or ECULEUS (dim. of equus, a horse), in Antiquity, an instrument of torture used for extorting confession from slaves and criminals. (See Cic. pro Milo.) This or a similar instrument was also made use of against the Christians.

This instrument has been described as made of wood, with holes at certain distances, and provided with a screw, by means of which the victim was stretched to the third, fourth, or fifth hole, his arms and legs being fastened to the equuleus with cords. He was thus stretched till his bones were dislocated, and further tortured by the application of red-hot plates and a clawed instrument called ungula.

Equuleus, Equiculus, and Equus Minor, the horse's head, a constellation of the northern hemisphere. See Astronomy.