Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Amentum

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

AMEN'TUM (τὸ ἅμμα τῶν ἀκοντίων, Beier. ad Cic. Amic. xxvii. 7.). A thong fastened to the shaft of a spear or javelin at the centre of gravity, in order to give it a greater impetus when thrown. (Liv. xxxvii. 41. Ovid. Met. xii. 221. Sil. Ital. iv. 14.) This illustration (Amentum/1.1) is taken from one of Sir W. Hamilton's fictile vases; but in the celebrated mosaic of Pompeii, believed to represent the battle of Issus, a broken spear provided with a similar appendage is seen lying on the ground.

2. The thong or strap by which the soleae, crepidae, and similar kinds of shoes were fastened on the foot (Festus, s. v.), as in the example (Amentum/2.1) from a marble statue at Rome, where the amentum is shown by the broad flat thong which passes over the instep, and through the loops (ansae) affixed to the sides of the sole. Pliny mentions a sitting statue of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, which was remarkable for having a mere sole under the foot without any thong to fasten it (soleis sine amento insignis, H. N. xxxiv. 14.); and similar omissions are not unfrequently observable in the Pompeian paintings, only to be accounted for by the caprice or inadvertance of the artists.

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  Amentum/1.1
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  Amentum/2.1