mail: Bill Thayer	Italiano	Help	Up	Home
For Smith's general article on Greek and Roman chairs, see SELLA.

 p257  Cathedra

Unsigned article on p257 of

William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.:
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.

CATHEDRA, a seat; but the term was more particularly applied to the soft seats used by women, whereas sella signified a seat common to both sexes (inter femineas cathedras, Mart. III.63, IV.79; Hor. Sat. I.10.91; Prop. IV.5.37). The cathedrae were, no doubt, of various forms and sizes; but they usually appear to have had backs to them, as is the case in the one represented in the annexed woodcut, which is taken from Sir William Hamilton's work on Greek vases. On the cathedra is seated a bride, who is being fanned by a female slave with a fan made of peacock's feathers.

Women were also accustomed to be carried abroad in these cathedrae instead of in lecticae, which practice was sometimes adopted by effeminate persons of the other sex (sexta cervice feratur cathedra, Juv. Sat. I.65; compare IX.51). The word cathedra was also applied to the chair or pulpit from which lectures were read​a (Juv. Sat. VII.203; Mart. I.77). Compare Böttiger, Sabina, vol. I p35; Scheffer, De Re Vehicul. II.4.

---

Thayer's Note:

a To dot our i's and cross our t's, this is the origin of the Christian bishop's cathedra; in turn, a cathedral is a cathedralis ecclesia, a church where there is the seat of a bishop. Such, for example, is the cathedral of Rome, St. John Lateran:

Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
UP TO:		Smith's Dictionary: Daily Life	Smith's Dictionary	LacusCurtius	Home
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.