century became common : the ring, as the symbol of the espousal of the bishop to the church ; the crosier or shepherd's staff (also called crook, because it was generally curved at the top) ; and the pallium,' a shoulder cloth, after the example of the ephod of the Jewish high-priest, and per- haps of the sacerdotal mantle worn by the Roman emperors as jpontifices maximi. The pallium is a seamless cloth hang- ing over the shoulders, formerly of white linen, in the West subsequently of white lamb's wool, with four red or black crosses wrought in it with silk. According to the present usage of the Roman church the wool is taken from the lambs ^ 'lepa (ttoAt?, 6}ixo<popi.ov, superbumerale, pallium, also ephod (nizx e-Kajxis). The ephod (Ex. xxviii. 6-11 ; and xxxix. 2-5), in connection vrith the square breast- plate belonging to it (yrn comp. Ex. xxviii. 15-30 ; xxxix. 8-21), was the princi- pal ofEcial vestment of the Jewish high-priest, and no doubt served as the precedent for the archiepiscopal pallium, but exceeded the latter in costliness. It consisted of two shoulder pieces (like the pallium and the chasubles), which hung over the upper part of the body before and behind, and were skilfully wrought of fine linen in three colors, fastened by golden rings and chains, and richly ornamented with gold thread, and twelve precious stones, on which the names of the twelve tribes were graven. Whether the sacred oracle, Urim and Thummim (LXX. : l-iiKaais Kal aXriSteia, Ex. xxviii. 30), was identical with the twelve precious stones in the breastplate, the learned are not agreed. Comp. Winer, Bibl. Reallex., and W. Smith, Dictionary of the Bible, sub Urwi and Thummim. 266 THIED PERIOD. A.D. 311-590. of St. Agnes, wliicli are every year solemnly blessed and sacri- ficed by the pope in memory of this pure virgin. Hence the later symbolical meaning of the pallium, as denoting the bishop's following of Christ, the good Shepherd, with the lost and reclaimed sheep upon his shoulders. Alexandrian tradition traced this vestment to the evangelist Mark ; but Gregory IS'a- zianzen expressly says that it was first given by Constantine the Great to the bishop Macarius of Jerusalem.' In the East it was worn by all bishops, in the West by archbishops only, on whom, from the time of Gregory I., it was conferred by the pope on their accession, to office. At first the investiture was gratuitous, but afterward came to involve a considerable fee, according to the revenues of the archbishopric. As the bishop united in himself all the rights and privileges of the clerical office, so he was expected to show himself a model in the discharge of its duties and a follower of the great Archbishop and Archshepherd of tlie sheep. He was expected to exliibit in a high degree the ascetic virtues, especially that of virginity, which, according to Catholic ethics, belongs to the idea of moral perfection. Many a bishoj), like Athanasius,