I.a kind of light-armed Roman troops, who usually made the first attack and then retired, skirmishers (cf.: “velites, ferentarii): rorarii dicti ab rore, qui bellum committebant ante, ideo quod ante rorat quam pluit,” Varr. L. L. 7, § 58 Müll.; cf. Fest. s. h. v. p. 264 ib.; Non. 552 fin.; Liv. 8, 8, 8; 8, 9, 14; Plaut. Fragm. ap. Varr. 1. 1.; cf. Becker, Antiq. III. 2, p. 275.—In sing., Lucil. ap. Non. 553, 2 sq.—Hence, ‡ rōrārĭ-us , a, um, adj., of or for the rorarii: “rorarium vinum, quod rorariis dabatur,” Fest. p. 267 Müll.
rōrārĭi , ōrum, m. ros (sc. milites),
A Latin Dictionary. Founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary. revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by. Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and. Charles Short, LL.D. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1879.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
hide
Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
