clavis
clavis, a key
- a key: clavim cedo, Plaut. Most. 2, 1, 78 (425): clavem abduxi, id. Cas. 5, 2, 7 (881): omnis horreorum clavis tradidisti, Cic. Dom. 10, 25: alias clavis portis imposuit, Liv. 27, 24, 8: unā portarum clave teneri, Juv. 15, 158: aptare claves foribus, Mart. 9, 47, 2: adulterinae portarum, false keys, Sall. J. 12, 3; cf.: clavis adultera, Ov. A. A. 3, 643: sub clavi esse, to be shut up, Varr. R. R. 1, 22 fin.; cf.: Caecuba Servata centum clavibus, Hor. C. 2, 14, 26: claves tradere, as an indication of the delivering up of the household (for possession or oversight), Dig. 18, 1, 74; 31, 77, § 21: claves adimere uxori, to separate from her, Cic. Phil. 2, 28, 69: Laconica, a peculiar key with several wards, used only for fastening from the outside, Plaut. Most. 2, 1, 57 (404) Lorenz ad loc.—
- II Esp.
- A Clavis trochi, an instrument in the form of a key, by which a top was set in motion, Prop. 3 (4), 14, 6.—*
- B Clavis torculari, a lerer, bar (French, clef), Cato R. R. 13, 1 Schneid. N. cr., and Comm. p. 57.
direximus ‥ crucem ~em auream habentem(
~is,cæg
hostia dormitorii sui cum ~e serratili interius obstruxit
ecclesiam cum ~e adulterina aperuit
vicecomes ‥ accessit ad manerium ‥ et inde ei fecit seisinam, ‥ ita quod ipse habuit ~es grangiarum
crisma et sacrum oleum sub ~e custodiantur
Agnes Kaynel habet ~em confectam ad hostia vicinorum suorum aperienda et claudenda
pro novo [sic ] ~e ad studium
dalmatica ‥ broudata cum †clambis [? l. clavibus ] et cruce deaurata
dedit ‥ j capam ‥ cum ymagine S. Petri in dorso bene brudata ac ~ibus et rosis aurifrigiatis tensalatis
~es perdere, hoc est servanda prodere
has ~es [(AS: ] mulier debet sub cura sua custodire, sc. dispensae suae et arcae et scrinii suicægean
de xx s. de H. preposito pro ~e dimittenda
ccc m. ‥ reponi faciat ‥ in quadam archa cum iiij seruris, ita quod vos habeatis unam ~em et H. de S. aliam et alias ij ~es alibi salvo tradi faciet rex
nomina custodum ~orum [sic ]
convocatis ~esgerentibus predictis et numeratis pecuniis ‥ in singulis capsis repertis manibus eorundem ~es-gerencium ‥ subsignatis(
si ergo Petro ~es caelestis regni a Christo collatae sunt ‥, quis ecclesiae ejus statuta ‥ spernens ‥ per caelestis paradisi portam ‥ ingreditur?
ne forte ‥ non sit qui reserat, averso illo qui ~es tenere probatur
per potestatem ~ium est potestas utentibus ~ibus, quia per ~em fit remissio peccatorum et retentio
per quos [inquisitores ] publice penitentes ‥ ad ~em penitentie admittantur
~es ecclesie non sunt concesse diaconibus et ideo non habent potestatem solvendi et ligandi
persona ecclesie de S., quem ‥ tanquam excommunicatum et ~es ecclesie contempnentem per corpus suum secundum consuetudinem Anglie rex justiciari precepit
potestas ~ium regni celorum data pape a Christo, ad peccata et crimina se extendens, non est regulariter coactiva
sentenciam virtute ~ium ecclesie absolutoriam
[sacerdotes ] dicunt se habere ~es celi et inferni
secundum ~em unam ecclesie, quia est scientia, discernit ‘inter lepram et lepram’ []; quo facto, per aliam ~em, que est potestas, solvit ipsum a pena per obligationem ad penam temporalem Deut. xvii 8
illa que per ~em sciencie sunt a summis pontificibus in fide et moribus diffinita
conatur negare ~em sciencie esse ~em ecclesie
dum ad prioratum et subprioratum et ceteras ~es ordinis interdictas nequaquam aspiret
silencium totius ordinis ~is appellatur
rex ‥ custodiam sigilli sui, quod quasi ~is regni esse comprobatur, commisit magistro W. de K.
