Vine staff

The vine staff, vine-staff, or centurion's staff (Latin: vitis) was a vinewood rod of about 3 feet (1 m) in length used in the ancient Roman Army and Navy. It was the mark and tool of the centurion: both as an implement in the direction of drill and maneuvers; and to beat wayward or laggard soldiers or sailors under his command. It was also borne by evocati who held an equivalent rank.

Origin

The vine staff may have derived from the Etruscan lituus and was certainly in use by the Punic Wars. Following the enactment of the Porcian Laws in the early 2nd century BC, it was the only manner by which Roman citizens could be beaten and is mentioned by various classical authors. A line in Ovid notes that "the good general commits the vitis to one to command one hundred."Pliny: "The centurion's vine staff is an excellent medicine for sluggish troops who don't want to advance..." "and when used to chastise offenses makes even the punishment respectable." It carried none of the stigma of the whipping (by virgae) suffered by criminals prior to execution or the cudgeling (by fustuaria) endured for severe military offenses.Tacitus mentions Lucilius, a centurion known as "Gimme Another" (Cedo Alterum or Alteram) for his tendency to break his vine staffs during beatings; he was one of the first killed during the Pannonian Mutiny. Generally, however, soldiers were expected to endure their punishments; seizing the vine staff was cause for demotion and breaking it or harming the centurion were offenses punishable by death. Some scholars state the vine staff was the instrument used to beat the Iceni queen Boadicca.St Marcellus the Centurion was martyred following a scene where he cast away his vine staff and repudiated his rank.

Vine

A vine (Latin vīnea "grapevine", "vineyard", from vīnum "wine") in the narrowest sense is the grapevine (Vitis), but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems or runners. The word also can refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance when used in wicker work.

In the United Kingdom, the term "vine" applies almost exclusively to the grapevine. The term "climber" is used for all climbing plants.

Growth forms

Certain plants always grow as vines, while a few grow as vines only part of the time. For instance, poison ivy and bittersweet can grow as low shrubs when support is not available, but will become vines when support is available.

A vine displays a growth form based on long stems. This has two purposes. A vine may use rock exposures, other plants, or other supports for growth rather than investing energy in a lot of supportive tissue, enabling the plant to reach sunlight with a minimum investment of energy. This has been a highly successful growth form for plants such as kudzu and Japanese honeysuckle, both of which are invasive exotics in parts of North America. There are some tropical vines that develop skototropism, and grow away from the light, a type of negative phototropism. Growth away from light allows the vine to reach a tree trunk, which it can then climb to brighter regions.

Vinež

Vinež is a town in the Labin municipality in Istria County, Croatia.

References

Ávine

Ávine Júnior Cardoso or simply Ávine (born February 21, 1988 in Aimorés) is a Brazilian footballer, who plays for Brazilian club Bahia.

Honours

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