent die octava ‥ ~tem benedictum sacro oleo et sacro crismate Conc. Syn. 641.  b Bede HE III 7 (v. baptismus); hoc baptisterium ‥ sanctifica, ut quoscumque ~s iste lavaturus est ‥ indulgentiam ‥ delictorum consequantur Egb. Pont. 53; dehinc eatur ad ~tes [AS: to fantum] RegulC 53; Bart. Exon. Pen. 66 (v. filiola); illi qui tenent puerum ad ~tem docerent illum orationem Dominicam et symbolum apostolorum Spec. Eccl. 63; 1462 ~tis portabilis (v. erubiginatio); a funte, ~s, baptisterium CathA.  c ~te baptismatis non est ablutus Bede HE I 7; duces et milites sacrosancto ~te abluebat Ib. IV 13; Godrum ‥ quem Ælfred rex ‥ de ~te sacro baptismatis elevavit Asser Alf. 56; quem de ~te baptismi ‥ rex ‥ suscepit Fl. Worc. I 17; 1310 (v. 1 filiolus 2); Gir. GE I 14 (v. filius 3a). 5 source of tears, (anat.) tear-duct. b fontanelle. jam missas celebrans Sigbald visitare parabat / fontibus e calidis salsae daecurrere guttae / incipiunt Æthelwulf Abb. 457; possunt ‥ fieri cauteria in duobus ~tibus juxta angulos oculorum vel in fontinella colli vel in fontibus inter collum et fauces sub teneritate aurium Gilb. III 133. 1; submerse sunt maxille lacrimarum diluviis, ‥ ~es oculorum ebulliunt Ps.-Elmh. Hen. V 128.  b sanguis ‥ a venis resudans recipitur in ~ibus antequam nutriat; et sunt ~tes †quidam [l. quedam] rare et spongiose carnes juxta singulas membrorum juncturas tam majores quam minores Ric. Med. Anat. 228; sanguis quadruplex dealbatur, in mamillis scilicet, in testiculis, in ~tibus, in apostematibus Quaest. Salern. N 12; fiat flebothomia vel detractio in ~tibus majoribus per ventosas Gilb. IV 203. 1; loca ‥ humidi nutrimentalis ‥ sumpti ~tes ‥ vocantur Ps.-Gros. Summa 522. 6 (her.) argent circle representing a spring. Upton 241 (v. fontalis 1a). 7 fount (fig.), origin, source. b (med.) source. si dilexissent justitiam, diligerent utique ~tem ‥ et originem totius justitiae, Deum Gildas EB 62; pandectes ‥ interpretatione beati Hieronimi presbiteri ex Hebraeo et Graeco ~te transfusus Hist. Abb. Jarrow 37; †fomis [l. fons], origo GlC F 292; hic est fons vitae, hic sunt praecepta salutis Alcuin Carm. 66. 3; luminis fons, lux et origo lucis Ib. 121. 1; voluntas Dei ~s est et origo totius boni Simil. Anselmi 8; quicquid ‥ feci ex pietatis ~te processit Alex. Cant. Mir. 24 p. 210; multi convenimus / quo logices funs erat plurimus Hil. Ronce. 6.37; ibi quasi ~tem artis jam requirunt Gir. TH III 11.  b sicut in majori mundo ne fervor ignis in sese agens seipsum destrueret et inferiora concremaret, ~ti totius caloris suppositus est ~s totius humiditatis, sc. aqua, sic in minori ~s humoris suppositus est ~ti caloris, viz. epar Quaest. Salern. B 177; opposuit dens ~ti caloris ~tem tocius humoris ut per humoris presentiam calori oppositam ejus violentia reprimeretur, et sic mundi machina in esse ordine debito servaretur Bart. Angl. IV 4.

