Talk:Cornu (horn)

Military history: Roman & Byzantine / Classical

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Cornu and Buccina

The cornu and the buccina (or bucina) were two similar but distinct instruments. The cornu was a species of horn with a wide, conical bore. The buccina was a species of trumpet with a narrower, cylindrical bore. The extract from Vegetius makes it clear that they were not simply different names for the same instrument.

(Buccina is the more accurate spelling, as the name of the instrument derives from the Latin word bucca, “cheek”.)

1911 Edition Encyclopaedia Britannica

Eroica 08:08, 7 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the merge suggestion is not a good one. To dot our T's and cross our I's, in the original Latin, the passage in Vegetius, what is rendered "cornet" in the quote given in this article in English is in fact cornu: yes, they were distinct, although of the same family. Bill 12:07, 24 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

We're getting thrown off by the translation. The three were the bucina, cornu and tuba. The trumpet is actually associated with the bucina from which it derived by adding the valves. The Romans did not have those valves. For the combination, well, a single article on Roman military brass might be developed. Whoever does it though has to pay attention to the vocabulary and somehow solve the translation problem. Those words developed into other concepts in mediaeval and later times. Also ideally the author should consult whatever sources printed or online on the archaeology. There are quite a few instances of those instruments.Dave 10:32, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Distinction between cornu and buccina

Were cornu and buccina rather similar? Vegetius is quite specific about the difference between the two. According to him (book III chapter 5) the buccina is a curved brass/bronze (aereus) instrument and the cornu is made from (the horns of) uruses with silver fittings ("Semiuocalia sunt quae per tubam aut cornu aut bucinam dantur; tuba quae directa est appellatur; bucina quae in semet aereo circulo flectitur; cornu quod ex uris agrestibus, argento nexum, temperatum arte spirituque canentis flatus emittit auditum." (bold by my hand) source:www.latinlibrary.com. The article therefor describes bucinae not cornua. Notum-sit (talk) 15:23, 19 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]