TRANSENNA
TRANSENNA lattice-work. The word is used (1) for a
lattice-work across a window [
DOMUS Vol. I. p. 686
b], apparently =
the “fenestrae
reticulatae” of
Varro,
R. R. 3.7, and this must be the meaning in
Cic. de Or. 1.3. 5, 162:
(2) a lattice-work cage for trapping birds [see references under
AUCEPS]. It is possible that this
was contrived by some sort of spring, though the pattern which Rich gives
must be regarded only as a surmise: it is equally possible that the
transenna may have been more like an ordinary birdcage, and worked by a
decoy. The passage from Sallust (quoted by
Macr.
3.13,
8), where at a theatrical
entertainment an image of Victory is “demissum in transenna,”
suggests something of the kind--a large wicker cage enclosing the image.
Servius (
Serv. ad Aen. 5.488) reads the
passage, “demissum transenna,” and explains
transenna as a rope; but this would certainly not agree with
the use in Cicero.
[
G.E.M]