si [dux ] ab isto [Kanciali ] populo, qui est ~is Anglie, repulsam pateretur
castellum de Brest, quod est ~is Britannie
peccati calculus atri, / expositus gracili verborum clave patenter
sunt ~es artis [alkimie ] congelatio, resolutio, inceratio, projectio; sed alio modo purificatio, distillatio, separatio, calcinatio et fixatio
est ~is termini alicujus festi mobilis numerus quidam †ponitus [? l. positus ] in loco determinato in kalendario, a quo loco facta computatione per dies consequenter scriptas ‥ usque ad finem illius numeri, ubi terminatur numerus ille, ibi ponitur terminus illius festi mobilis
die Dominico in ~ibus Rogationum
hec indentura, facta inter Thurstanum de T. ex una parte et ‥ xxiiij ~es Mannie ex altera, testatur quod predicti [sic ] ~es legis cum judice Mannie dicunt ‥
nec miretur quis tantam vim fuisse in notulis, cum et musici cantores paucis caracteribus multas acutarum et gravium differentias indicant vocum et ob hoc quidem caracteres illos musice ~es dicunt
fiet ut eamdem vocem exprimat nota quam et ~is super quam sita est
pro j ~e tallianda ad voltam superiorem
in j cementario locato ‥ pro ~ibus faciendis ad voltam
in nervis et cordis et ~ibus balistarum nostrarum
[ad emendas ] ~es ‥ [ad reparandas ] balistas
interrogavit [J. ] pro ~e tormenticuli, ‥ quiquidem J. ‥ cum ~e predicta seram vocatamthe locke tormenticuli tendebat
empciones circa mutas: ‥ Henrico le Fundur pro iiij lib. de laton’ ad ~es baynorum
pro iiij ~is de ere deaurato et iiij capit’ facta [sic ] ad modum leopardi adbaynes
Roberto Fondour pro ij gross’ clav’ eneis emptis pro cuva balnei domini regis pro aqua calida et frigida conducenda in balneis
carpentria ~ium molendini et piscarie; item in construccione et reparacione duarum ~ium molendini trans pontem Cestr’
inque suas claves cepit fera Wallia naves
➳ nom. sing. claves Pomp. Gr. Comm. 175, 9 || acc. -vem, mais vim Pl. Most. 425 ; Tib. 2, 4, 31, cf. Char. 126, 4 || abl. -ve et -vi.
- 1. sleutel [portarum]; ➤ sub clavi esse gesloten zijn; claves adimere uxori verstoten, scheiden van;
- 2. slot, grendel;
- 3. (Prop.) hoepelstok.
numerus variabilis datus anno ad inveniendum principia quinque mobilium festivitatum, scilicet Septuagesimæ, Quadragesimæ, Paschatis, Rogationum, et Pentecostes : et ideo sunt quinque Claves, et quælibet prædictorum festorum habet 30. dies in quibus semper celebrantur... et dicitur Clavis per similitudinem : quia sicut per Claves ostia reserantur, ita per talem numerum principia dictarum festivitatum nobis denotantur, etc.Durandus lib. 8. Rational. cap. 12. In Kalenlendario S. Victoris Parisiensis :
7. Idus Januar. locus Clavium. 5. Kal. Febr. Claves XL. 5. Idus Mart. Claves Paschæ. 17. Kal. Mart. Claves Rogationum. 3. Kal. Mart. Claves Pentecostes.Vide Honorium Augustod. lib. 2. de Imag. mundi cap. 101.
Annuspag. 511.
Similiter illis concedo ea quæ possideo in molendinis de Jart, id est, dominium et medietatem, in quibus per Abbatem B. G. custos constituatur, et ipse clavem annonæ in custodia sua debet habere.
fibulamvocat Philander ad lib. 1. Vegetii cap. 6. Gervasius Dorobernensis in Descriptione Ecclesiæ Cantuariensis :
Hic vero nullo interstitio cruces a choro divisæ in unam Clavem, quæ in medio fornicis magnæ constitit, quæ quatuor pilariis innititur, convenire videntur.Vide Ciborium.
Tibi dabo Claves regni cœlorum, etc.Inscriptio in foribus Basilicæ antiquæ Vaticanæ :
Goffridus Vindocinensis lib. 2. Epist. 29 :Qui regni Claves et curam tradit ovilis, Qui cœli terræque Petro commisit habenas, Simplicio nunc ipse dedit sacra jura tenere.
