Lewis & Short

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2. ac-cendo, ndi, nsum, 3, v. a. [cf. candeo], prop. to kindle any thing above, so that it may burn downwards (on the contr., succendere, to kindle underneath, so that it may burn upwards; and incendere, to set fire to on every side) (class., esp. in the trop. signif., very freq.).

  1. I. Lit., to set on fire, to kindle, light: ut Pergama accensa est, Liv. Andr. ap. Non. 512, 31 (Rib. Trag. Rel. p. 1): faces accensae, Cic. Pis. 5: lumen de suo lumine, to kindle, Enn. ap. Cic. Off. 1, 16, 51 (Trag. v. 388 ed. Vahl.); cf.: ita res accendent lumina rebus, Lucr. 1 fin.; and: Deus solem quasi lumen accendit, Cic. Univ. 9, 28; so, ignem, Verg. A. 5, 4 al.
    1. B. Meton., to light up, to illuminate: luna radiis solis accensa, Cic. Rep. 6, 17 (cf. id. N. D. 1, 31, 87); so of the lustre of gold: et gemmis galeam clypeumque accenderat auro, Sil. 15, 681 (but in Cic. Arch. 6, 14, the correct read. is accederet, v. Halm a. h. l.).
  2. II. Fig., to inflame a person or thing (by any thing), to set on fire, to kindle, to incite, rouse up; aliquem or aliquid aliqua re: placare hostem ferocem inimiciterque accensum, Att. ap. Non. 514, 22: quos meritā accendit Mezentius irā, Verg. A. 8, 50: nunc prece nunc dictis virtutem accendit amaris, id. ib. 10, 368 (7, 482, bello animos accendit, is more properly dat.). That to which one is excited is denoted by ad: ad dominationem accensi sunt, Sall. Jug. 31, 16; the person against whom one is excited, by in or contra: in maritum accendebat, Tac. A. 1, 53: quae res Marium contra Metellum vehementer accenderat, Sall. J. 64, 4; with quare c. subj.: accendis quare cupiam magis illi proximus esse, Hor. S. 1, 9, 53. The historians use this word very often, esp. with abstract substt.: certamen, Liv. 35, 10: discordiam, id. 2, 29: spem, Tac. Ann. 12, 34 (cf. Verg. A. 5, 183): dolorem, id. ib. 15, 1 al. In Cic. de Or. 1, 25, 114, praeclare enim se res habeat, si haec accendi aut commoveri arte possint, accendi is obviously the first enkindling, rousing, of talent (syn. with commoveri); cf. id. de Or. 2, 47; id. Phil. 3, 7. And so perhaps Sen. Ben. 7, 9: crystallina … quorum accendit fragilitas pretium, signifies vessels of crystal, whose fragility gives them value (in the eyes of luxurious men).

ac-censĕo (ŭi), nsum, 2, v. a., to reckon to or among, to add to; as a verb. finit. very rare: numine sub dominae lateo atque accenseor illi, i. e. I am her companion, Ov. M. 15, 546; and: accensi, qui his accensebantur, id est attribuebantur, Non. 520, 7.
But hence in frequent use, ac-census, a, um, P. a., reckoned among, or subst. accensus, i., m.

  1. A. One who attends another of higher rank, an attendant, follower; hence, a state officer who attended one of the highest magistrates (consul, proconsul, praetor, etc.) at Rome or in the provinces, for the purpose of summoning parties to court, maintaining order and quiet during its sessions, and proclaiming the hours; an apparitor, attendant, orderly (on account of this office, Varr. 6, § 89 Müll., would derive the word from accieo), Varr. ap. Non. 59, 2 sq.; Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 4 and 7; id. Att. 4, 16; Liv. 45, 29, 2; Suet. Caes. 20 al.
    The person to whom one is accensus is annexed in dat. or gen.: qui tum accensus Neroni fuit, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 28: libertus, accensus Gabinii, id. Att. 4, 16, 12. The Decurions and Centurions also had their accensi as aids, Varr. L. L. 7, § 58 Müll.; also at funerals, as leader of the procession, Cic. Leg. 2, 24, 61. Cf. on the accensi, Necker’s Antiq. 2, 2, p. 375 sq.
  2. B. accensi, a kind of reserve troops who followed the army as supernumeraries (= ascripticii, or, in later times, supernumerarii), to take the place of those who fell in battle. They had no arms, and were only clothed with the military cloak, and hence called velati: quia vestiti et inermes sequuntur exercitum, Paul. ex Fest. p. 369 Müll.; they used in battle only slings and stones. They were also employed in constructing public roads. Cf. Mommsen, Degli Accensi Velati, in Annali del. Inst. vol. xxi. (1849), p. 209 sq.; and Necker’s Antiq. 3, 2, p. 242 sq.

1. accensus, a, um.

        1. a. Part. of accendo, kindled.
        2. b. P. a. of accenseo, reckoned among; v. these words.

2. accensus, ūs, m. [accendo], a kindling or setting on fire: lucernarum, Plin. 37, 7, 29, § 103 dub. (al. assensu): luminum, Symm. 3, 48; Plin. 37, 7, 29, acc. to Hard.