RUTRUM
RUTRUM
dim. RUTELLUM, a kind of hoe, probably of iron (and
so in one reading of Cato,
Cat. Agr. 11,
“inter ferramenta” ), which had the handle fixed
perpendicularly into the middle of the blade, thus differing from the
RASTRUM It was used before
sowing to level the ground, by breaking down any clods which adhered too
long together (Non. Marc. p. 18). This operation is described by Virgil in
the following terms, which also assign the derivation of the name:
“Cumulosque
ruit male pinguis
arenae” (
Georg. 1.105). See Festus, s.v. Varro,
L. L. v. p. 137. The same implement, made of wood, was
used in mixing lime or clay with water and straw to make plaster for walls
(Cato,
Cat. Agr. 128; Pallad. 1.15;
Plin. Nat. 36.23.55).
The word
rutabulum ought to be considered as
another form of
rutrum. It denoted a wooden hoe
or rake of the same construction, which was
[p. 2.568]used
by the baker in stirring the hot ashes of his oven (Festus, s. v.). A wooden
rutabulum was employed to mix the contents of the vats in which wine was
made (
Col. 12.20,
4;
cf. 12.23, 2).
[
J.Y] [
G.E.M]
