RomanArmyTalk
The \'lost\' Lituus reconstructed.. or is it? - Printable Version

+- RomanArmyTalk (https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat)
+-- Forum: Reenactment (https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Roman Re-Enactment & Reconstruction (https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/forumdisplay.php?fid=26)
+--- Thread: The \'lost\' Lituus reconstructed.. or is it? (/showthread.php?tid=15229)



The \'lost\' Lituus reconstructed.. or is it? - Robert Vermaat - 06-01-2009

Here's a BBC article about the reconstruction of the Roman Lituus. However, as the article honestly reports, "Until now, no one had a clear idea of what this instrument looked or sounded like". The reserachers therefore "developed a system that enabled them to design the Lituus from the best guesses of its shape and range of notes". "The result was a 2.4m (8ft) -long thin straight horn, with a flared bell at the end. It is an unwieldy instrument with a limited tonal range that is hard to play. But played well, it gives Johann Sebastian Bach's motet a haunting feel that couldn't be reproduced by modern instruments".

I must confess, the tones are indeed... haunting. Not my cup of tea. :roll:

The end result looks in fact like depictions of a tuba:
[Image: _45845520_lituus_epsrc_466.jpg]

And so it might be possible that a lituus was indeed similar to a tuba, or maybe the researchers from Edinburgh recreated.. a tuba:
[Image: Musicians_from_Zliten_mosaic.JPG]

For those who still think that the lituus from Deepeeka is a Roman lituus, read this.