Batillum

Batillum or vatillum was an ancient Roman iron shovel with a short handle used for various purposes, especially as a fire-shovel, chafing-dish, and for burning incense.[1]

Bronze batillum, late 1st–early 2nd century A.D.

Etymology

The name is possibly related to battualia "the exercise of soldiers and gladiators in fighting and fencing" which is related to the English verb to beat or to vas a vessel (in some Latinate languages 'b' and 'v' can be interchangeable).[2]

See also

Notes
  1. Thurston 1898, p. 1514.
  2. The Online Latin Lexicon

References
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Peck, Harry Thurston, ed. (1898). "Batillum". Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 1514.


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