Cento
κέντρων
Cento (κέντρων, Schol. ad Aristoph. Cl. 449; Suidas, s. v.), dim. CENTUNCULUS, patchwork, a covering or garment consisting of several pieces of cloth sewed together, worn by slaves (Cat. Agr. 2, 3; 10, 5; Fest. p. 234, M.), also by soldiers when working in the trenches (Caes. B.C. 3.44); used as a coverlet for beds (Macr. 1.6.10; Sen. Ep. 80, 8); as a curtain hung up instead of a door (Juv. 6.121; Petron. 7; cf. Mart. 1.35, 5); placed under the pack-saddles of mules (Liv. 7.14, 7; Veget. Vet. 2.59, 2); also as a cap under the helmets of soldiers to prevent chafing of the head (Amm. 19.8, 8). Centones were also hung upon earthworks and similar fortifications, to protect them from fire, and to blunt the force of weapons (Caes. B.C. 2.9; Dig. 33, tit. 7, s. 12.18). Workmen called Centonarii were employed to make centones for this use in war (Cod. Theod. 14, tit. 8, s. 1; 16, tit. 10, s. 20.4). Makers of patchwork for clothes were also called by the same name ( Vestiarius Centonarius, Orelli, Inscr. 4296; Petron. 45).
Cento was likewise the name given to a poem made up from lines or parts of lines of other poets, like the Cento Nuptialis of Ausonius, made up from Virgil.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.