Definition of "lectisternium" [lectisternium]

• In classical antiquity, a sacrifice in the nature of a feast, at which the Greeks and Romans placed images of the gods reclining on couches around tables furnished with viands, as if they were about to partake of them. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Round and round the room they paraded it, with more ceremony than the twelve gods are accorded at a lectisternium."
• "By order of the Sibylline books, in 399 B.C., the first _lectisternium_ was held in Rome to combat"
• "The armies being disbanded, whilst there was both peace abroad, and tranquillity at home by reason of the concord of the different orders, lest matters might be too happy, a pestilence having attacked the state, compelled the senate to order the decemvirs to inspect the Sibylline books, and by their suggestion a lectisternium took place."