LAENA (χλαῖνα), a woollen cloak, the cloth of which was twice the ordinary thickness, shaggy upon both sides, and worn over the pallium or the toga for the sake of warmth. In later times the laena seems, to a certain extent, to have been worn as a substitute for the toga.
LAMPĂDĒPHŎRĬA (λαμπαδηφορία), torch-bearing, Lampadedromia (λαμπαδηδρομία), torch-race, and often simply Lampas (λαμπάς), was a game common throughout Greece. At Athens we know of five celebrations of this game: one to Prometheus at the Prometheia, a second to Athena at the Panathenaca, a third to Hephaestos at the Hephaesteia, a fourth to Pan, and a fifth to the Thracian Artemis or Bendis. The first three are of unknown antiquity; the fourth was introduced soon after the battle of Marathon; the last in the time of Socrates. The race was usually run on foot, horses being first used in the time of Socrates; sometimes also at night. The preparation for it was a principal branch of the Gymnasiarchia, so much so indeed in later times, that the Lampadarchia (λαμπαδαρχία) seems to have been pretty much equivalent to the Gymnasiarchia. The gymnasiarch had to provide the lampas, which was a candlestick with a kind of shield set at the bottom of the socket, so as to shelter the flame of the candle; as is seen in the following woodcut, taken from a coin. He had also to provide for the training of the runners, which was of no slight consequence, for the race was evidently a severe one, with other expenses, which on the whole were very heavy, so that Isaeus classes this office with the choregia and trierarchia, and reckons that it had cost him 12 minae.
Lampae. (From a Coin.)
LAMPAS. [[Lampadephoria].]
LANCĔA. [[Hasta].]
LĂNISTA. [[Gladiatores].]
LANX, a large dish, made of silver or some other metal, and sometimes embossed, used at splendid entertainments to hold meat or fruit; and consequently at sacrifices and funeral banquets.
LAPHRĬA (Λάφρια), an annual festival, celebrated at Patrae in Achaia, in honour of Artemis, surnamed Laphria.
LĂPĬCĪDĪNAE. [[Lautumiae].]