mail: Bill Thayer

Italiano

Help

Up

Home

 p357  Contus

Article by Leonhard Schmitz, Ph.D., F.R.S.E., Rector of the High School of Edinburgh
on p357 of

William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.:
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.

CON′TUS (κοντός, from κεντέω, I prick or pierce), was, as Nonius (XVIII.24) expresses it, a long and strong wooden pole or stake, with a pointed iron at the one end (Virg. Aen. V.208). It was used for various purposes, but chiefly as a punt-pole by sailors, who, in shallow water, thrust it into the ground, and thus pushed on the boat (Hom. Od. IX.287; Virg. l.c. and VI.302). It also served as a means to sound the depth of the water (Festus, s.v. Perconctatio, p214, ed. Müller; Donat. ad Terent. Hec. I.2.2). At a later period, when the Romans became acquainted with the huge lances or pikes of some of the northern barbarians, the word contus was applied to that kind of weapon (Virg. Aen. IX.510; Tacit. Hist. I.44, III.27; Lamprid. Commod. 13); and the long pikes peculiar to the Sarmatians were always designated by this name (Tacit. Hist. I.79, Annal. VI.35; Stat. Achil. II.416; Valer. Flac. VI.162, and others).

Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
UP TO:	Smith's Dictionary	LacusCurtius	Home
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.