2. A city in the Arabian desert, on the route of the Israelites (Deut. i, 1) ; probably identical with their twen- ty-first station, LiBNAit (Numb, xxxiii, 20). Knobel's objections {Erkldr. ad Inc.) to this identification, that no discoiurses of Moses at Libnah are recorded, and that the
LABANA
177
LABIS
The Laharum.
Israelites did not return to that place after reaching Kadesh, are neither of them relevant. He prefers the Hauara of ancient notice {A'otit.Dif/nit. i, 78 sq. ; //««- arra of the Peutinger Table, ix, e ; Avapa of Ptolemy, V, 17,5), between I'etra and yEla, as having the signiti- eation white in Arabic (Steph. Byz. s. v.).
Lab'ana {Aajiava), one of the chief Temple-ser- vants whose " sons" returned from the captivity (1 Esdr, v,28j ; evidently the Lebana (q.v.) of the Hebrew list (Xeh. vii, 48).
Labaruni is the name given to the old standard or dag of Christian nations. Its derivation is uncer- tain, but it has variously been consider- ed as coming from \aj5t1v, \ai<pii, \d- (pvpov, hiboro, etc. Some, with Pruden- tius, pronounced both a's short-, others (Althelm, De laud. Vir//.) considered the first as long. Sozomen has it \ajiujpoi' ; Chrysostom, Xo/3o!'(io)'. (Comp., on the etymology, Gretser, De Cruce, lib, iii.) We find this name already applied to the Iioman standard in coins of the republic and of the first emperors, espocially on those connected with the wars against the Germans, Sarmatians, and Armeni- ans. The labarum obtained its Christian signification under the emperor Con- stantine the Great, who, after his conver- sion, placed the image of the cross on his standards, and caused it to be received at Eome as the (juiTqQiov rpoiralov. Henceforth it was considered as crj;juf tov
TToXllUKiv TWV iiWuJV TljiVOJTfpOV it
was carried in advance of the other stand- artls, looked upon as an object of adora- tion by the Cliristian soldiery, and was surrounded by a guard of fifty picked men. Eusebius, who de- scribes it with great particularity (in Vita Coiistantin. li, cap. 30, 31 ; I5aronius, Annales Ecclesiasf. A.D. 312, No. 2ij), relates that Constantine was induced to place the Christian symbol on the Roman standard by having in vision seen a shining cross in the heavens. (This vision may be denied or variously explained from sub- jective causes ; compare the article Constantine, and Schaflf, Ch. Hist, ii, § 2.) The Roman labarum consist- ed of a long gilt spear, crossed at the upper end, and a crown towards the top, made either of gold or of pre- cious stones, and bearmg the monogram of Christ (thus
P P \
X or I 1 , which the emperor afterwards -wore also on
his helmet. From the spear was suspended a square piece of silken veil, on which the likeness of Constantine
and of his sons was embroidered with gold.
Accordmg to Pnidentius (in Symmachus, i, ■n 48G), the image of Christ was embroidered on
it. During the reign of Julian the labarum
JMonoijram was made in its original shape, and bore the
"Iit^'^t''^^ °" iiiage of the emperor, along with those of Ju-
rum, ^' P^ter, Mars, and Mercurj-, but the standard
of Constantine was restored under Valentine and Gratian. The labarum remained the standard of Rome until the downfall of the Western Roman Empire, under the names oi labarum, crux, and vexillum ecclesi- asticum. The standards at present in use in some cere- monies of the Roman Catholic Church still consist of a spear, with a cross-piece, to which is attached a cloth coverc<l with embroidery or painting. The most re- nowned masterpiece of Christian art, Raphael's Madon- na del Sisfo, was originally made and used for this pur- pose. See Ilerzog, Re(d-Eucijklop. vol. viii, s. v. ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roiiian Ewpire, ii, 2G1 sq. ; Mar- tigny, Diet, des Antiquites, s. v.; Walcott, Saci-ed Ar- chaolorju, s. v.; Voisin, Diss. crit. sur la Vision de Con- stanlin (Paris, 1774). (J. H, W.)
Labat, Jean Baptists, a French Roman Catholic mLssionarj-, was born at Paris in 16G3. He joined the Dominicans in April, 1G«5, went as professor of philoso-
V.— :m
phy to Nancy in 1G87, and afterwards devoted himself exclusively to preaching. He landed at La Martinique Jan. 29, 1G94, and was immediately put in charge of tlie mission at jNIacouba. While attending to his ecclesi- astical duties, he made himself very usefid in the colo- ny as engineer, agrittdtinist, and even as diplomatic agent, and rendered great service against the English when they attempted taking the island in 1703. Most of his colleagues having died of yellow fever and other diseases brought on by the climate, he returned to Fai- rope to seek for others, and arrived at Cadiz Oct. 9, 1705. He intended returning soon to the West Indies, but was sent to Rome by his superiors, and was retained there until 1709; he afterwards remained at Civita Yecchia until 171G, and finally returned to Paris, where he died, Jan. C, 1738. He wrote Noui-eau Voyar/e aux lies de rAmerique (Paris, 1722, G vols. 12mo; La Haye, 1724, 6 vols. 12mo; 1738, 2 vols. 4to: 2d ed. Paris, 17"42, 8 vols. 12mo ; transl. into Dutch, Amsterd. 1725. 4 vols. 12mo ; German, Nuremb. 1783-87, 6 vols. 8vo), and some other historical and miscellaneous works. See Joui-nal des Savants, Oct., Nov., and Dec. 1730 ; Echard, Script, ord. S. Domin. ii, 800-, Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generule, xxviii, 333.