The cornu was a large horn of bronze, curved. The performer held it under his arm with the broad end upwards over his shoulder. It is represented in the engraving ([Fig. 10]), with the tuba and the lituus.
Fig. 10.—Tuba Cornu and Lituus.
The tuba was a straight trumpet. Both the cornu and the tuba were employed in war to convey signals. The same was the case with the buccina,—originally perhaps a conch shell, and afterwards a simple horn of an animal,—and the lituus, which was bent at the broad end but otherwise straight. The tympanum resembled the tambourine, and was beaten like the latter with the hands. Among the Roman instruments of percussion the scabellum, which consisted of two plates combined
by means of a sort of hinge, deserves to be noticed; it was fastened under the foot and trodden in time, to produce certain rhythmical effects in musical performances. The cymbalum consisted of two metal plates similar to our cymbals. The crotala and the crusmata were kinds of castanets, the former being oblong and of a larger size than the latter. The Romans had also a triangulum, which resembled the triangle occasionally used in our orchestra. The sistrum they derived from Egypt with the introduction of the worship of Isis. Metal bells, arranged according to a regular order of intervals and placed in a frame, were called tintinnabula. The crepitaculum appears to have been a somewhat similar contrivance on a hoop with a handle.
Through the Greeks and Romans we have the first well-authenticated proof of musical instruments having been introduced into Europe from Asia. The Romans in their conquests undoubtedly made their musical instruments known, to some extent, also in western Europe. But the Greeks and Romans are not the only nations which introduced Eastern instruments into Europe. The Phœnicians at an early period colonized Sardinia, and traces of them are still to be found on that island. Among these is a peculiarly constructed double-pipe, called lionedda or launedda. Again, at a much later period the Arabs introduced several of their instruments into Spain, from which country they became known in France, Germany, and England. Also the crusaders, during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, may have helped to familiarize the western European nations with instruments of the East.