L

labrys - a double ax; for an example, see Harvard 1960.236 (image).

laena - Etruscan in origin, this heavy rounded mantle is shaped like a toga but was draped over both shoulders and fastened with a pin on the back; the laena was worn by the augurs and flamines during sacrifices.

laetus - (Latin) happy, fertile, rich.

lanarius - (Latin) Wool worker; a lanarius was a man who worked with wool, lana in Latin.

laniator - (Latin) butcher; the laniator prepared the meats in and sold them from a laniatorium, or a butcher’s stall; another word for laniator is makellarios.

lanifex - (Latin) weaver: this word refers to a man who worked with wool; it is tied to the words lana (wool) and facio (to make).

lanista - (Latin) owner and trainer of gladiators.

• The Roman Gladiator

Lapith - a pre-Hellenic race of men and women; fought the Centaurs; for an example, see Louvre G 55 (image).

lar - (Latin) Roman gods of a household; comes to represent the hearth and home.

latifundia - (Latin) in Rome, a large slave-run estate.

Latin league - an alliance formed in the 6th century BCE between different small states of Latium including Alba Longa in Italy; the purpose of this alliance was to help each other militarily and to share religious rites; the Latin League ended in 338 BCE.

Latinus - king of Latins who gives Aeneas 680 hectares of land and his daughter Lavinia.

latrocinium maris - (Latin) "robbery of the sea", piracy; piracy grew to be a problem for the Romans; using the navy he had raised for the battle of Actium, Augustus was able to fight pirates and ensure safer travel for sea-merchants.

laurus - (Latin) laurel tree; the laurel comes to signify success or triumph.

laus - (Latin) praise, glory, fame.

lautia - (Latin) when foreign ambassadors came to Rome, they would be entertained by a lautia

Laverna - Roman goddess of robbery and trickery; Laverna's sanctuary in Rome was close to the Porta Lavernalis.

lectus - (Latin) in Rome, an all-purpose couch that could be used in a dining room as a bed or simply as a seat; these couches held up to three people.

Leda - wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta; mother of Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux; she was visited one night by Zeus in the form of a swan and as a result she conceived Helen and Pollux; on the same night, she conceived Clytemnestra and Castor with King Tyndareus; the children were born from two eggs that she laid.

• Troy

legio - (Latin) legion; a Roman military group consisting of ten cohorts (about 6,000 men).

legis actiones - (Latin) the Roman legal code; originally, the legis actiones were kept secret by the patricians so that they could control the civil law; however, Flavius, a freedman's son who became curule aedile, published the legis actiones and the official calendar in 304 BCE.

lemma - the dictionary form or gloss heading of an ancient Greek word.

Lenaea - a festival of Dionysus that took place during the winter; part of the celebration included dramatic competitions for comedy, although on a smaller scale than that of the Rural and City Dionysia.

• Teacher's Companion: Dionysus
• Teacher's Companion: Greek Theater

Leonidas - Leonidas of Rhodes competed in and won the stadion, the diaulos, and the hoplitodromos in four successive ancient Olympics; Leonidas was deified for his victories in these three most difficult running events and earned greater renown that any other Olympic victor in these events.

• The Ancient Olympics

Leonidas - a teacher who instilled strict discipline in Alexander the Great; Leonidas was possibly a kinsman of Olympias, Alexander's mother.

lex Acilia de Intercalando - (Latin) a Roman law created in 191 BCE that sought to correct the Roman calendar.

lex Aelia Sentia - (Latin) Roman law instituted in 4 CE regarding slaves; the law created rules for the manumission of slaves.

lex Oppia - (Latin) a Roman law created in 215 BCE and cancelled in 195 BCE despite the influence of Cato the Elder; this law limited how much gold women could have, forbade women from wearing dresses of too many colors and driving in a horse-drawn vehicle too close to the City unless for a religious rite.

lex Pappia Poppaea - (Latin) this Roman law was created in 9 CE and tried to strengthen marriage and criminalize adultery.

lex Poetelia Papiria - (Latin) this Roman law abolished debt-bondage and was ratified in 326 BCE.

lex Porcia - (Latin) a Roman law proposed by P. Porcius Laeca in 199 BCE to allow appeals in capital cases.

lex Sacrata - (Latin) a law ratified in 494 BCE after the first plebeian secession; it stated that the tribunes were sacred and made the plebeians a group united against the patricians.

lex Valeriae et Horatiae - (Latin) Roman laws passed in 449 BCE that protected and gave rights to the tribunes of the plebs.

lex Voconia - (Latin) a Roman law instituted in 169 BCE that said that a woman could not be the primary heir of an estate even if there were no male heirs.

