Cornu de Pompeii
Large metal horn of ancient Rome
Cornu de Pompeii is a large metal horn of ancient Rome, used as a military and ceremonial instrument1. It was about 11 feet in length and had the shape of the letter G, with a crossbar brace that supported the instrument’s weight on the player’s shoulder. Two specimens survive from the ruins of Pompeii1. It was a type of bronze trumpet with an elongated S shape, held so that the long straight central portion was vertical and the short mouthpiece end section and the much wider bell were horizontal in opposed directions. The bell was styled in the shape of an open-mouthed boar’s, or other animal’s, head2.