Aithrion

Aithrion (αἴθριον, the open air), a word employed by Eusebius to describe the open space between the church-walls and the extreme circumference of the various courts or outbuildings, and is synonymous with the common termarea. This court or churchyard was the station of the enerqumens, and of that class of penitents called fientes. These persons were also called χειμαζόμενοι, from the circumstance of their standing in the open air exposed to the weather.