Nec, velit insidiis altassi claudere valles,
Dum placeas, humeri retia ferre negent.—Tibullus, i. 4. 49, 50.
It was the duty of the attendants (J. Pollux, v. 4. 27-31) in most cases to carry the nets on their shoulders, agreeably to the representation in the [Plate X]. Pliny, l. c.
Cassibus impositos venor.—Propert. iv. 2. 32.
... alius raras
Cervice gravi portare plagas.—Sen. Hippol. i. l. 44.
The proper Latin term for the hunting-net, but more especially for the purse-net, which will be hereafter described, was Cassis. “Cassis, genus venatorii retis.” Isidori Hispalensis Orig. xix. 5. “Arctos rodere casses” is applied by Persius (v. 170) to a quadruped with incisor teeth caught in such a net and striving to escape. See also Propertius as just quoted, and the Agamemnon of Seneca and Virgil’s Georgics as quoted below. Cassis seems to be derived from the root of capere and catch. But Plaga was also applied to hunting-nets, so that Horace describes the hunting of the boar in the following terms:
Aut trudit acres hinc et hinc multa cane
Apros in obstantes plagas.—Epod. ii. 31, 32.