under the western empire, signified a grave-digger. In the first ages of the church there were clerks destined for this employment. In 357, Constantine made a law in their favour, exempting them from the lustral contribution levied upon all traders. During his reign also they were first called copiatae, i.e. clerks destined for bodily labour, from *κοπία* to toil. Before that time they were called decani and lectarii; probably because they were divided into decades or tens, each of which had a bier or litter for the carriage of dead bodies. Their place among the clerks was the next in order before the chanters.