tăbella — Lewis & Short
tăbella, ae (
I nom. plur. TABELAI, S. C. de Bacch. Corp. I. R. 196). f. dim. tabula.
I In gen., a small board, a little table or tablet (rare and mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose):
liminis,i. e. the door-sill, Cat. 32, 5:
tabella aerea,a brass plate, Plin. 33, 1, 6, § 19: hos (libellos) eme, quos artat brevibus membrana tabellis, little tablets, i. e. small pages, Mart. 1, 3, 3:
parva tabella capit ternos utrimque lapillos,small gamingboards, Ov. A. A. 3, 365; id. Tr. 2. 481:
pistor multiplices struit tabellas,i. e. thin cakes, Mart. 11, 31, 9.—Of the basket or cradle in which Romulus and Remus were exposed:
heu quantum fati parva tabella vehit,the little bark, Ov. F. 2, 408.—
II In partic. (class.).
A A writing-tablet:
tabellis pro chartis utebantur antiqui, quibus ultro citro, sive privatim sive publice opus erat, certiores absentes faciebant, unde adhuc tabellarii dicuntur: et tabellae missae ab imperatoribus,Fest. p. 359 Müll.:
tabellae Imponere manus,Ov. P. 4, 2, 27:
abiegnae,id. A. A. 3, 469:
litteras tabellae insculpere,Quint. 1, 1, 27:
fecit et Libyn puerum tenentem tabellam,Plin. 34, 8, 19, § 59.—
2 Hence, transf., in plur., a writing, written composition, letter, contract, will, etc.:
tabellas proferri jussimus ... Recitatae sunt tabellae in eandem fere sententiam,Cic. Cat. 3, 5, 10:
allatae sunt tabellae ad eam a Stratippocle, eum argentum sumpsisse,Plaut. Ep. 2, 2, 68:
ex tabellis jam faxo scies,id. Ps. 1, 1, 47:
tabellas consignare,id. Curc. 2, 3, 86:
tu quidem tabellis obsignatis agis mecum,with sealed writings, Cic. Tusc. 5, 11, 33:
publicae Heracleensium,public records, id. Arch. 4, 9; cf. Liv. 43, 16, 13:
tabellae quaestionis plures proferuntur,minutes of evidence, Cic. Clu. 65, 184:
cur totiens video mitti recipique tabellas?Ov. Am. 3, 14, 31:
rasae,id. A. A. 1, 437:
nuptiis tabellas dotis ipse consignavit,the marriage contract, Suet. Claud. 29:
falsas signare tabellas,forged wills, Juv. 8, 142:
laureatae,a letter announcing a victory, Liv. 45, 1, 8.—Sing. (rare):
testimonium per tabellam dare,in writing, Tac. Or. 36: ex tabellā pronuntiare sententiam, Suet. Claud. 15.—
B A tablet for voting, a ballot.
1 In the comitia, used in electing a magistrate or deciding upon the acceptance of a proposed law: in the former case the elector wrote down the name of a candidate; in the latter, each voter received two tablets, on one of which were the letters U. R., i. e. uti rogas, denoting approval;
on the other, A., i. e. antiquo (for the old law), denoting rejection: me universa civitas non prius tabellā quam voce priorem consulem declaravit,Cic. Pis. 1, 3:
an ego exspectem, dum de te quinque et septuaginta tabellae dirimantur?id. ib. 40, 96:
tabella modo detur nobis, sicut populo data est,id. Phil. 11, 8, 19; cf.:
si populo grata est tabella, quae frontis aperit hominum,id. Planc. 6, 16. —
2 In courts of justice; here each judge usually received three tablets; one of which, inscribed A., i. e. absolvo, denoted acquittal; another, with C., i. e. condemno, written on it, denoted condemnation;
and the third, with N. L., i. e. non liquet (it is not clear), left the case undecided: cum tabella vobis dabitur, judices, non de Flacco dabitur solum: dabitur de bonis omnibus,Cic. Fl. 39, 99:
huic judicialis tabella committetur?Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 32, § 79:
de quibusdam etiam imperitus judex dimittere tabellam potest,give his vote, Sen. Ben. 3, 7, 5:
quamlibet austeras de me ferat urna tabellas,Prop. 4 (5), 11, 49. Caes. B. C. 3, 83; cf. Suet. Aug. 33. —
C A painted tablet, a small picture or painting:
ea (exhedria) volebam tabellis ornare,Cic. Fam. 7, 23, 3:
priscis sparsa tabellis Porticus,Ov. A. A. 1, 71:
inveniat plures nulla tabella modos,id. ib. 2, 680:
comicae tabellae,Plin. 35, 10, 37, § 114; cf.:
cubicula tabellis adornavit,Suet. Tib. 43:
Tyrrhena sigilla, tabellas, Sunt qui non habeant,Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 180:
Pausiaca,id. S. 2, 7, 95.—
D A votive tablet, hung up in a temple, and on which one acknowledged by writing or painting the favor or aid he had received from a deity:
nunc, dea, nunc succurre mihi, nam posse mederi, Picta docet templis multa tabella tuis,Tib. 1, 3, 28:
et posita est meritae multa tabella deae,Ov. F. 3, 268:
votiva,Hor. S. 2, 1, 33; so Juv. 12, 27:
memores,Ov. M. 8, 744. —
E A fan:
quos (ventos) faciet nostrā mota tabella manu,Ov. Am. 3, 2, 38.