Antiquity. The ceryces were a sort of public criers, appointed to proclaim or publish things aloud in assemblies. The ceryce among the Greeks answered to the praeco among the Romans. Our criers exercise only a small part of the office and authority which belonged to ceryces and praecomes. There were two kinds of ceryces, civil and sacred. The former were those appointed to call assemblies, and maintain silence therein; also to go on messages, and generally to do the office of our heralds. The sacred ceryces were a sort of priests, whose office it was to proclaim silence at the public games and sacrifices, to publish the names of the conquerors, to proclaim feasts, and the like. The priesthood of the ceryces was annex- ed to a particular family, the descendants of Ceryx, son of Eumolpus. To them it also belonged to lead solemn victims to slaughter. Before the ceremonies began, they called silence in the assembly, by the formula: Ἐπιστήμης ὁρᾶν καὶ τοῦ ἀκούειν; answering to the facete linguis of the Romans. When the service was over, they dismissed the people with this formula, Αἰωνίῳ ἀπολέσαι, Ἀπόσυσθαι.