Rostrum

(rös'trum.) [L., a beak.] (Rom. Antiq.) The prow or beak of a ship or galley.- The term R. was also applied, in the sense of metaphor, to the pulpit or orator's seat, in the Roman Forum; because decorated with the trophies of the beaks of ve els taken at Actium. Among the moderns, the name is applied, in a similar manner, to any elevated stand or platform from which a speaker addre es his audience. [s. 779]