LITTERS

Deprecated: Function split() is deprecated in /www/www-ccat/data/classics/myth/php/tools/dictionary.php on line 64 in ancient Greece, were for the most part used only for the conveyance of sick people and women; in other cases their use was regarded as a luxury. Among the Romans they appear to have first come into vogue along with the other luxuries of Asia after the victory over the Syrian king, Antiochus the Great (B.C. 190). They were used principally in the country and upon journeys. As in Greece, so in Rome, where driving was only exceptionally allowed (see CHARIOTS, 2), their use was at first, confined to invalids and women; but when men also began to use them in the town, they formed in the first instance a privilege of certain classes, until in the course of the imperial time they came into general use. Two kinds were distinguished: (1) the lectica, resembling a palanquin, adapted for lying down: this was a framework spanned by girths and with a bolster and pillow; and (2) the sella, a sedan chair, for one or two persons, which was used particularly by the emperors and consulares. Both kinds were provided with an arched covering, which could be closed up, even at the sides, by means of curtains or windows made of thin plates of tale [lapis specularis, Juv. iv 21, iii 242]. The litter was carried upon poles, which were either low and therefore hung in straps, or else rested upon the shoulders of the bearers, who were two, four, six, and even eight, according to its size. In distinguished houses special slaves (lecticarii) of particularly powerful bodily frame, in later times especially Cappadocians, were kept for this purpose; these used to wear a red livery. For those who could not afford the expense of a private litter, there were also hack-litters. In the later imperial time a litter called a basterna came into fashion, which was carried by two mules in shafts before and behind.