LO´CULI
LO´CULI a small coffer or casket with compartments
(cf.
loculatae arculae, Varro,
R.
R. 3.17), whence it comes that in this signification the word is
only used in the plural. It was smaller than the
area (
Juv. 1.89: see Mayor's note), but,
like the
area, was used to hold money (Hor.
Sat. 1.3, 17;
Ep. 11, 1, 175;
Mart. 5.39,
7); for
jewels (
Juv. 13.139); to hold keys (
Plin. Nat. 14.13.89), &c. It
takes the place of the larger
area as the treasure
chest of the house (Hor.
Sat. 2.3, 146), and
then was placed in the atrium [see
ARCA]: it was made of wood (
Mart. 14.13）
or sometimes of ivory (Ovid.
Fast. 6.749;
Juv. 13.139); for security it had a lock (Hor.
Sat. 2.3, 149) or was sealed up (Plin.
l.c.). In Hor.
Sat.
1.6, 74,
Ep. 1.1, 56, the word
loculi is used for a small case holding a schoolboy's
libri, chartae, and
stilus, which would generally be called
capsa (
Juv. 10.117) or
theca (
Suet. Cl. 35).
(See Orelli's Excursus on Hor.
Sat. 1.6.)
[
G.E.M]
