Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Capulus

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

CAP'ULUS (κώπη). The handle or haft of any implement which has a straight handle, such as a sickle (Columell. iv. 25. 1. see FALX); of a sceptre (Ovid. Met. vii. 506. see SCEPTRUM), as contradistinguished from ansa, which represents a curved or bent one. More especially the hilt of a sword, which was made of wood, bone, ivory, silver, or gold, and sometimes inlaid with precious stones, and mostly without a guard. (Virg. Aen. x. 506. Tac. Ann. ii. 21. Spart. Hadr. 12. Claud. de Laud. Stil. ii. 91.) The illustration (Capulus/1.1) is copied from an original found at Pompeii.

2. Poetical for stiva; the handle of a plough, which the ploughman held in his hand to direct its course. (Ov. Pont. i. 8. 57.) See STIVA, and the illustration s. ARATOR.

3. The bier on which a dead body was carried out. (Festus, s. v. Serv. ad Virg. Aen. vi. 222. Lucilius and Novius, ap. Non. s. v. p. 4.); whence the epithet capularis is applied to designate one who is near his death, or ready for his bier. (Plaut. Mil. iii. 1. 33.) The illustration (Capulus/3.1) is from a bas-relief on a marble sepulchre near Rome.

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  Capulus/1.1
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  Capulus/3.1