Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

LATRUNCULI.

221

LECTISTERNIUM.

Julia de Civitate (b. c. 90) the above expres-
sions denoted a certain nationality, and as
part of it a certain legal status -with refer-
ence to Rome; but after the passing of that
lex, these expressions denoted only a certain
status, and had no reference to any national
distinction. About the year b. c. 89, a Lex
Pompeia gave the jus Latii to all the Trans-
padani, and consequently the privilege of ob-
taining the Roman civitas by having filled a
magistratus in their own cities. To denote
the status of these Transpadani, the ward
Latinitas was used, which since the passing
of the Lex Julia had lost its proper significa-
tion ; and this was the origin of that Latinitas
which thenceforth existed to the time of Jus-
tinian. This new Latinitas or jus Latii was
given to whole towns and countries; as,
for instance, by Vespasian to the whole of
Spain. It is not certain wherein this new
Latinitas differed from that Latinitas which
was the characteristic of the Latini before
the passing of the Lex Julia. It is, however,
clear that all the old Latini had not the
same right with respect to Rome ; and that
they could acquire the civitas on easier terms
than those by which the new Latinitas was
acquired.

LATRTJNCULI (ttcoW, i^oi), draughts.
The invention of a game resembling draughts
was attributed by the Greeks to Palamedes ;
and it is mentioned by Homer. There were
two sets of men, one set being black, the
other white or red. Being intended to re-
present a miniature combat between two
armies, they were called soldiers (milites),
foes (hostes), and marauders (latrones, dim.
latrunculi); also calculi, because stones were
often employed for the purpose. The Ro-
mans often had twelve lines qn the draught-
board, whence the game so played was called
duodecim scripta.

LAUDATIO. [Fcntjs.]
LAURENTALIA. [Larextalia.]
LAUTUMIAE, LALTOMIAE, LATO-
MIAE, or LATUMIAE (AtOoropuu, AaTo^u'ai,
Lit. Lapicidinae), literally places where
stones are cut, or quarries, and more parti-
cularly the public prison of Syracuse. It lay
in the steep and almost inaccessible part of
the town which was called Epipolae, and had
been built by Dionysius the tyrant. It was
cut to an immense depth into the solid rock,
so that nothing could be imagined to be a
safer or stronger prison, though it had no
roof, and thus left the prisoners exposed to
the heat of the sun, the rain, and the cold-
ness of the nights. The Tullianum at Rome
was also sometimes called lautumiae. [Car-
cer.]

LECTICA (kAiVt;, kXu/!£uov, or cfiopelov), was

a kind of couch or litter, in which persons, in
a lying position, were carried from one place
to another. Lecticae were used for carry-
ing the dead [Fuxrs] as well as the living.
The Greek lectica consisted of a bed or mat-
tress, and a pillow to support the head, placed
upon a kind of bedstead or couch. It had a
roof, consisting of the skin of an ox, extend-
ing over the couch and resting on four posts.
The sides of this lectica were covered with
curtains. In the republican period it appears
to have been chiefly used by women, and by
men only when they were in ill health. AVhen
this kind of lectica was introduced among the
Romans, it was chiefly used in travelling,
and very seldom in Rome itself. But towards
the end of the republic, and under the em-
pire, it was commonly used in the city, and
was fitted up in the most splendid manner.
Instead of curtains, it was frequently closed
on the sides with windows made of transpa-
rent stone {lapis spccttlaris), and was provided
with a pillow and bed. When standing, it
rested on four feet, generally made of wood.
Persons were carried in a lectica by slaves
[lecticarii), by means of poles (asseres) at-
tached to it, but not fixed, so that they might
easily be taken off when necessary. The
number of lecticarii employed in carrying one
lectica varied according to its size, and the
display of wealth which a person might wish
to make. The ordinary number was probably
two ; but it varied from two to eight, and the
lectica is called hesaphoron or octophoron,
accordingly as it was carried by six or eight
persons.

LECTISTERNIUM. Sacrifices being of the
nature of feasts, the Greeks and Romans, on
occasion of extraordinary solemnities, placed
images of the gods reclining on couches, with
tables and viands before them, as if they
were really partaking of the things offered in
sacrifice. This ceremony was called a lectit-
ternium. The woodcut here introduced ex-

Pulvinar useil at Lcctistcmiuni. ^'rum the Glvptothek at
Munich.)