basterna

thumb|A basterna as illustrated in A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith A basterna was a kind of vehicle, or litter, in which Ancient Roman women were carried. It appears to have resembled the lectica; and the only difference apparently was, that the lectica was carried on the shoulders of slaves, and the basterna by two mules, according to Isaac Casaubon. Several etymologies of the word have been proposed. Salmasius proposes it to be derived from the Greek (Salm. ad Lamprid. Heliog. 21). Cassius Dio links it to the people known as the Bastarnae, living in what is now s