Quartus (Hastings' Dictionary)

Mentioned with Erastus, the treasurer of Corinth, a.s joining in St. Paul's greeting to the Church of Rome, Ro 16^. He is commemorated Nov. 3. Later traditions will be found in Acta Sanctorum, Nov., i. p. 5S5. A. C. Headlam. QUATERNION (nTpiSiov) means a group consist- ing of lour ]iersons or things. The Greek word is a aTrai \ey. in NT, being found only in Ac 12^ Tapa5oi>s Tetro-apctv TerpaSiotg arparLitiTuiv <pv\d<xff€LV avTov, Vulg. quatuor quatemionihus. A Roman watch consisted, Polyuius tells us, of four men (vi. 33 : rd ipvXaKeTiv itrrtv iK Terrdpuv dvopu^v), and Vegetius {de Re Mititari, iii. 8) wTites : ' De singulis ccnturiis quaterni equites et quatemi pedites ex- culiituni noctil)us faciunt.' The same author goes on to explain that the night was divided into four watches of three hours eacii ; cf. Jerome, Epist. 140. 8 (ed. Vallarsi). It seems that one member of tlie quaternion watched (while the other three slept) through each watch. It appears from Jn 19-^ (of. Ef. Petr. 9) that a TerpaSiov was on guard during the Crucifixion, and from Mt 27'" (ix^-rt KovnTuiolav) ]ierhaps that the same quaternion was on duty at the time of the Resurrection : but see GUAKD, 4. TerpiSioK occurs in Philu (udo. flavcmn, ii. 533. 25, ed. Mangey) with the same colouring as in NT, CTpaTiJinji' Tifa Twy if Tois T€Tpa5ioL^ tpvXdKujv, and fairly frequently in late authors in the sense of a quire of a book containing four double leaves, i.e. sixteen pages. The Latin form quaternio is rare, and occurs only once in the Vulgate, if we may trust Dutripon. The Peshitta of Ac 12* ('sixteen soldiers') misses the clear reference to Roman militarj' custom. On this subject cf. Marquardt and Mommsen, Handb. der roni. Altcrlhiimcr, v. 4u7 (ed. 1876). W. Emery Barxes.