II. Grecian and Roman antiquity likewise affords mention of the right of asylum (Serv. ad ^En. viii, 341), not only at altars, and temples, and sacred places (Ilerod. ii, 113; Eurip. Bee. 149; P. .isan. ii,5,6; iii 5. 0 ; Dio Cass, xlvii, 14 ; Strabo, v, 230 ; Tacit. Annul. iii, 60, 1 ; Flor. ii, 12), but also in cities and their vicin- ity (Polyb. vi, 14, 8 ; comp. Potter, Greek A nt. i, 48 ; see Cramer, De ara exter. t, mplisi c. p. 16 sq. ; Dougtaji Anal, i, 102 sq.), for insolvent debtors (Plutarch. De vitando aere al. 3), for slaves who had fled from the se- verity of their masters (comp. Philo, Opp. ii, 468), also for murderers. An especially famous city of ex- emption was Daphne, near Antioch (2 Mace, iv, 33), as also the temple of Diana at Ephesus (Strabo, xiv, 641 ; Apollon. Ephes. Ep. 65). But as the abuse of the privileges of asylum often interfered with crim- inal jurisprudence, it was circumscribed by Tiberius throughout the Roman empire (Suet. Tib. 37; comp. Ernesti Excurs. in loc). On the immunities referred to in Acts xvi, 12, see Colony. (On cities of refuge in Abyssinia, see Euppell, ii, 71.)— Winer, i, 379. See City' of Refuge.
III. The privilege of asylum was retained in the Christian Church, probably in imitation of the cities of refuge, under the old dispensation. All criminals who fled to such asylums were held to be safe, and any person violating an asylum was punished with excom- munication. All Christian churches, in the early ages, possessed this privilege of affording protection or asylum. It was introduced by Constantine, and first regulated by law under the emperors Theodosius the Great, Arcadius, Honorius, Theodosius, and Justinian. The multiplication of these privileged places soon be- came exceedingly inconvenient, and it was found nec- essary, from time to time, to circumscribe the ecclesi- astical right of asylum by various limitations. Bish- ops and councils became jealous of the interference of the civil power in this matter : they contended strong- ly for the right of sanctuary, and continued to uphold it to an injurious and demoralizing extent. The privi- lege was extended by the councils of Orange, A.D. 441 ; of Orleans, 511 ; of Aries, 541 ; of Macon, 586 ;
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of Rheims, 630; of Toledo, 681. It was recognised and confirmed by Charlemagne and his successors. The practice long prevailed in popish countries ; but the evils at length became so enormous, that even popes and councils were obliged to set limits to the privilege. The custom has now become extinct, or has been greatly reformed. — Bingham, Orirj. Eccles. bk. viii. eh. xi.
IV. The laws of King Alfred recognised the right of asylum in England. It was not till the year 1487, in the reign of Henry VII, that by a bull of Pope In- nocent VIII it was declared that, if thieves, robbers, and murderers, having taken refuge in sanctuaries, should sally out and commit fresh offences, and then return to their place of shelter, they might be taken out by the king's officers. It was only by an act of Parliament, passed in 1534, after the Reformation, that persons accused of treason were debarred of the privi- lege of sanctuary. After the complete establishment of the Reformation, however, in the reign of Elizabeth, neither the churches nor sanctuaries of any other de- scription were allowed to become places of refuge for either murderers or other criminals. But various buildings and precincts in and near London contin- ued for a long time after this to afford shelter to debtors. At length, in 1697, all such sanctuaries, or pretended sanctuaries, were finally suppressed by the act 8 and 9 William III, chap. 26*— Penny Cyclop. s. v.
On the subject generally, see Helfrecht, Abhandlung von den Asijlen (Haf. 1801 j 8vo) ; Dann, Ueber den Ur- sprung des Asylrechts und dessen Schicksale und Ueber- resti in Europa (in Reyscher and Wilda, Zeitschriftjur deutsches Reiht, iii, 327 sq.) ; Vau\y, Real-Encykl. i,*889 sq. ; comp. Liebner, De asylis (Lips. 1673) ; Moebius, 'Aav\o\oyia (Lips. 1673); Kampmuller, L)e asylis pon- tijicorum (Lips. 1711) ; Bohner, De sanctitate ecclesiar. (Hal. 1732); Zech, De jure asyli eccl. (Ingolst. 1761; also in Schmidt's Thes.jur. eccl. v, 284); Neininger, De orig. asyli iccl. (Frib. 1788). Other treatises are bv Benzel (in his Dissertt. Acad, i, 437), Carlholm (Upsal. 1682), Goetze (Jen. 1660), Ehrenbach (Tub. 1686), Engelbrecht (Helmst. 1720), Gronwall (Lips. 1726), Gimther (Lips. 1689), Lobbetius (Leod. 1641), Tophoff (Paderb. 1839), Lyncker (Frcft. 1698). See Sanctuary.
Asyn'critus C AavyKpirog, not to be compared), the name of a Christian at Rome to whom Paul sent a salutation (Rom. xvi, 14), A.I). 55. The Greek Church hold that he was a bishop of Hyrcania, and observe his festival April 8.
A'tad (Heb. Atad', TJX, a thorn; Sept. 'Ardc), the person (B.C. 1856 or ante) on whose threshing- floor the sons of Jacob and the Egyptians who accom- panied th^m performed their final act of solemn mourn- ing for Jacob (Gen. 1, 10, 11); on which account the place was afterward called AjJEL-MlZRAlM (q. v.), '•the mourning of the Egyptians." Schwarz (Palest. p. 79) causes unnecessary difficulty by placing it east of the .Ionian; whereas the expression "beyond Jor- dan" is to be understood with reference to a foreign approach from the east. According to Jerome (Onom. s. v. Area-atad), it was in his day called Bethgla or Bethacla < Beth-Hogla), a name which he connects with the gyratory dances or races of the funeral ceremony: '•locus pyri ; co quod ill more plangentium circurcie- rint." Beth-Hoglah is known to have lain between the Jordan and Jericho, therefore on ihe west Fide of Jordan [see Beth-Hoglah]; and with this agrees the fad of the mention of the ( anaauitcs, "the inhabitants of the land." who were confined to the west side of the river (see, among others, verse 13 of this chapter), and one of whose special haunts was the sunken district "by the 'side' of Jordan" (Num. xiii. 29). See Ca- naan. The word --:'. "beyond," although usually signifying the cast oif Jordan, is yet used for either