Claves sanctæ ecclesiæ agitare, et leges Catholicæ et Apostolicæ Sedis violare conatur.Idem Opusc. 10 :
Execranda promissio, quæ Claves Ecclesiæ agitare, et unicum ac singulare ejus ostium violare conatur.Cur vero triplex interdum clavis S. Petro et Summis Pontificibus adscribatur, pluribus dlsputat Nicolaus Alemannus in Dessertat. de Lateranensibus parietinis cap. 10.
Clavis, Hebr.
Vocabo servum meum Eliacim filium Helciæ ; et induam illum tunica tua, et cingulo tuo confortabo eum, et potestatem tuam dabo in manu ejus : et erit quasi pater habitantibus Jerusalem, et domui Juda. Et dabo Clavem domus David super humerum ejus ; et aperiet et non erit qui claudat ; et claudet, et non erit qui aperiat.Quæ Christo tribuuntur Apocal. 3. 7 :
Hæc dicit sanctus et Verus, qui habet clavem David : qui aperit, et nemo claudit ; claudit et nemo aperit.
Adde Eginhardi Annales eod. ann. Vigilius PP. in Encyclica :Confestim Claves, quibus et Confessio sancti Conservata Petri vexillaque miserat urbis Romuleæ Carolo, pariterque decentia dona.
Sed et super Claves B. Petri Apostoli præstitissent corporale juramentum.
Survint ung homme, qui volt faire signer des bestes qu'il menoit, des Clefz de saint Pierre(au Fayet en Auvergne) .
Ecclesiasticamvocabant, veneficæ secundo deprehensæ signabantur in pectore, fronte atque inter scapulas, ex Legibus Steph. reg. Hungar. tom. 1. Sept. pag. 550. col. 1 :
Si qua striga inventa fuerit, secundum judicialem legem ducatur ad ecclesiam, et commendetur sacerdoti ad jejunandum, fidemque discendum ; post jejunium vero domum redeat. Si secundum in eodem crimine invenietur, simili jejunio subjaceat : post jejunium vero, in modum crucis in pectore et in fronte, atque inter scapulas incensa Clavi ecclesiastica domum redeat. Si vero tertio, judicibus tradatur.
Schlüssel, col. 1636.
Item errore superstitioso vulgus in multis locis opinatur remedium efficax ut cesset pestis inguinaria, si sepeliatur Clavis portæ ecclesiæ parrochialis, et curatus ecclesiæ sine morte, jaciatur in foveam pro aliquo defuncto paratam.
Quo mulier offensa, Claves remisit, domum revertit.Apud nostros solent viduæ claves et cingulum supra mariti defuncti corpus projicere, in signum quod bonorum communioni nuntium dant, ne debitis exsolvendis teneantur, de quo more agunt Consuetudines municipales, Meldensis art. 52. 53. Lotharingica tit. 2. art. 3. Malinensis art. 8. Meledunensis art. 187. Calvimontensis art. 7. Victriacensis art. 91. Laudunensis art. 16. Catalaunensis art. 30. Ducatus Burgund.
Et quia evitare non valemus quin venando et alias cum prædicto venatore conversemur ; et Claves et alia quæ ad venationem pertinent(tractemus) .
Si quis unam apem, hoc est, uno vascello furaverit de sub tecto et sub Clave, etc.
Manica temonis, in Vet. Glossario San-German. MS. n. 501.
Ad cujus rei argumentum hanc chartam Clave sigilli nostri roboratam eidem contuli.Ubi aliæ Chartæ præferunt,
munimine.
Clavus: Vita S. Lupercii apud Bosquetum :
Jussit Præses maganam fieri, et acutis eam clavavit Clavibus, etc.
Vestis purpurata, blandella(bandella). Glossar. vet. ex Cod. reg. 7613.
- CLAV-, a key: horreorum claves: clavīs portis imposuit, L.: portarum, Iu.: adulterinae portarum, false keys, S.: clavīs adimere (uxori), to divorce.—A bolt: clavīs portis imponere, L.—An instrument for driving a top: adunca trochi, Pr.
