The following coin was struck in the curule aedile- ship of Scaurus and his colleague, P. Plautius Hyps^us. The subject of the obverse relates to H\-psieus, and that of the reverse to Scaurus. The former represents Jupi- ter in a quadriga, with p. hypsaevs. aeu. cvk. c. hvp- SA12. COS. PKEivEi{. CAPTV. ; the latter part of the legend referring to the conquest of Privernum by C. Plautius Hypsajus, in B.C. 341. On the obverse side is a camel, with Aretas kneeling by the side of the animal, and holding an olive-branch in his hand. The subject re- fers to the conquest of Aretas by Scaurus mentioned above. The legend is m. scavr. aed. cvr. ex. s. c, and below rex aretas (Eckhel, v, 131,275). — Smith, Diet, of Or. and Rom. Biog. s. v. See Aretas.
Coin of M. ^milius Scaurus, Juu.
Scenophylaces. See Ceimeliarch^.
Scenophylacium, the innermost part of the dia- conicuin, or vestry of the church, and the repository of the sacred vessels and such anaihemata or presents as were reputed among the chiefest treasures of the church. It was otherwise called Secreturium, because, as Du Fresne conjectures, the consistory or tribunal of the church was kept here. See Bingham, Aniiq. of the Christian Church, i, 311.
Scephrus, in Greek mythology, was a son' of Te- geates, king of Tegea. He had an inter\'iew with Apollo in the temple at Tegea, and his brother Limon, believing that its object -was to lodge a complaint against himself, slew him. Limon was himself slain by an arrow from Diana's quiver; but a great dearth came to pass, nevertheless, and the oracle advised that mourning ceremonies be observed in memory of Sce- phrus. Games were accordingly instituted in honor of Apollo and Diana, in which a priestess of the latter, armed with bow and arrpw, was expected to pursue any individual, in imitation of the pursuit of Limon by Di- ana.— Vollmer, WOrterb. d. Mi/thol. s. v.
Scepticism (from Gr. aKiTTTOf^iai, I consider') strict- ly denotes that condition in which the mind is before it has arrived at conclusive opinioi;s — when it is still in the act of investigating or reflecting. Scepticism is therefore the opposite of dogmatism. Disbelief is quite a secondary meaning of the term. The Sceptics (dis- ciples of Pyrrho of Elis) aimed at an undisturbed tran- quillity of mind, to be attained by a constant balancing of opposing arguments, thus reducing everything to a state of uiicerlainty and doubt. Popularly, the word is employed to signify the rejection of all religion— infi- delity.
Scepticism has assumed several forms, of which the following are among the most common, (i) Pantheism, or antisupernaturalism. Spinoza, the leailer of this class, talks of nothing less than demonstration, and of being infallibly led to each conclusion by arguments which admit of no reply; a geometrical method ofdem-
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onstration, the use of which, he said, made it unncct-ssa- ry to attend to the arguments of opponents, (ii) The academic form, which originated with the Sophists, and which Bayle revived, the essence of which consists in opposing all the systems of speculative belief to each other. Academic doubt is ever seeking, for the avowed purpose of never finding; and perpetually reasoning, in order that it may never come to any conclusion, (iii) The absolute form, which strikes at the root of all opin- ions, and appears to found a system of universal doubt in the human understanding itself. Of this kind of scepticism the writings of Hume furnish the great and unrivalled example in modern times, (iv) Ridicule. This contains no philosophy, but is a mere series of doubting and jesting. Such was the scepticism of Voltaire, (v) The historical form : this is contained in a narrative relating to the times and circumstances with which religion is chiefly concerned ; and while preserving an outward regard to morals, misrepresents with irony the miraculous history of the Bible, and takes care, without absolutely falsifying facts, to place it in an absurd and improbable point of view. The history of Gibbon, dealing much in insinuation and very little in argument, is, perhaps, the most dangerous production in this class which has yet appeared, be- cause it least admits of a reply. For who, as Paley ob- serves, "can refute a sneer?" (vi) Sentimental m^dfA- ity. Such was the unbelief of Rousseau. Other infi- dels would destroy Christianity without having fixed on any other system to substitute in its place ; but, if Rousseau has no system, he has abundance of " senti- ments" and imaginations, and has a dim poetical deity of his own to worship, though he can assign no definite attributes to it, nor form any positive conception of his sha<lo\vy god. See Eden, Theol. IHcf. s. v.
The most modern form of scepticism is rationalism (q. v.), which strictly signifies that method of thought which, in matters of religion, not only allows the use of reason, but considers it indispensable. The term has now, however, acquired a wider meaning, and stands in opposition to supernaturalism (q. v.), or the belief in that which transcends, or, as others view it, contradicts both nature and reason — as, for example, miracles.
Sceptics. See Scepticism.
Sceptre (Heb. UillJ, she'bet), in its primary signifi- cation, like the equivalent nKrjTTTpov (for the root of the Hebrew and Greek words seems identical ; comp. also English shaft), denotes a staff' of wood (Ezek. xix, 11), about the height of a man, which the ancient kings and chiefs bore as insignia of honor (Homer, Iliad, i, 234, 245; ii, 185 sq. ; Amos i, 5; Zech. x, 11 , Wisd. x, 14; corap. Gen. xlix, 10; Numb, xxiv, 17; Isa. xiv, 5; wand, Lev. xxvii, 32). As such it is thought by some to have originated in the shepherd's staff, since the first kings were mostly nomad princes (Strabo, xvi, 783; comp. Psa. xxix). There were, however, some nations among whom the agricultural life must have been the earliest known ; and we should not among