Rostra

Rostra (plural of Latin rostrum, " ( ship ) beak " ) was the name for a speaker platform on the Forum Romanum in Ancient Rome.

In 338 BC the Romans defeated Latinerkrieg in the trunk of the Volscians and occupied the harbor of Antium ( Anzio ). The ship beaks of captured ships were brought here as a trophy of the consul Gaius Maenius to Rome and the Roman Forum, more precisely the comitium below the Capitol constructed. This place was like, used by speakers who spoke from there to the people as a raised platform in order to be better seen and heard. At the foot of the Rostra, the Twelve Tables was also appropriate to make a kind of constitution or charter of fundamental rights of the Roman Republic. In redesigning the Roman Forum by the Julier the Rostra was moved.

Later, the term was commonly used to mean " lectern ", but is now rarely used. In the land of plenty it is still accessible. The local rostra (the " Fechsungen " ) are given by the text of posts, sometimes in the shape of the heraldic animal of Cockaigne, an eagle owl. Outside this circle can be found at rostra occasionally vertical ornaments or struts, which point to the ship beaks, from which the original Rostra was added. The term of the Rostra for the stage or for the lectern (the " dancing girls " ) is still used in the carnival; also here the lectern has often in the form of an eagle owl.