-
…eius imperio classem quoquoversus dimittunt ; onerarias naves, quas ubique possunt, deprehendunt atque in portum deducunt, parum clavis aut materia atque armamentis instructis ad reliquas armandas reficiendasque utuntur ; frumenti quod inventum est, in publicum conferunt ;…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
-
…iam negat. nolite quaerere ; frugi factus est illam suam suas res sibi habere iussit, ex duodecim tabulis clavis ademit, exegit. quam porro spectatus civis, quam probatus cuius ex omni vita nihil est honestius quam quod…
Cicero, Philippicae
-
…naves totae factae ex robore ad quamvis vim et contumeliam perferendam ; transtra ex pedalibus in altitudinem trabibus, confixa clavis ferreis digiti pollicis crassitudine ; ancorae pro funibus ferreis catenis revinctae ; pelles pro velis alutaeque tenuiter confectae, hae…
Julius Caesar, Gallic War
-
…atque impetus. clamor a vigilibus fanique custodibus tollitur ; qui primo cum obsistere ac defendere conarentur, male mulcati clavis ac fustibus repelluntur. postea convulsis repagulis ecfractisque valvis demoliri signum ac vectibus labefactare conantur. interea ex clamore fama…
Cicero, in Verrem
-
…tuam a te abalienavit, omne frumentum privatum et publicum, omnis provincias frumentarias, omnis mancipes, omnis horreorum clavis lege tua tradidisti ; qua ex lege primum caritas nata est, deinde inopia. impendebat fames, incendia ,…
Cicero, de Domo sua
-
…molli fastigio coniungunt, ubi tigna quae musculi tegendi causa ponant collocentur. eo super tigna bipedalia iniciunt eaque laminis clavisque religant. ad extremum musculi tectum trabesque extremas quadratas regulas iiii patentis digitos defigunt, quae lateres, qui super…
Julius Caesar, Civil War
-
…requiescit corpore praesul, Hanc Domino qui aulam ductus pietatis amore Fecit, et eximio sacrauit nomine Petri, Cui claues caeli Christus dedit arbiter orbis ; Atque auro ac Tyrio deuotus uestiit ostro. Quin etiam sublime crucis, radiante…
The Venerable Bede, Historiam ecclesiasticam gentis Anglorum
-
…, nec ulla domi a domesticis custodia opus erat. nunc rapiendae conparantur epulae pariterque qui rapiant eas, et claves quoque ipsas signasse non est satis. gravatis somno aut morientibus anuli detrahuntur, maiorque vitae ratio circa hoc instrumentum…
Pliny the Elder, Natural History
-
…ita tribuetur hereditas per tribus et familias possessio dividetur sin autem nolueritis interficere habitatores terrae qui remanserint erunt vobis quasi clavi in oculis et lanceae in lateribus et adversabuntur vobis in terra habitationis vestrae et quicquid illis facere cogitaram vobis faciam…
Vulgate, Latin Vulgate
-
…tribuantur, aeque gratum mihi ac si me in comitio vel inter rostra contionante ad sophos meum non modo lati clavi sed tribulium quoque fragor concitaretur. sane moneo praeque de nuntio quisquilias ipsas dius tuae hexametris minime exaeques. merito…
Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistulae, Books I-VII
CLAVIS(κλείς, dim. κλειδίον), a key. In Homer the κλεὶς is not a key in the modern meaning of the word, but rather a hook (having a leathern thong) which passed through the door from the outside, and caught the bolts (ὀχῆες), so as to shoot them home or draw them back, as required (Od. 21.6, 46-50). In some passages of Homer the word signifies simply a bolt (Od. 1.442; 21.241; L. & S. s. v.). In course of time locks and keys were made, much like those of modern times. Locks were used in Egypt at an early period, and were originally of wood, probably like those now used in Egypt, which are opened by a key furnished with several fixed pins, answering to a similar number that fall down into the movable tongue, into which the key is introduced, when they fasten or open the lock (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, 1. p. 353). At a later time we find iron keys in Egypt, consisting of a long straight shank, with three or more projecting teeth, like the one figured below The earliest mention of a key, like our own, which could be taken out of the lock, is in the Book of Judges (Judg. 3.23, 25; Wilkinson, l. c.).
Schliemann found keys of copper and bronze in the remains of the cities in the Troad. The accompanying cut represents a copper key, found close by the so-called Treasury of Priam in the ruins at Hissarlik. It is four inches long, the head of which (about two inches long and broad) greatly resembles a large safe-key of a bank.
Copper Key found at Hissarlik. (Schliemann, Troy and its Remains, p. 333, ed. 1875.)
The cut on the next column represents a curious bronze key, with a ring for suspension, found in the ruins of Novum Ilium. It has the shape of the so-called quadrangular images of Hermes, with an altar-like base forming one piece with the body, to which a quadrangular projection is fixed on the back, with a hole corresponding to the lock-bolt. (Schliemann, Ilios, pp. 620, 621, ed. 1880.)