1 fōns, (8) tis, m. (fundo), source, fontaine : Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 118 ; Cæs. C. 3, 49, 5 || [poét.] eau : Virg. En. 12, 119 ; Luc. 5, 337 || [fig.] source, origine, cause, principe : Cic. de Or. 1, 42 ; Tusc. 3, 67 ; Nat. 3, 48 ; Hor. Ep. 1, 17, 45 ; P. 309.

fons , tis. m.
水泉。源。原由。Medicati fontes 藥水泉。 Argumentorum fontes 虛情俗例。

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fōns fontis, m

• FV-, a spring, fountain, well, source: aquae dulcis: rivorum a fonte deductio: qui fontes aestibus exarescebant, Cs.: locus fontibus abundans: fontium qui celat origines, Nilus, H.: Vini, H.: Timavi, V.: fontemque ignemque ferre, spring water, V.—A mineral spring, healing waters: fontes Clusini, H.—Fig., a fountain-head, source, origin, cause: aequitatis: movendi: Scribendi recte sapere est fons, H.: ab illo fonte et capite Socrate: maeroris: is fons mali huiusce fuit, L.: Pindarici fontis haustūs, i. e. Pindar's verse, H.—Person., as a deity, C.

FONS

FONS(κρήνη) signifies originally a natural spring of water, but both the Greeks and Romans had artificial fountains, made either by covering and decorating a spring with buildings and sculpture, or by making a jet or stream of water, supplied by an elevated cistern, play into an artificial basin. Such fountains served the double purpose of use and ornament. Among the Greeks, they formed the only public supply of water except the rain-water which was collected in cisterns [AQUAEDUCTUS]; and at Rome, the poorer people, who could not afford to have water laid on to their houses, no doubt procured it from the public fountains.

Several examples of natural springs, converted into ornamental fountains, in the cities of Greece, have been mentioned under AQUAEDUCTUSThey were covered to keep them pure and cool, and the covering was frequently in the form of a monopteral temple: there were also statues, the subjects of which were suggested by the circumstance that every fountain was sacred to some divinity, or they were taken from the whole range of mythological legends. That at Megara, erected by Theagenes, is described by Pausanias as worth seeing for its size, its beauty, and the number of its columns (1.40.1). That of Peirene at Corinth was adorned with covered cisterns of white marble like grottoes, out of which the water flowed into the open air, and with a statue of Apollo, and was enclosed with a wall, on which was painted the slaughter of the suitors of Ulysses (Paus. 2.3.3; see a paper by Göttling, on the present state of this fountain, and of the Craneion, with an engraving of the source of the Peirene, in Gerhard's Archäologische Zeitung for 1844, pp. 326, 328; the engraving is given above). Corinth contained numerous other fountains; over one of which was a statue of Bellerophon and Pegasus, with the water flowing out of one of the horse's hoofs (ib. § 5); over another, that of Glauce, was the Odeium (ib. § 6); and another was adorned with a bronze statue of Poseidon, with a dolphin at his feet, out of the mouth of which the water flowed, (Paus. 2.2.7, s. 8). In the same city was another fountain on a still grander scale; namely, that of Lerna, which was surrounded by a colonnade with seats for those who desired a cool retreat in summer; the water was no doubt collected in a spacious basin in the centre (ib. 4.5; see also 5.1). Several other fountains of a similar kind to these are described or referred to by Pausanias (Paus. 2.27; 4.31-Z2, 33, 34; 7.5-Z2, 21), among which two deserve special mention, as they were within temples; namely, that in the temple of Erechtheus at Athens, and of Poseidon at Mantineia, which were salt-water springs (1.26.5; 8.10.4). Vitruvius mentions the fountain of Salmacis as among the admirable works of art at Halicarnassus (2.8.12).

The Romans also erected edifices of various degrees of splendour over natural springs, such as the so-called grotto of Egeria, near Rome, where the natural cave is converted by the architect into a sort of temple (comp. Plin. Nat.36.154), and the baptistery of Constantine, now called S. Giovanni in Fonte, adjoining the Lateran. A simple mode of decorating less considerable springs was by covering them with a vault, in the top of which was an opening, surrounded by a balustrade, or by a low wall adorned with marble bas-reliefs, one example of which, among many, is seen in a relief representing the twelve gods, now in the Capitoline Museum. In all cases, a cistern was constructed to contain the water, either by cutting it out of the living rock, or (if the spring did not rise out of rock) by building it of masonry. Vitruvius discusses at length the different sorts of springs, and gives minute rules for testing the goodness of the spring, and for the construction of the cisterns (8.3, 7). The observations of Vitruvius apply chiefly to those springs and cisterns which formed the sources of the aqueducts.

