Bacŭlum
（
βακτηρία, ῥάβδος, σκῆπτρον, σκυτάλη). In Greece the
practice of carrying a stick was as common as with us, as is seen by the testimony of Greek
vases and sculptures, which show us walking-sticks of all forms and patterns. The Athenian
dandies of the time of Aristophanes affected the straight cane with an ornamented head
(
Περσικὴ βακτηρία), while old men and rustics carried
large canes with a crook (
καμπύλη). In the ruder states of
Greece, such as Sicyon and Sparta, huge clublike canes (
σκυτάλαι) were common; and these at
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Agamemnon with Staff. (From a Greek Vase.)
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one time were the rage at Athens (
Aristoph.
Av. 1283).
It appears that the kings of Sparta carried a truncheon (
βακτηρία) as the ensign of their authority. On the occasion of one of them lifting
it up in a threatening attitude, Themistocles returned the celebrated answer,
“Strike, but hear.” In reference to this custom, the truncheon (
baculus) was carried in the hand by actors on the Roman stage. The dicasts at
Athens received, at the time of their appointment, a
βακτηρία
and
συμβόλον as a mark of their authority.
At Rome walking-sticks were unknown, except in the hands of the aged or infirm; but the
staff was used upon the stage by actors who personated kings and princes (
Suet. Nero, 24). See
Caduceus;
Sceptrum;
Scytalé.
