Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

LACINIAE. LAENA. tr;,
lie found of it too fabulous, did not venture to give cording to Servius (ad Virq. Aen. vii. 612), the
it in his own words, but quoted those of Varro, Cinctus Gabinus was formed by girding the toga
who had probably taken the account from the po- tight round the body by one of its laciniae or loose
pular stories of the Etruscans themselves. It was ends. These expressions are quite irreconcileab!e
said to have been built partly under and partly with the opinion of Ferrarius and others, that the
above ground, whence the name labyrinth is cor- lacinia was the lower border or skirt of the toga,
rectly applied to it. But a building like this, says while all the passages adduced by them admit of
Niebnhr (Iistory of Romne, vol. i. p. 130. note easy explanation according to the above view.
405), is absolutely impossible, and belongs to the The lacinia was undoubtedly permitted by some
Arabian Nights. (Comp. Abeken, MAlittelitalien, to sweep the ground, especially by such as wore
p. 243.) [L. S.] their garments loosely. Thus Macrobius (Sat. ii. 3)
LACERNA (iuavslqas, ttaivUi), a cloak worn remarks upon one of Cicero's witticisms, " Jocatus
by the Romans over the toga, whence it is called in Caesarem quia ita praecingebatur, ut trahendo
by Juvenal (ix. 28)'" munimentum togae." It laciniam velut mollis incederet," which corresponds
differed from the paenula in being an open gar- with the well-known caution of Sulla addressed
ment like the Greek pallium, and fastened on the to Pompey, " Cave tibi illum puerum male praeright shoulder by means of a buckle (fibula), cinctum;" and Suetonius tells how the emperor
whereas the paenula was what is called a vestinzen- Caius, being filled with jealousy on account of the
t)a clausuns with an opening for the head. [PAE- plaudits lavished on a gladiator, hurried out of the
NULA.] The Lacerna appears to have been com- theatre in such haste " ut calcata lacinia togae
mnonly used in the army (Vell. Pat. ii. 70, 80; praeceps per gradus iret." Moreover, the secondary
Ovid, t;'st. ii. 746; Prop. iv. 3. 18), but in the and figurative meanings of the word, namely, a ra(q
time of Cicero was not usually worn in the city (Plin. II. N. xix. 7), a narrozo neck of land (Id.
(Cic. Philip. ii. 30.) It soon afterwards, however, v. 32), the point of' a leaf (Id. xv. 30), the exbecame quite common at Rome, as we learn from crescences which hang downe from the neck of a sheSuetonius, who says (Auzg. 40) that Augustus, goat (Id. viii. 50), &c., accord perfectly with the
seeing one day a great number of citizens before idea of the anyzlar extremity of a piece of cloth, but
his tribunal dressed in the lacerna, which was can scarcely be connected naturally with the notion
commonly of a dark colour (pullati), repeated with of a border or skirt.
indignation the line of Virgil. Tile corresponding Greek term was icpad'creoav,
"Romanos rerum dominos, gentemnque togatcamz" and perhaps v'TEpiylOV (Pollux considers these
synonymous); and accordingly Plutarch (Graccl.
and gave orders that the Aediles should henceforth 19) and Appian (B. G. i. 16) employ the former
allow no one to be in the forum or circus in that in narrating the story of Scipio alluded to above,
dress. with this difference, however, that they deoMost persons seem to have carried a lacerna or scribe him as throwing rb Kpda'reov TroV (aTrLo1
paenula with them, when they attended the public over his head instead of twisting it round his
games, to protect them from the cold or rain (Dion arm. [W. R.]
Cass. lvii. 13); and thus we are told that the equites LACO'NICUM. [BALNEAE, P. 184, b. 190, b.]
used to stand up at the entrance of Claudius and LACU'NAR. [DoMus, p. 432, a.]
lay aside their lacernae. (Suet. Claucd. 6.) LACUS. [FoNs, p. 544, b.]
The lacerna was usually, as already remarked, LAENA, the same word with the Greek
of a dark colour (fusci colores, Mart. i. 97. 9), and XXaiva, and radically connected with AdXvX, lana,
was frequently made of the dark wool of the &c.
Baetic sheep (Baeticae lacernae, xiv. 133). It was, 1. It signifies, properly, a woollen cloak, the
however, sometimes dyed with the Tyrian purple, cloth of which was twice the ordinary thickness
and with other colours. (Juv. i. 27; Mart. i. 97.) (duaerun togarum instar-, Varro, de Liag. Lat. v.
Martial (viii. 10) speaks of larcernae of the former 133, ed. MUller), and therefore termed dupleis
kind, which cost as much as 10,000 sesterces. (Festus, s. v. Laena; Serv. ad Virg. Aen. iv.
When the emperor was expected at the public 262), shaggy upon both sides (Schol. ad Jvw. iii.
gamnes, it was the practice to wear white lacernae 283), worn over the pallium or the toga for the
only. (Mart. iv. 2, xiv. 137.) sake of warmth. (Mart. xiv. 136.) Hence perThe lacerna was sometimes thrown over the sons carried a laena with them when they went
head for the purpose of concealment (Hor. Sat. ii. out to supper (Mart. viii. 59); and the rich man in
7. 55); but a cucullus or cowl was generally used Juvenal, who walks home at night escorted by a
for that purpose, which appears to have been fre- train of slaves and lighted on his way by flamquently attached to the lacernae, and to have beaux, is wrapped in a scarlet laena. (Juv. iii.
formed a part of the dress. (Mart. xiv. 139, 283.)
132.) See Becker, Gallus, vol. ii. p. 95, &c. 2. A robe of state, forming, it is said, in ancient
[CUCULLUS.] times, part of the kingly dress. (Plut. N2um. 7.)
LACI'NIAE, the angular extremities of the 3. The flamines offered sacrifice in a laena
toga, one of which was brought round over the left which was fastened round the throat by a clasp,
shoulder. It was generally tucked into the girdle, and in the case of the dialis was woven by the
but sometimes was allowed to hang down loose. hands of the flaminica. (Serv. ad Virg. Aen. iv.
Plautus (Mereat. i. 2. 16) indicates that it occa- 262; Cic. Brat. 57.)
sionally served for a pocket-handkerchief (At ti 4. In later times the laena seems, to a certain
edepol sume lacinianz atque absterge sudorem tibi): extent, to have been worn as a substitute for the
Velleius Paterculus (ii. 3) represents Scipio Nasica toga. Thus the courtly bard in Persius (i. 32) is
as wrapping the lacinia of his toga round his left introduced reciting his fashionable lays with a
arm for a shield (compare Val. Max. iii. 2. ~ 17) violet-coloured laena over his shoulders; and we
before he rushed upon Tib. Gracchus; while, ac- gather from Juvenal (v. 130, vii. 73) that it was