At Rome, a very large proportion of the immense supply of water brought to the city by the aqueducts was devoted to the public fountains, which were divided into two classes; namely, lacus, ponds or reservoirs, and salientes, jets of water, besides which many of the castella were so constructed as to be also fountains. (See AQUAEDUCTUSp. 155 b, and the wood-cut called the Trophies of Marius.) Agrippa, who during his aedileship paid special attention to the restoration of the Roman waterworks, is said to have constructed 700 lacus, 500 salientes (old edd. read 105), and 130 castella, of which very many were magnificently adorned; they were decorated with 300 bronze or marble statues, and 400 marble columns (Plin. Nat.36.121). There were also many small private fountains in the houses and villas of the wealthy (Plin. Ep. 5.6). At Pompeii the fountains are extremely numerous, and that not only in the streets and public places, especially at the junctions of streets (in biciis, in triviis), but also in private houses. The engraving on p. 152 b represents a section of one of these fountains, in which the water pours into a basin; that now given, in which the water is thrown up in a jet, is taken from an arabesque painting on the wall of a house at Pompeii: in the painting, the vase and pedestal rise out of a sheet of water, which may be supposed to represent the impluvium in the atrium of a house. (Respecting the fountains of Pompeii, see Pompeii, vol. 1. p. 131, vol. ii. pp. 71, 78; and Sir W. Gell's Pompeiana, vol. i. pp. 390, 395, plates 50, 53.) The proof which these fountains afford, of the acquaintance of the ancients with the chief law of hydrostatics, is noticed under AQUAEDUCTUSp. 152 a.

The forms given to fountains were as numerous as the varieties of taste and fancy. The large flat vases were a common form, and they are found of 5, 10, 20, and 30 feet in diameter, cut out of a single piece of some hard stone, such as porphyry, granite, basanite, breccia, alabaster, and marble. An ingenious and elegant variety, of which there is a specimen in the Capitoline Museum, is a tripod, up the centre of which the jet passes, the legs being hollow to carry off the water again. Very often the water was made to flow out of bronze statues, especially of boys, and of Tritons, Nereids, Satyrs, and such beings: several of these statues have been found at Pompeii; and four of them are engraved in Pompeii, vol. 1. p. 104, one of which is given below. On the Monte Cavallo, at Rome, is a colossal statue of a river-god, probably the Rhine, which was formerly in the forum of Augustus; it pours a stream of water into a basin of granite twenty-seven feet in diameter. The celebrated group known as the Toro Farnese, now in the Naples Museum, probably once adorned a fountain. Mythological subjects were also sculptured over the fountains, as among the Greeks; thus at Rome there were the fountains of Ganymede and Prometheus, and the Nymphaeum of Jupiter. (Stieglitz, Archäol. d. Baukunst, vol. ii. pt. 2, pp. 76, 79; Hirt, Lehre der Gebäude, pp. 399, 403.)

[P.S] [W.W]

Fons

(1) A spring.

(2) A fountain. Ornamental edifices were erected by both the Greeks and Romans over natural springs, such as the temple of Erechtheus at Athens and of Poseidon at Mantinea (both over salt springs), that of Salmacis at Halicarnassus (Vitruv. ii. 8. 12), and that of the so-called Grotto of Egeria near Rome. (Cf. Vitruv. viii. 3. 7; Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 154.)

At Rome, also, a good proportion of the water brought into the city by the aqueducts was devoted to the public fountains. Of these there were two classes, the lacus (ponds or reservoirs) and the salientes or jets d'eau. Agrippa alone is said to have constructed 700 lacus and 500 salientes. Fountains were also used in the atria of houses (see Domus), and the basins exhibited a great variety of ornament, sculptural and otherwise. On the Monte Cavallo at Rome is a fountain representing the colossal figure of a river-god, perhaps the Rhine, which pours a stream into a basin of granite twenty-seven feet in diameter. There are other excellent examples in the Capitoline Museum, and the celebrated group of the Farnese Bull (q.v.) probably once adorned a fountain. Some of the fountain-statuettes are of the finest artistic workmanship. See Stieglitz, Archäol. d. Baukunst, ii. pt. 2, pp. 76, 79; Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, ii. pp. 329, 349, 350, 351 (London, 1892).