CENTO
CENTO (
κέντρων, Schol.
ad
Aristoph. Cl. 449; Suidas, s. v.), dim.
CENTUNCULUS, patchwork, a covering or garment
consisting of several pieces of cloth sewed together, worn by slaves (
Cat. Agr. 2,
3;
10,
5; Fest.
p. 234, M.), also by soldiers when working in the
trenches (Caes.
B.C. 3.44); used as a coverlet for beds
(
Macr. 1.6.10; Sen.
Ep. 80,
8); as a curtain hung up instead of a door (
Juv.
6.121; Petron. 7; cf.
Mart. 1.35,
5); placed under the pack-saddles of mules (
Liv. 7.14,
7; Veget.
Vet. 2.59, 2); also as a cap under the helmets of
soldiers to prevent chafing of the head (Amm. 19.8, 8). Centones were also
hung upon earthworks and similar fortifications, to protect them from fire,
and to blunt the force of weapons (Caes.
B.C. 2.9;
Dig. 33, tit. 7, s. 12.18). Workmen called
Centonarii were employed to make centones for this use in
war (Cod. Theod. 14, tit. 8, s. 1; 16, tit. 10, s. 20.4). Makers of
patchwork for clothes were also called by the same name (
Vestiarius Centonarius, Orelli,
Inscr. 4296;
Petron. 45).
Cento was likewise the name given to a poem made
up from lines or parts of lines of other poets, like the
Cento Nuptialis of Ausonius, made up from Virgil.
[
W.S]