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|lshtext=<b>actĭo</b>: ōnis, f. [[ago]],<br /><b>I</b> a doing, performing, acting, [[action]], [[act]].<br /><b>I</b> In gen.: non [[modo]] deos spoliat motu et actione divina, sed [[etiam]] homines inertes efficit, Cic. N. D. 1, 37; 2, 16; virtutis [[laus]] [[omnis]] in actione consistit, id. Off. 1, 6; id. Fin. 5, 19, 54.—With [[subject]]. gen.: ad eas res parandas, quibus [[actio]] vitae continetur, [[active]], [[practical]] [[life]], id. Off. 1, 5: corporis, id. Div. 1, 32: mentis, id. N. D. 1, 17; and [[with]] [[object]]. gen.: [[itaque]] nec [[actio]] rerum illarum (the [[public]] [[performance]] of those things) apertā petulantiā vacat, id. ib. 1, 35, 127; ib. 1, 43: [[actio]] ullius rei, id. Ac. 2, 33, 108; and so <[[number]] opt="n">plur.</[[number]]>: periculosae rerum actiones sunt, Off. 1, 2, 4; [[hence]]: [[actio]] gratiarum, the giving of [[thanks]], id. Fam. 10, 19 (cf.: gratias agere).—<br /><b>II</b> Esp.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>A</b> Public functions, [[civil]] acts, proceedings, or duties.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>1</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In gen., Cic. Fam. 9, 8: tribunorum, [[their]] [[official]] duties, Liv. 5, 11; so, [[consularis]], id. 4, 55 al.: actiones [[nostras]] scriptis mandamus, Cic. Off. 2, 1; Caes. B. C. 1, 5.—Hence [[negotiation]], [[deliberation]]: discessu consulum [[actio]] de [[pace]] sublata est, Cic. Att. 9. 9.—Esp.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>2</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of [[judicial]] proceedings.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>a</b> An [[action]], [[suit]], [[process]] (in abstr.), [[with]] a gen. [[more]] [[precisely]] defining it, e. g. [[actio]] furti, injuriarum; also [[with]] de: [[actio]] de repetundis, de arboribus succisis, etc.: actionem alicui intendere, Cic. Mil. 14: instituere, to [[bring]] an [[action]] [[against]] one, id. Mur. 9: multis actiones (processes, suits) et res (the [[property]] in [[suit]]) peribant, Liv. 39, 18 al.—<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>b</b> The [[accusation]] (in concr.), the [[statement]] of the [[crime]], the [[indictment]], [[charge]], [[accusation]]: Inde [[illa]] [[actio]], OPE CONSILIOQVE TVO FVRTVM AIO FACTVM ESSE, Cic. N. D. 3, 30, 74; cf. id. Caecin. 3; id. de Or. 1, 36, 167.—Hence, in gen., [[judicial]] forms (the [[omission]] of [[which]] rendered a [[suit]] null and [[void]]): actiones Manilianae, forms [[relative]] to [[purchase]] and [[sale]]; cf. Cic. de Or. 1, 58, 246: Hostilianae, ib. 1, 57, 245.—Hence,<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>c</b> A [[pleading]] of a [[case]] ([[spoken]] or written); so Cic. calls his Orats. [[against]] [[Verres]], actiones, pleas, [[simply]] [[dividing]] [[them]] [[into]] [[actio]] prima and [[actio]] secunda: [[actio]] causae, Cic. Caecin. 2, 4; actiones litium, id. Phil. 9, 5, 11; so, Suet. continuae actiones, Ner. 15: in prima parte actionis, Quint. 10, 1, 20 al.—<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>d</b> Permission for a [[suit]]: [[dare]] alicui actionem ([[which]] [[was]] the [[right]] or [[duty]] of the [[praetor]] or [[judge]]), Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 27.—<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>e</b> The [[judicial]] [[management]] of a [[suit]], the [[trial]], the [[day]] of [[trial]]: prima, altera, tertia, Cic. Verr. 1, 30; 2, 2, 6.—<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>B</b> Gesticulation [[connected]] [[with]] [[oral]] [[delivery]].<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>1</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of an [[orator]]; the [[exterior]] [[air]] or [[bearing]], the [[action]], [[delivery]]: Demosthenem ferunt ei qui quaesivisset [[quid]] [[primum]] esset in dicendo, actionem; [[quid]] [[secundum]], [[idem]] et [[idem]] [[tertium]] respondisse, Cic. Brut. 38; cf. id. de Or. 1, 18; so [[that]] it [[often]] includes [[even]] the [[voice]]: [[actio]] ejus ([[Pompeii]]) habebat et in voce magnum splendorem et in motu summam dignitatem, id. Brut. 68; cf. id. Or. 17: est [[actio]] [[quasi]] [[sermo]] corporis, id. de Or. 3, 59; cf. ib. 2, 17 al.—Hence, also —<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>2</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of an [[actor]], [[action]]: in quo tanta commoveri [[actio]] non posset, id. de Or. 3, 26.—<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>C</b> In [[dramatic]] lang., the [[action]], the [[connection]] or [[series]] of events, the [[plot]], in a [[play]]: habet [[enim]] ([[fabula]]) varios [[actus]] multasque actiones et consiliorum et temporum, Cic. Fam. 5, 12, 6.
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