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Lectica
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Description: "Lectica was a kind of couch or litter, in which persons, in a lying position, were carried from one place to another. They were used for carrying the dead as well as the living. The Greek lectica consisted of a bed or mattress, 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, extending 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. When this kind of lectica was introduced among the Romans, it was chiefly used in traveling, and very seldom in Rome itself. But towards the end of the republic, and under the empire, 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 transparent stone, 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, by means of poles attached to it, but not fixed, so that they might easily be taken off when necessary. The number of lecticarri 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 hexaphoron or octophoron, according as it was carried by six or eight persons. The following woodcut represents a lectica. It is taken from the tombstone of M. Antonius Antius." — Smith, 1873
Source: William Smith, A School Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873)
Keywords: Lectica, Mattress, Couch,
Copyright: 2003, Florida Center for Instructional Technology. See license.
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Clipart ETC is a part of the Educational Technology Clearinghouse and is funded by a grant from the Florida Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology. Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida.