or FOCIALES, an order of priests or officers amongst the ancient Romans, consisting of twenty persons, appointed to proclaim war, to negotiate peace, and to perform various other duties.

Festus derives the word from ferio, I strike, as ferire fidus signifies to conclude a treaty; and accordingly, instead of feciales he would have it written ferialies. Others derive it from fidus, which was anciently written fedus, probably from fides, faith; and others again from fecio, feci, I make, because they made war and peace. Vossius chooses to derive it from fatu, the latter supine of the verb fari, to speak, in which sense the feciales should be the same with oratores; and this opinion is also confirmed by the authority of Varro, who says that they were called indifferently feciales and oratores.

The feciales were a sort of heralds, who, when the Romans had any dispute with their neighbours, were sent first to demand the thing intended to be usurped, or to require satisfaction for the injury alleged to be done. If an answer satisfactory to the people and the senate was not returned by them, they were dispatched again to declare war; and the same thing took place in treating for peace, the feciales being the only persons appointed to negotiate between the senate and the enemy.

Plutarch, in the life of Numa, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, observe that the feciales were first instituted by that prince. The latter adds that they were originally chosen out of the best families in Rome; that their office, which was reputed a sort of sacerdotium, or priesthood, only ended with their life; that their persons were sacred and inviolable, like those of other priests; that they were even charged to see that the republic did not declare war unjustly; that they were authorized to receive the complaints and remonstrances of nations who pretended to have been in any way injured by the Romans; that if these complaints were found just, they were bound to seize the criminals, and to deliver them up to those whom they had offended; that they were invested with the rights and privileges of ambassadors; that they not only concluded treaties of peace and alliance, but took care that these were executed, and even abolished them, if they were found not to be equitable. Livy (lib. i. cap. 24) describes the institution of feciales to Ancus Martius, in the year of Rome 114. But Varro assures us, that in his time most of the functions of the feciales were set aside; though Plutarch observes that they had still some authority in his time.

The feciales were crowned with cerbena or vervain when they proceeded to declare war. The head was covered with a veil, over which the crown was applied. In this page they proceeded to the frontiers of the country which had been declared hostile, and threw a bloody dart or javelin into the ground within the same. In Livy and other ancient authors we have the formula used in such declarations.