Pliny (Plin. Nat.7.198) ascribes the invention of keys to Theodorus of Samos; and the ancient writers speak of Carian (Avien. Orat. Phen. 455), and especially of Laconian keys, because originally made by the Lacedaemonians. (Aristoph. Thesmoph. 423; Plaut. Most. 2.1, 57; Eustath. ad Od. p. 1603, 51; Suid. s. v. Λακωνικαὶ κλεῖδες: Müller, Dorians, 2. p. 25, Engl. transl.) We learn from Aristophanes (l. c.) that the Laconian key had three teeth (τρεῖς γομφίους), probably like the Egyptian key figured above. Keys are mentioned by Aeschylus (Aesch. Eum. 827) and Euripides (Eur. Med. 661); and Lysias in his speech on the murder of Eratosthenes speaks of the wife shutting the door and taking the key with her (τὴν κλεῖν ἐφέλκεται, 100.4), so that the husband was shut up in his chamber (ἀπεκλείσθην ἐν τῷ δωματίῳ, 100.5). In this case the door must have been locked from the outside.
Many Roman keys have been found, much like our own, the larger ones usually of iron, and the smaller of bronze; but there were also keys made of wood and gold in use in later times. (Augustin. de Doctr. Christ. 4.11 (26).) Besides these there was the βαλανάγρα, a key or hook, which was passed through a hole in the door-post, and raised the βάλανοι or bolts of the lock, like the Egyptian locks described above. (Hdt. 3.155; Plb. 7.16.5.) It must have been a lock of this kind which the robber in Apuleius (Met. 4.10) opens, by passing his hand through the hole, qua clavi immittendae foramen patebat. Mr. Cuming observes that Roman keys, both of bronze and iron, have been found, which were never intended to turn, the stems being square, and the webs, consisting of from one to five or six teeth, rising from a bar bent at an acute angle to the stem; which teeth would serve the purpose of elevating pegs, as in the Egyptian locks.
The street door was usually fastened inside by bolts (pessuli) and a bar (sera), but it also had a key which the janitor of the house kept. (Apul. Met. 9.20; cf. 4.18.) The cut given below represents a key found at Pompeii, and now in the Museum of Naples, the size of which indicates that it was used as a door-key. The tongue with an eye in it, which projects from the extremity of the handle, served to suspend it from the wrist of the janitor. The rooms of the house were also opened inside with keys; and hence in both cases we read subdita clavi pessulos reduco (Apul. Met. 1.14), clavi pessulis subjecta repandit fores (ibid. 9.20), where pessuli mean the bolts of the lock. The doors often had locks both inside and outside. This is evident from Plaut. Most. 2.1, 57, where a Laconian key is mentioned for locking the door from the outside, compared with verse 78--Clavim cedo atque abi intro atque obclude ostium,Et ego hinc [i. e. foris] obcludam.
(Cf. Achill. Tat. 2.19.)
When a Roman woman first entered her husband's house, the keys of the store-rooms were handed to her. Hence the form of divorce, in the Twelve Tables, was that the husband took away the keys (claves ademit, exegit, Cic. Phil. 2.2. 8, 69); and the wife, when she separated from the husband, sent him back the keys
(claves remisit, Ambros. Ep. 65). But the keys of the wine-cellar were not entrusted to the wife, and Fabius Pictor related a story of a married woman having been starved to death by her relatives because she picked the lock of the closet in which the keys of the wine-cellar were kept (Plin. Nat.14.89), The key of the street door was, as we have already seen, kept by the janitor, and the keys of the other departments of the house by slaves to whom such departments belonged (Sen. de Ir. 2.25). To this Martial (Mart. 5.35) alludes.
There were false or skeleton keys, called by the Romans adulterinae or adulterae, used by robbers for entering a house (Sall. B. J. 12 ; cf. Ov. A. A. 3.643). Besides locks fixed permanently on doors, the Romans also had padlocks to be removed at pleasure. Mr. Cuming (see below) gives a specimen of such a padlock, with the corresponding key. Small keys were at times attached to rings to be worn on the hand. [ANULUSp. 131 a. ] In the annexed cut from Guhl and Koner, figure a represents a ring-key, b a lock with wards, for which a key of a complicated form must have been necessary, and c a ring with several small keys attached, which probably served to open jewel-cases or other small cases.
The gates of a city were locked by keys (Liv. 27.24, 8; Juven. 15.158).
The epithet κλειδοῦχος or claviger, key-bearer, is given to several of the gods as having charge or custody of a place. Thus it is an epithet of Janus, as the god of doors Ov. Fast. 1.228; cf. Macrob. Sat. 1.9). Hecate, the goddess, who held the keys of Hades, is constantly thus represented in ancient works of art.
