NOBLES, amongst the Romans, were such as had the jur imaginum, or the right of using the pictures or statues of their ancestors; a right which was allowed only to those whose ancestors had borne some curule office, that is, had been curule ædile, censor, prætor, or consul. For a long time none but the patricii were the nobiles, because no person except those holding that superior rank could bear any curule office; and hence in Livy, Sallust, and other authors, the word nobilitas is used to signify the patrician order, and is hence opposed to plebs. To render the true meaning of nobiles still clearer, let it be observed, that the Roman people were divided into nobiles, novi, and ignobiles. The nobiles were those who had the pictures or statues of their ancestors; the novi were such as had only their own; and the ignobiles were such as had neither. The Roman nobility, by way of distinction, wore a half moon upon their shoes, especially those of patrician rank.
The nobility of Greece were called Επαρχίδαι, as being descended from those old heroic ancestors so famous in history. Such were the Πραξιεγίδαι, Ετροβυτίδαι, Αλμαγονίδαι, and others, all of whom had many privileges annexed to their quality, and, amongst the rest, that they wore grasshoppers in their hair as a badge of nobility.