Rosettes. (See Ribands.)
Rosins. (See Resins.)
Rosso Antico, It. Ancient marble of a deep red tint, probably deepened in colour by antiquity, like the Nero Antico (q.v.). It is the material of many ancient Egyptian and early Greek sculptures, unequalled in tone by the products of any modern quarries. It contains white spots and veins.
Rostrum, R. (Gr. Embolos). The prow of a ship. The plural rostra was used to denote a tribune in the Roman forum, from which orators addressed the people; it was so called because it was decorated with the figure-heads of the ships taken from the Volscians in the Latin War.
Rota, R. (1) A wheel composed of a nave (modius), spokes (radii), felloes (absides), and iron tires (orbes or canthi ferrarii). (2) It was also an instrument of punishment. Rota aquaria was a hydraulic wheel; rota figularis, a potter’s wheel.
Rotta (Germ. rotte; Eng. rote), a stringed instrument of the early Middle Ages, sounded either as a harp or a fiddle.
Rotunda. A dome-shaped or monopteral (q.v.) structure. The largest rotunda ever made was that of the Vienna Exhibition in 1873.
Fig. 592. Gallic coin.
Rouelle, Fr. (lit. a small wheel). A French term which has been applied by antiquaries to numerous objects more or less resembling a wheel, such as brooches and coins. The Gallic coin (Fig. [592]) is from the bas-reliefs on a Roman arch at Orange.