Cornicen on Trajan's column.

Cornu, also called a bucina, is a type of trumpet used by the Roman army of antiquity. It is a Latin word literally meaning horn. The instrument was about 3m (11 feet) long and took the form of a letter 'G'. The instrument was braced by a crossbar that stiffened the structure and provided a means of supporing the instrument's weight on the player's shoulder. Two specimens survive from the ruins of Pompeii. Soldiers of the Roman Army (on manoeuvres in Nashville, Tennessee) Rome was a militarized state whose history was often closely entwined with its military history over the 1228 years that the Roman state is traditionally said to have existed. ... Jump to: navigation, search Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Horn may refer to: horn (anatomy), a hollow, pointed projection of the skin of various animals Horn, Austria horn (diacritic), a diacritic mark used to indicate that a normally rounded vowel such as o or u is to be pronounced unrounded horn (instrument) horn, a slang term for any wind... Jump to: navigation, search Ruins in Pompeii The city of Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many smaller places around the Bay of Naples, was a Roman municipality destroyed during an eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The eruption was described by Pliny the Younger (see below), whose...

The cornu was carried by the Cornicen (horn-blower) who sent signals during battles. The Cornicen's horn curved around his body. The Roman army also made use of a straight trumpet called a tuba.

The late Roman writer Vegetius, in his work De Re Militari, wrote: Jump to: navigation, search Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus) was a celebrated military writer of the 4th century. ... De Re Militari (Latin On military matters) was a treatise of late Roman warfare that became a military guide in the middle ages. ...

The music of the legion consists of trumpets, cornets and buccinae. The trumpet sounds the charge and the retreat. The cornets are used only to regulate the motions of the colors; the trumpets serve when the soldiers are ordered out to any work without the colors; but in time of action, the trumpets and cornets sound together. The classicum, which is a particular sound of the buccina or horn, is appropriated to the commander-in-chief and is used in the presence of the general, or at the execution of a soldier, as a mark of its being done by his authority. The ordinary guards and outposts are always mounted and relieved by the sound of trumpet, which also directs the motions of the soldiers on working parties and on field days. The cornets sound whenever the colors are to be struck or planted. These rules must be punctually observed in all exercises and reviews so that the soldiers may be ready to obey them in action without hesitation according to the general's orders either to charge or halt, to pursue the enemy or to retire. F or reason will convince us that what is necessary to be performed in the heat of action should constantly be practiced in the leisure of peace. [1]

External links

• William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.