Transenna
Transenna lattice-work. The word is used (1) for a lattice-work across a window [DOMUS Vol. I. p. 686 b], apparently = the fenestrae reticulatae
of Varro, R. R. 3.7, and this must be the meaning in Cic. de Or. 1.3. 5, 162: (2) a lattice-work cage for trapping birds [see references under AUCEPS]. It is possible that this was contrived by some sort of spring, though the pattern which Rich gives must be regarded only as a surmise: it is equally possible that the transenna may have been more like an ordinary birdcage, and worked by a decoy. The passage from Sallust (quoted by Macr. 3.13, 8), where at a theatrical entertainment an image of Victory is demissum in transenna,
suggests something of the kind--a large wicker cage enclosing the image. Servius (Serv. ad Aen. 5.488) reads the passage, demissum transenna,
and explains transenna as a rope; but this would certainly not agree with the use in Cicero.
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.