cursor, ōris, m. [curro],
I a runner , and partic.,
A A runner in a race, racer , Lucr. 2, 78; Cic. Tusc. 2, 23, 56; id. Div. 2, 70, 144; also a competitor in a chariot-race : ut cupidi cursor frena retentat equi, Ov. P. 3, 9, 26.—
B A courier, post (mostly postAug.), Nep. Milt. 4, 3 (transl. of the Gr. ἡμεροδρόμος); Plin. 2, 71, 73, § 181; Plin. Ep. 7, 12 fin. ; Suet. Ner. 49; Mart. 3, 100, 1 al.—
C A slave who ran before the chariot of a grandee, a forerunner (post-Aug.), Sen. Ep. 87, 9; 123, 7; Suet. Ner. 30; Mart. 3, 47, 14. —
II Trop.: cursor iambus, Rufin. Rhet. p. 355 Capperon.