A dictionary of Greek and Roman . aving the fingers uncovered. The athletae inthe palaestrae at Olympia used the fxeiXixai inpractising for the public games (Ifxdvrwv , Paus. vi. 23. § 3) ; but in the gamesthemselves, they us^d those which gave the se-verest blows. The cestus, used in later times in the publicgames, was, as has been already remarked, a mostformidable weapon. It was frequently coveredwith knots and nails, and loaded with lead andiron ; whence Virgil (Aen. v. 405), in speaking ofit, says, Ingentia septemTerga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.
A dictionary of Greek and Roman . aving the fingers uncovered. The athletae inthe palaestrae at Olympia used the fxeiXixai inpractising for the public games (Ifxdvrwv , Paus. vi. 23. § 3) ; but in the gamesthemselves, they us^d those which gave the se-verest blows. The cestus, used in later times in the publicgames, was, as has been already remarked, a mostformidable weapon. It was frequently coveredwith knots and nails, and loaded with lead andiron ; whence Virgil (Aen. v. 405), in speaking ofit, says, Ingentia septemTerga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant. Statius (Theb. vi. 732) also speaks of nigrantiaplumbo tegmina. Such weapons in the hands of atrained boxer, must have frequently occasioneddeath. The fivpfx7]Kes were, in fact, sometimescalled yviordpoi, or limb-breakers. Figureswith the cestus frequently occur in ancient monu-ments. They were of various forms, as appearsby the following specimens, taken from ancientmonuments, of which drawings are given byFabretti (De Column. Traj. p. 261).. 2. Cestus also signified a band or tie of anykind (Varr. De Re Rust. i. 8) ; but the term wasmore particularly applied to the zone or girdle ofVenus, on which was represented every thingthat could awaken love. (77. xiv. 214 ; Val. Flacc. vi. 470.) When Juno wished to win the affec-tions of Jupiter, she borrowed this cestus fromVenus (II. 1. c.) ; and Venus herself employedit to captivate Mars. (Mart. vi. 13, xiv. 206,207.) CETRA, or CAETRA (Wrpea, Hesych.), atarget, i. e. a small round shield, made of the hideof a quadruped. (Isid. Orig. xviii. 12 ; Q. Curt,iii. 4.) It was also worn by the people of Spain(cetratae Hispaniae cohortes, Caes. B. C. i. 39, 48)and Mauritania. By the latter people it wassometimes made from the skin of the elephant.(Strab. xvii. p. 828.) From these accounts, andfrom the distinct assertion of Tacitus (Agric. 36)that it was used by the Britons, we may with con-fidence identify the cetra with the target of theScot
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