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You are here: Home / Language / Where Did the Term “Rostrum” For a Speaker’s Platform Come From and What Does the Word Mean?

Where Did the Term “Rostrum” For a Speaker’s Platform Come From and What Does the Word Mean?

May 29, 2020 by Karen Hill

After a victory at sea the Romans customarily removed the decorative prow or rostrum from defeated enemy ships to be returned to Rome as symbols of their supremacy on the high seas.

These rostra were displayed on the speaker’s platform in the Roman Forum until there were so many that the stage from which a speaker addressed the assembly became known as the rostrum, or the ship’s prow.

A speaker’s platform is often referred to as a “rostrum”.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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