an ancient musical and military instrument. It is usually taken for a kind of trumpet; which opinion is confirmed by Festus, by his defining it a Bucina, crooked horn, played on like a trumpet. Vegetius observes, that the buccina was bent in a semicircle, in which respect it differed from the tuba or trumpet. It is very hard to distinguish it from the cornu or horn, unless it was something less, and not quite so crooked; yet it certainly was of a different species, because we never read of the cornu in use with the watch, but only the buccina. Besides, the sound of the buccina was sharper, and to be heard much farther than either the cornu or the tuba. In Scripture, the like instrument, used both in war and in the temple, was called ramicornis, keren jobel, and sepheroth hagigibetim.

This instrument was in use among the Jews to proclaim their feast-days, new-moons, jubilees, sabbatic years, and the like. At Lacedemon, notice was given by the buccina when it was supper time; and the like was done at Rome, where the grandees had a buccina blown both before and after they sat down to table. The sound of the buccina was called buccinus, or bucinus; and the musician who played on it was called buccinator.