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

LECTU8.

LEGATUS.

hibits one of those couches, which is repre-
sented with a cushion covered by a cloth
hanging in ample folds down each side. This
beautiful puhinar is wrought altogether in
white marble, and is somewhat more than
two feet in height.

LECTUS (^e'xo9, k\ivr), eiivr)), a bed. The
complete bed of a wealthy Greek in

later times generally consisted of the follow-
ing parts :—kAiVtj, cttl'to^oi, rvAeioi* or icvefya.-
Kov, 7rpoaxciJ)dAet.oi\ and oTpoi|U<xTa. The xAiVr)
is, properly speaking, merely the bedstead,
and seems to have consisted only of posts
fitted into one another and resting upon four
feet. At the head part alone there was a
board (ovdjcAutpw or eiri'/cAiirpoi') to sup-
port the pillow and prevent its falling out.
Sometimes, however, the bottom part of a
bedstead was likewise protected by a board,
so that in this case a Greek bedstead resem-
bled what we call a French bedstead. The
bedstead was provided with girths (tovol,
eriTOMH, xeipi'a) on which the bed or mat-
tress (KvetyaAov, rvAnw, or -rvAr;) rested. The
cover or ticking of a mattress was made of
linen or woollen cloth, or of leather, and
the usual material with which it was filled
was either wool or dried weeds. At the head
part of the bed, and supported by the briitXiv-
rpov, lay a round pillow (irpotnce^aAeioi') to
support the head. The bed-covers (o-Tpuip.a.Ta.)
were generally made of cloth, which was very
thick and woolly, either on one or on both sides.
The beds of the Romans (lecti cubiculares) in
the earlier periods of the republic were pro-
bably of the same description as those used
in Greece ; but towards the end of the repub-
lic and during the empire, the richness and
magnificence of the beds of the wealthy Ro-
mans far surpassed every thing we find de-
scribed in Greece. The bedstead was gene-
rally rather high, so that persons entered the
bed (scandere, ascendcre) by means of steps
placed beside it (scamnum). It was some-
times made of metal, and sometimes of costly
kinds of wood, or veneered with tortoise-
shell or ivory; its feet (fulcra) were fre-
quently of silver or gold. The bed or mattress
(culcita and torus) rested upon girths or
strings (restes, fasciae, institae, or funcs),
which connected the two horizontal side-posts
of the bed. In beds destined for two persons
the two sides are distinguished by different
names ; the side at which persons entered
was open, and bore the name sponda; the
other side, which was protected by a board,
was called pluteus. The two sides of such a
bed are also distinguished by the names torus
exterior and torus interior, or sponda exte-
rior and sponda interior; and from these
expressions it is not improbable that such

lecti had two beds or mattresses, one for each
person. Mattresses were in the earlier timeti
filled with dry herbs or straw, and such
beds continued to he used by the poor. But
in subsequent times wool, and, at a still later '
period, feathers, were used by the wealthy
for the beds as well as the pillows. The
cloth or ticking (operimentum or involucrum)
with which the beds or mattresses were
covered, was called toral, torale, linteum, or
scgestrc. The blankets or counterpanes (vestes
stragulne, stragula, peristromata, peripetas-
mata) were in the houses of wealth}- Romans
of the most costly description, and generally
of a purple colour, and embroidered with
beautiful figures in gold. Covers of this sort
were called peripetasmata Attalica, because
they were said to have been first used at the
court of Attalus. The pillows were likewise
covered with magnificent casings. The lectus
genialis or adcersus was the bridal bed,
which stood in the atrium, opposite the
janua, whence it derived the epithet ad-
rersus. It was generally high, with steps
by its side, and in later times beautifully
adorned. Respecting the lectus funebris see
Funus. An account of the disposition of the
couches used at entertainments is given under
Triclinium.

LEGATIO LIBERA. [Legatus.]
LEGATUM, a part of the hereditas which
a testator gives out of it, from the heres (ab
herede); that is, it is a gift to a person out of
that whole (universum) which is diminished
to the heres by such gift. There were several
laws limiting the amount of property which
a person might give in legacies; and it was
at last fixed by the Lex Falcidia (b. c. 40),
that he should not bequeath more than three-
fourths of his property in legacies, and thus
a fourth was left to the heres. By the Law
of the Twelve Tables a man could dispose of
his property as he pleased, and he might
exhaust (erogarc) the whole hereditas by
legacies and bequests of freedom to slaves, so
as to leave the heres nothing. The conse-
quence was that in such cases the scripti
lieredes refused to take the hereditas, and
there was of course an intestacy. Legata
were inutilia or void, if they were given
before a heres was instituted by the will, for
the will derived all its legal efficacy from
such institution ; there was the same rule as
to a gift of freedom.

LEGATUS, from lego, a person commis-
sioned or deputed to do certain things. They
may be divided into three classes :•—1. Le-
gati or ambassadors sent to Rome by foreign
nations; 2. Legati or ambassadors sent from
Rome to foreign nations and into the pro-
vinces ; 3. Legati who accompanied the Ro-