actĭo — Lewis & Short
actĭo, ōnis, f.ago,
I a doing, performing, acting, action, act.
I In gen.:
non modo deos spoliat motu et actione divina, sed etiam homines inertes efficit,Cic. N. D. 1, 37; 2, 16;
virtutis laus omnis in actione consistit,id. Off. 1, 6; id. Fin. 5, 19, 54.—With subject. gen.:
ad eas res parandas, quibus actio vitae continetur,active, practical life, id. Off. 1, 5:
corporis,id. Div. 1, 32:
mentis,id. N. D. 1, 17; and with object. gen.: itaque nec actio rerum illarum (the public performance of those things) apertā petulantiā vacat, id. ib. 1, 35, 127; ib. 1, 43:
actio ullius rei,id. Ac. 2, 33, 108; and so plur.: periculosae rerum actiones sunt, Off. 1, 2, 4;
hence: actio gratiarum,the giving of thanks, id. Fam. 10, 19 (cf.: gratias agere).—
II Esp.
A Public functions, civil acts, proceedings, or duties.
1 In gen., Cic. Fam. 9, 8:
tribunorum,their official duties, Liv. 5, 11; so,
consularis,id. 4, 55 al.:
actiones nostras scriptis mandamus,Cic. Off. 2, 1; Caes. B. C. 1, 5.—Hence negotiation, deliberation:
discessu consulum actio de pace sublata est,Cic. Att. 9. 9.—Esp.
2 Of judicial proceedings.
a An action, suit, process (in abstr.), with a gen. more precisely defining it, e. g. actio furti, injuriarum; also with de:
actio de repetundis, de arboribus succisis, etc.: actionem alicui intendere,Cic. Mil. 14:
instituere,to bring an action against one, id. Mur. 9: multis actiones (processes, suits) et res (the property in suit) peribant, Liv. 39, 18 al.—
b The accusation (in concr.), the statement of the crime, the indictment, charge, accusation:
Inde illa actio, OPE CONSILIOQVE TVO FVRTVM AIO FACTVM ESSE,Cic. N. D. 3, 30, 74; cf. id. Caecin. 3; id. de Or. 1, 36, 167.—Hence, in gen., judicial forms (the omission of which rendered a suit null and void): actiones Manilianae, forms relative to purchase and sale; cf. Cic. de Or. 1, 58, 246:
Hostilianae,ib. 1, 57, 245.—Hence,
c A pleading of a case (spoken or written); so Cic. calls his Orats. against Verres, actiones, pleas, simply dividing them into actio prima and actio secunda:
actio causae,Cic. Caecin. 2, 4;
actiones litium,id. Phil. 9, 5, 11; so,
Suet. continuae actiones, Ner. 15: in prima parte actionis,Quint. 10, 1, 20 al.—
d Permission for a suit:
dare alicui actionem (which was the right or duty of the praetor or judge),Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 27.—
e The judicial management of a suit, the trial, the day of trial:
prima, altera, tertia,Cic. Verr. 1, 30; 2, 2, 6.—
B Gesticulation connected with oral delivery.
1 Of an orator; the exterior air or bearing, the action, delivery: Demosthenem ferunt ei qui quaesivisset quid primum esset in dicendo, actionem;
quid secundum, idem et idem tertium respondisse,Cic. Brut. 38; cf. id. de Or. 1, 18;
so that it often includes even the voice: actio ejus (Pompeii) habebat et in voce magnum splendorem et in motu summam dignitatem,id. Brut. 68; cf. id. Or. 17:
est actio quasi sermo corporis,id. de Or. 3, 59; cf. ib. 2, 17 al.—Hence, also —
2 Of an actor, action:
in quo tanta commoveri actio non posset,id. de Or. 3, 26.—
C In dramatic lang., the action, the connection or series of events, the plot, in a play:
habet enim (fabula) varios actus multasque actiones et consiliorum et temporum,Cic. Fam. 5, 12, 6.