SCHOENOBATES, (from the Greek, exous, a robe; and baum, I walk), a name which the Greeks gave to their rope-dancers: by the Romans called funambuli. See ROPE-DANCER and FUNAMBULUS.
The schonobates were slaves whose masters made money of them, by entertaining the people with their feats of activity. Mercurialis de arte gymnastica, lib. iii. gives us five figures of schonobates engraven after ancient flutes.