Liberalia - (Latin) a festival held when a boy would stop wearing the toga of his childhood and start wearing more adult clothing; the boy would give up his childhood insignia, process to the forum with others where his name could be added to the list of citizens, and make a sacrifice at the temple of Liber.

liberi - (Latin) children (word is in the plural).

libertus - (Latin) a Roman freedman or emancipated slave; Augustus created legislation that made it possible for freedmen of citizens to gain citizen status themselves; the most famous story of a freedman is that of the wealthy and eccentric Trimalchio in Petronius' Satyricon.

librarius - (Latin) ) Bookseller; Cicero mentions a specific librarius, Hilarus, in his Letters to Atticus.

libri Sibyllini - (Latin) "Sibylline Books"; a collection of prophecies; the books were lost in a fire at the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in 83 BCE and replaced in 76 BCE.

libum - (Latin) a cake made from cheese, flour and eggs that could be left as a gift to household gods.

Lighthouse at Pharus - a lighthouse off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, that was built by Sostratus of Cnidos in 290 BCE; the lighthouse stood 100m tall; it became one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Ligurians - a people who lived between the Arno and Savoy in the area of modern-day Genoa; last stronghold against Roman rule is conquered in 180 BCE; Ligura became one of the Augustan regiones.

lintel - a beam or stone that goes over an opening; a lintel in a temple would span the distance between two columns by being laid on top of their capitals.

linteum - (Latin) a napkin.

liquamen - (Latin) a sauce made from salty fish; this sauce could take the place of salt or be replaced by salt in a meal.

litter - a vehicle carried by men or animals consisting of a bed or couch suspended between two shafts often covered and curtained for privacy.

littera - (Latin) literature; literally “letters”, but the word takes on the meaning “books”. the Romans produced outstanding works of literature in all genres – epic, drama, lyric poetry, history, etc.; literature was a means of solidifying political agendas, recording historical events and entertainment; some of the most famous Latin authors are Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Livy and Plautus.

Livia - (58 BCE - 29 CE) wife of Augustus and mother to Tiberius (son of her first husband Ti. Claudius Nero); she was noted for her political skill and her veneration of tradition and conservative virtues; with her son Tiberius, erected a building in Rome called the Porticus Liviae in 7 BCE; she has generated mixed historical reviews, with some people thinking that she embodied the virtues of the Augustan Age while others believed that she wielded too much influence over her husband’s long rule; she was deified during Claudius’ reign.

Livia Julia - (13 BCE-31 CE) sister to Emperor Claudius; aunt to Emperor Caligula; she married Gaius Caesar, the son of Augustus, who died; her next marriage was to Drusus, the son of Tiberius; in 23 CE, Drusus died, presumably poisoned by Livia Julia and Sejanus although at the time it seemed a natural death; she was executed in 31 CE for her involvement in Drusus' death.

Livius Andronicus - Roman epic poet and playwright who wrote during the 3rd century BCE.

Livy - Titus Livius, 59 BCE-17 CE; born at Patavium (Padua); wrote History of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, in 142 books, 35 of which are extant, covering 753 BCE-243 BCE and 219 BCE-167 BCE.

• The Roman Historian Livy

loco citato - (Latin) literally “in the place cited”; can appear as “loc.cit.”

Londinium - modern-day London; city founded in 43 CE by Roman soldiers campaigning in Roman Britain; this city was an important trading center and, in fact, the city was founded on a site where traders already conducted business; eventually by the close of the 1st century CE, Londinium had become a major administrative and trading site of the Roman province.

loquor - (Latin) to speak; the English cognate “loquacious”, meaning talkative, is tied to this word.

