Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Rutrum

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

RUT'RUM. The implement with which Remus is said to have been slain (Ov. Fast. iv. 843.); consisting of a large and broad iron blade into which the handle was inserted perpendicularly, like our shovel; and which, like that, was adapted for the various purposes of grubbing, scraping, digging, and mixing; as, for breaking down clods of earth (Varro L. L. v. 134.); scraping and throwing up sand (Festus s. v.); for kneading and chopping up mortar (Vitruv. vii. 3. Pallad. i. 15.); and other similar uses to which such a form would be adapted. The example (Rutrum/1.1) represents the blade of a shovel of this nature from an original discovered amongst various other building implements at Pompeii.

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