or EQUULEUS, in Antiquity, a kind of rack used for extorting a confession. At first it was chiefly practised on slaves, but was afterwards made use of against the Christians.

The equuleus was made of wood, with holes at certain distances, and provided with a screw, by means of which the criminal was stretched to the third, and sometimes to the fourth or fifth hole, while his arms and legs were fastened on the equuleus with cords, and thus hoisted aloft and extended in such a manner that all his bones were dislocated. In this state red-hot plates were applied to his body, and he was goaded in the sides with an instrument called an ungula.