Lotis - a nymph daughter of Poseidon who was pursued by the god Priapus; Lotis refused Priapus' advances frustrating the god; one night while she was sleeping amongst the maenads, Priapus tried to take her by surprise but was caught when a donkey brayed so loudly that everyone woke up; everyone laughed at Priapus and Lotis got away; Lotis later asked to be turned into a plant to escape Priapus and was changed into the lotus tree with red flowers.

louterion - a bath or water basin for bathing; for an example, see Tampa 89.98 (image).

lozenge - a rhomb, a four sided figure; for an example, see Boston 03.781 (image).

lucanica - Roman sausage served over pottage with spuntature, pieces of pork ribs, braised in tomato, garlic, red wine, and herbs.

Lucina - Roman goddess of childbirth and midwifery.

Lucius Cassius Longinus - a Roman consul who was defeated in battle and killed by the Helvetti in 107 BCE; his army fell victim of a decoy plot orchestrated by the Helvetii; this defeat by a barbarian force caused other towns to rise up against the Romans.

Lucretia - a woman from Roman legend who was renowned for her virtue; Lucretia was the wife of Collatinus and lived during the end of the Roman monarchy; the king Sextus Tarquin (Tarquin the Proud) desired Lucretia from the first time he saw her and sought to meet her when her husband was absent; he then threatened her life and raped her; after Lucretia told her husband and father what had happened, she felt so ashamed that she killed herself with a dagger; her family then sought revenge on the Tarquins and destroyed the monarchy.

Lucretius - Roman poet and author; wrote On the Nature of the Universe on the philosophy of Epicureanism; lived 98 - 55 BCE.

• Netshot: On the Nature of the Universe
• Lucretius: On the Nature of Things

lucror - (Latin) to gain, to profit, to win.

ludi - (Latin) a pair of players or gladiators; the name comes from the Latin verb ludere, to play; a female gladiators was known as a ludia, which also means actress.

ludimagister - (Latin) teacher; this word is linked to the work ludus which means “game” and magister, which means “director”; the ludimagister was in charge of his students.

ludiones - (Latin) Etruscan actor-dancers who performed at the sacred festivals; the Romans emulated these actor-dancers to develop their own form of dance and theater

ludo - (Latin) to play, sport, imitate.

ludus - (Latin) a training school for gladiators; game.

The Roman Gladiator

ludus litterarius - (Latin) a primary school for children founded by a magister, teacher; the school day lasted from early morning until noon; boys attended school from age seven to fifteen and girls from age seven to thirteen.

lumen - (Latin) light, light of day.

Lupercalia - an annual festival celebrated in Rome to honor Faunus, the god of fertility and forests, who was also known as Lupercus; during the Lupercalia, two goats and a dog were sacrificed and two youths, who were anointed with their blood, ran around the Palatine Hill and lashed girls with whips made from the sacrificed goats.

lusi - (Latin) to play.

luxuria - (Latin) wastefulness.

Lydia - a land that bordered Ionia on the east, lay north of Caria and south of Mysia; capital, Sardis; Lydia was a small kingdom until it grew into an empire in the wake of the fall of the Neo-Hittite kingdom; the Mermnadae dynasty ruled Lydia from c. 700 BCE to 550 BCE; coined money was invented in Lydia in 625 BCE; Croesus, Lydia's last ruler, was defeated by Cyrus the Great of Persia c.546 BCE and Lydia was absorbed into the Persian Empire.

• Perseus Historical Overview: Croesus of Lydia and the Ionian Greeks

lyra - a lyre or lute; a stringed instrument.

lyric - a short non-narrative poem that has a solitary speaker, and that usually expresses a particular feeling, mood, or thought. [Contributor: Dr. Ismail S. Talib, National University of Singapore.]

Lysistrata - the comic heroine of the ancient Greek comedy, Lysistrata.

• Netshot: Aristophanes' Lysistrata