Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Cilliba

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

CIL'LIBA (κιλλίβας). A Greek word, signifying literally the trestle, which forms a stand for anything; whence it was adopted by the Romans to designate a dining-table of square form, supported by trestles underneath, as shown by the illustration (Cilliba/1.1), from the Vatican Virgil, which represents the table at which the companions of Ulysses fed, when changed into beasts. Square dining tables were usually employed by the early Romans; but had fallen into disuse before the age of Varro, when circular ones were mostly adopted; except in camps for the military mess, where the old form was retained as more convenient. Varro, L. L. v. 118.

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  Cilliba/1.1