Lituus

Lituus hooked bronze trumpet of the Etruscans, taken over from them by the Romans, whom it served as a cavalry instr. Prototype of the lituus was an animal horn attached to one end of a straight wooden tube. The lituus consisted of a slender tube with cylindrical bore, terminating in an upturned bell, forming a letter J. Later Etruscan litui are indistinguishable from those of Rome, but earlier Etruscan ones have a bell sharply bent back connected to the main tube by a strut, which assumes…