Cornu (horn)

The instrument was braced by a crossbar that stiffened the structure and provided a means of supporting its weight on the player's shoulder.

In Roman art, the cornu appears among the instruments that accompany games (ludi) or gladiator combat in the arena, as on the Zliten mosaic.

The military writer Vegetius described the use of horns to give signals:The music of the legion consists of trumpets, cornets and buccinae.

The classicum, which is a particular sound of the buccina or horn, is appropriated to the commander-in-chief and is used in the presence of the general, or at the execution of a soldier, as a mark of its being done by his authority.

The ordinary guards and outposts are always mounted and relieved by the sound of trumpet, which also directs the motions of the soldiers on working parties and on field days.

These rules must be punctually observed in all exercises and reviews so that the soldiers may be ready to obey them in action without hesitation according to the general's orders either to charge or halt, to pursue the enemy or to retire.

[16][17] These ends were connected by a transverse rod that may have been made of wood and was held in place by iron nails.

Both were first used in music that François Joseph Gossec composed for the translation of the remains of Voltaire to the Pantheon, on 11 July 1791.