Coming to the larger waggons and carriages, there were the _sarracum_, the _plaustrum_, the _carpentum_, the _pilentum_, the _benna_, the _reda_, the _carruca_, the _pegma_—a huge wheeled apparatus used for raising great weights, particularly in theatrical displays—and a mule-drawn litter, the _basterna_. Of these the _sarracum_ was a common cart used by the country folk for conveying produce. It had either two or four wheels, and was occasionally used by passengers, though, as Cicero observed, as a conveyance the _sarracum_ was very vulgar. It was not confined to Italy, but was common enough amongst those barbaric tribes against whom Rome was so often victorious. It was in _sarraca_, moreover, that the bodies were removed from Rome in times of plague. Rather lighter than this carriage, though heavy enough to our modern ideas, was the _plaustrum_,[10] an ancient two or four-wheeled waggon of rude construction. This was, in its primitive form, just a bare platform with a large pole projecting from the axle; there were no supporting ribs at all, and the load was simply placed on the platform. Upright boards, or openwork rails, however, were used to make sides, and at a later period a large basket was fastened on to the platform by stout thongs. The wheels of the _plaustrum_ were ordinarily solid, of a kind called _tympana_, or drums, and were nearly a foot thick. Such a cart was but a slow vehicle, and could turn only with great difficulty. It was drawn by oxen or mules, and like the _sarracum_ was also used to carry passengers.[11] [Illustration: _Pilentum_ _The State Carriage of the Romans_] [Illustration: _Benna_]