On the clavis trochi, see TROCHUS
(On ancient keys, see Cuming, History of Keys in Journal of the British Archaeol. Association, vol. 12. p. 117 foll.; Wills, ibid. vol. 13. p. 335; Marquardt, Privatleben d. Röm. p. 226; Becker-Göll, Charikles, 2. p. 148 ; Gallus, 2. p. 327.)
[W.S](κλείς, dim. κλειδίον). A key. In Homer the κλείς is not a key in the modern meaning of the word, but rather a hook (having a leathern thong) which passed through the door from the outside and caught the bolts (ὀχῆες), so as to shoot them home or draw them back as required ( Od. xxi. 6, 46-50). In some passages of Homer the word signifies simply a bolt ( Od. i. 442; xxi. 241; L. and S. s. v.). In course of time locks and keys were made, much like those of modern times. Locks were used in Egypt at an early period, and were originally of wood, probably like those now used there, which are opened by a key furnished with several fixed pins, answering to a similar number that fall down into the movable tongue, into which the key is introduced, when they fasten or open the lock. At a later time we find iron keys in Egypt, consisting of a long straight shank, with three or more projecting teeth, like the one figured in preceding column. The earliest mention of a key, like our own, which could be taken out of the lock, is in the Book of Judges (iii. 23, 25).
Schliemann found keys of copper and bronze in the remains of the cities in the Troad. The accompanying cut represents a copper key, found close by the so-called Treasury of Priam in the ruins at Hissarlik.
The cut below represents a curious bronze key, with a ring for suspension, found in the ruins of Novum Ilium. “It has the shape of the so-called quadrangular images of Hermes, with an altar-like base forming one piece with the body, to which a quadrangular projection is fixed on the back, with a hole corresponding to the lockbolt” (Schliemann, Ilios, pp. 620, 621).
Pliny (Pliny H. N. vii. 198) ascribes the invention of keys to Theodorus of Samos; and the ancient writers speak of Carian, and especially of Laconian keys, because originally made by the Lacedaemonians. We learn from Aristophanes that the Laconian key had three teeth (τρεῖς γομφίους), probably like the Egyptian key figured above. Keys are mentioned by Aeschylus and Euripides; and Lysias, in his speech on the murder of Eratosthenes, speaks of the wife shutting the door and taking the key with her (τὴν κλεῖν ἐφέλκετια, c. 4), so that the husband was shut up in his chamber. In this case the door must have been locked from the outside.
Many Roman keys have been found much like our own, the larger ones usually of iron and the smaller of bronze; but there were also keys made of wood and gold in use in later times. Besides these there was the βαλανάγρα, a key or hook, which was passed through a hole in the door-post, and raised the βάλανοι or bolts of the lock, as in the Egyptian locks described above (Herod.iii. 155). It must have been a lock of this kind which the robber in Apuleius (Met. iv. 10) opens, by passing his hand through the hole, qua clavi immittendae foramen patebat. Roman keys, both of bronze and iron, have been found which were never intended to turn, the stems being square, and the webs, consisting of from one to five or six teeth, rising from a bar bent at an acute angle to the stem; which teeth would serve the purpose of elevating pegs, as in the Egyptian locks.
The street-door was usually fastened inside by bolts (pessuli) and a bar (sera), but it also had a key which the ianitor of the house kept. The cut given below represents a key found at Pompeii, and now in the Museum of Naples, the size of which indicates that it was used as a door-key. The tongue with an eye in it, which projects from the extremity of the handle, served to suspend it from the wrist of the ianitor. The rooms of the house were also opened inside with keys. The doors often had locks both inside and outside. This is evident from Plaut. Most. ii. 1, 57, where a Laconian key is mentioned for locking the door from the outside, compared with verse 78— “Clavim cedo atque abi intro atque obclude ostium, Et ego hinc [i. e. foris] obcludam.”
When a Roman woman first entered her husband's house, the keys of the store-rooms were handed to her. Hence the form of divorce, in the Twelve Tables, was that the husband took away the keys (claves ademit, exegit, Cic. Phil. ii. 28, 69); and the wife, when she separated from the husband, sent him back the keys (claves remisit, Ambros. Plin. Ep. 65). But the keys of the winecellar were not intrusted to the wife, and Fabius Pictor related a story of a married woman having been starved to death by her relatives because she picked the lock of the closet in which the keys of the wine-cellar were kept (Plin. H. N. xiv. 89).
A skeleton key was known as clavis adultera (Sall. Iug. 12).