Corōna
(
στέφανος). A crown; that is, a circular ornament of metal,
leaves, or flowers, worn by the ancients round the head or neck, and used as a festive
as well as funeral decoration, and as a reward of talent, military or naval prowess, and civic
worth. It includes the synonyms, for which it is often used absolntely,
στεφάνη, στέφος, στεφάνωμα,
corolla, sertum, “a
garland or wreath.”
The use of crowns on public and private occasions was so general in antiquity that there was
a special literature on the subject, of which we have remains in Theophrastus (
Hist.
Pl. vi. 6), Athenaeus (lib. xv.), Pliny (
Pliny H.
N. xxi. 1-70
Pliny H. N., xxii. 4-13), and
Pollux (vi. 106-107). At Rome Claudius Saturninus wrote a book
De Coronis
(Tertull.
De Cor. Mil. 7, 10, 12).
Crowns originally consisted of wool or the foliage of trees, especially myrtle-twigs or ivy,
with which flowers of various kinds were subsequently interwoven. The makers and sellers of
these garlands or crowns formed a distinct trade, and were called in Greece
στεφανηπλόκοι or
στεφανοποιοί, and
in Rome
coronarii (
Plin. xxi. 54, 177).
The flowers used in making crowns were called in Greek
στεφανώματα, in Latin
coronamenta.
The foliage and flowers were sometimes fastened together by the inner bark of the
lindentree, such garlands being known as
coronae sutiles, also
nexae and
sertae. At Athens, the flower-market was
called
αἱ μυρρίναι, because myrtle (
μύρτος) was the material most commonly used in making them. Many of the
flower-girls were celebrated in antiquity, especially Glycera the mistress of Pausias (
Plin. H. N. xxi. 4;
xxxv. 125).
At Rome, the temple of the Lares, at the head of the Via Sacra, was most frequented by the
venders of garlands. The crowns among the Romans were often made of the leaves of plants,
especially ivy, myrtle, and parsley. At Athens, the violet was very popular, but both the
Greeks and Romans preferred the rose to any other flower, calling it “the king of
flowers” and “the rose of the loves.” (See
Achill. Tat. ii. 1;
Anacr. 5.) They were
especially used for convivial crowns; and garlands of them were in request at Rome even in the
winter, so that they were grown under glass (
Mart. iv. 22, 5;
xiii. 127), and were also imported from Egypt (
Mart. vi. 80). As luxury increased, the leaves of the
nardus or spikenard were brought from India for crowns (
Mart.xiii. 51;
Plin. H. N. xxi. 11).
Garlands were also made of dried flowers, especially of amaranth, which, when moistened, had
the appearance of fresh flowers, so that garlands of it were called
coronae
hibernae. The same name was given to crowns of artificial flowers (
Plin.xxi. 5). Sometimes they were made of a thin layer of metal covered with gold or
silver, and called
corollae or
corollaria inaurata
or
inargentata.
The
corona Etrusca was made of pure gold in the form of leaves, sometimes set
with gems, and terminating in ribbons (
lemnisci) of the same metal. It
was held by a slave over the head of a general when he entered Rome in triumph (
Plin.xxxiii. 11).
Crowns adorned with such pendent ribbons were called
coronae
lemniscatae (
Serv. ad
Verg. Aen. v. 269Verg.
Aen., vi. 772). The lemnisci (
λημνίσκοι) were first
made of wool, adorned with ribbons (from
λῆνος,
“wool,” Fest. p. 155, M.), afterwards of linden-bast, and subsequently of
gold. Crowns so adorned were the highest rewards of victors, whence Cicero speaks of
palma lemniscata, where
palma means a
victory or the highest reward (
Rosc. Am. 35, 100).
Coronae longae resembled what we call festoons, and were employed to decorate
the doors of houses, temples, amphitheatres, etc. (Ovid,
Fast. iv. 738).
The
corona pactilis, probably the same as the
corona
plectilis of Plautus (
Bacch. i. 1.37),
corona torta (Propert. iii. 20,
18),
“
plexa”
(Lucret. v. 1399)
, and as the
στέφανοι πλεκτοί and
κυλιστὸς στέφανος of the
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Corona Radiata.
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Greeks, was made of flowers, shrubs, grass, ivy, wool, or any flexible material
twined or twisted together, and therefore opposed to the
corona sutilis
described above.
Corona radiata was one assigned to the gods or to deified heroes, and hence
was assumed by the later emperors in token of their divinity. They may be seen on many of the
imperial coins.
Coronae tonsae were made of leaves only, closely
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Corona Triumphalis. (Medallion of Ventidius.)
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cut, as for instance of the olive (
Verg.
Aen. v. 556).
Crowns were also among the Romans the highest distinction awarded for service in war. The
most coveted were the
corona triumphalis or laurel crown of a general in
triumph; and the
corona obsidionalis, presented to a general by the army
which he had saved from a siege, or from a shameful capitulation. This was woven of grass
growing on the spot, and called
corona graminea. The
corona myrtea, or
ovalis, was the crown of bay worn by the
general who celebrated the lesser triumph (
ovatio).
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Corona Obsidionalis.
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The
corona civica was of oak leaves, and was awarded for saving a
citizen's life in battle. This secured for its possessor certain privileges, as freedom
from taxes for himself, his father, and paternal grandfather. The golden
corona
muralis,
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Corona Civica.
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with embattled ornaments, was given for the storming of a wall; the
corona castrensis or
vallaris, also of gold, and ornamented in
imitation of palisades, to the soldier who first climbed the wall of the enemy's camp; the
corona navalis, with ornaments representing the beak of a ship, to the
man who first boarded a ship. Under the Empire, the garland of bay was reserved exclusively
for the emperor, and thus came to be
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Corona Castrensis.
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regarded as a crown.
The rayed crown, the
insigne of the deified emperors, was not worn by
the emperors of the first and second century A.D. Golden crowns were originally the free
offerings of provincials and allies to victorious generals for the celebration of their
triumphs. But from this custom there arose,
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Corona Muralis.
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even in republican times, the habit of compelling a contribution of money (
aurum coronarium) to the governor of the province. During the imperial age
this contribution was on exceptional occasions offered as a present to the emperors, but it
was often also made compulsory.
Among the Greeks, a crown (
στέφανος) was often an emblem of
office. At Athens, for instance, a
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Corona Navalis.
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crown of bay was worn by the archons in office, the senators (
βουλευταί), and the orators while speaking. It was also the emblem of victory at
the games, and a token of distinction for citizens of merit. (See
Theatrum.) Such crowns of honour were made originally of olive branches,
but later of gold. The honour of a crown could be conferred by the people or the Senate, or by
corporations and foreign States. The latter would often present a crown to
the whole commonwealth. If the people or Senate presented the crown, the presentation took
place in the great assembly or in the Senate-house, but not in the theatre except by special
decree. See Garcke,
De Horatii Corollis (Altenburg, 1860); and
Daremberg and Saglio,
Dictionnaire des Antiquités, s. v.
“Corona”; and on funeral crowns the article
Funus.