tibicen

plural tibicines

1. rarechiefly Roman AntiquitiesA flute-player; a piper, flautist.

   When the Lacedaemonians went to battle a Tibicen played soft and soothing music to temper their courage.

   1776, Charles Burney, chapter X, in A General History of Music, volume I, published 1789, page 173

   2 more examples

   But this man’s words are spirit itself, and burn their niche in Time, to last as long as that will. Take two of them: “Soldiers, forty centuries look down upon you!” and again, “Behold the sun of Austerlitz!” When you speak, speak thus to men; such words are deeds; and come not as from one who beateth the air to the pitchpipe of the tibicen Ciceronical, but as the bullet to its butt; speak swordpoints, that press between the joints and marrow.

   1891, Charles A. Ward, “Napoleonic Rule”, in Oracles of Nostradamus, page 251

   We have no archaeological evidence that we can with certainty attribute to original performances of Plautus and Terence. We can, however, learn a great deal by examining Greek and later Roman evidence, including artistic portrayals of singers, tibicines, and theatrical performances, and some surviving tibiae.

   2012, Timothy J. Moore, Music in Roman Comedy, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 14

   Synonyms: aulete, tibicinist