LITUUS

lituus, the cavalry trumpet of the romans, said by macrobius (_saturn_. lib. vi.) to have resembled the crooked staff borne by the augurs. the lituus consisted of a cylindrical tube 4 or 5 ft. long, having a narrow bore, and terminating in a conical bell joint turned up in such a manner as to give the instrument the outline of the letter "j." unlike the buccina, cornu and tuba, the other military service instruments of the romans, the lituus has not been traced during the middle ages, the medieval instrument most nearly resembling it being the cromorne or tournebout, which, however, had lateral holes and was played by means of a reed mouthpiece. a lituus found in a roman warrior's tomb at cervetri (etruria) in 1827 is preserved in the vatican. victor mahillon gives its length as 1 m. 60, and its scale as in unison with that of the trumpet in g (_catalogue descriptif_, 1896, pp. 29-30). (k. s.) liudprand (liutprand, luitprand) (c. 922-972), italian historian and author, bishop of cremona, was born towards the beginning of the 10th century, of a good lombard family. in 931 he entered the service of king hugo of italy as page; he afterwards rose to a high position at the court of hugo's successor berengar, having become chancellor, and having been sent (949) on an embassy to the byzantine court. falling into disgrace with berengar on his return, he attached himself to the emperor otto i., whom in 961 he accompanied into italy, and by whom in 962 he was made bishop of cremona. he was frequently employed in missions to the pope, and in 968 to constantinople to demand for the younger otto (afterwards otto ii.) the hand of theophano, daughter of the emperor nicephorus phocas. his account of this embassy in the _relatio de legatione constantinopolitana_ is perhaps the most graphic and lively piece of writing which has come down to us from the 10th century. the detailed description of constantinople and the byzantine court is a document of rare value--though highly coloured by his ill reception and offended dignity. whether he returned in 971 with the embassy to bring theophano or not is uncertain. liudprand died in 972. he wrote (1) _antapodoseos, seu rerum per europam gestarum, libri vi_, an historical narrative, relating to the events from 887 to 949, compiled with the object of avenging himself upon berengar and willa his queen; (2) _historia ottonis_, a work of greater impartiality and merit, unfortunately covering only the years from 960 to 964; and (3) the _relatio de legatione constantinopolitana_ (968-969). all are to be found in the _monum. germ. hist_. of pertz, and in the _rer. ital. script_. of muratori; there is an edition by e. dummler (1877), and a partial translation into german, with an introduction by w. wattenbach, is given in the second volume of the _geschichtsschreiber der deutschen vorzeit_ (1853). compare wattenbach, _deutschlands geschichtsquellen im mittelalter_. three other works, entitled _adversaria, chronicon, 606-960_, and _opusculum de vitis romanorum pontificum_, are usually, but wrongly, assigned to liudprand. an english translation of the embassy to constantinople is in ernest henderson's _select documents of the middle ages_ (bohn series, 1896). a complete bibliography is in a. potthast's _bibl. hist. medii aevi_ (berlin, 1896).