pretext Copy link Outline 1. spĕcies, ēi2. praetextum, i; praetextus, ūs (not in the best authors)3. obtentus, ūs (also late)4. lătebra (subterfuge) • pretext: 1. spĕcies, ēi: under p. of ..., specie, per speciem, foll. by gen.: v. ostensibly. 2. praetextum, i; praetextus, ūs (not in the best authors): a p. for civil war (opp. real cause, causa), praetextum civilium armorum, Suet. Caes. 30: under p., praetexto (foll. by gen.), Tac. H. 2, 100; ad p., Suet. Aug. 12: also, sub praetextu, Petr. 97; hoc praetextu, Just. 3. obtentus, ūs (also late): to assume anything as a p. (veil for a real design), aliquid obtentui sumere, Tac. A. 1, 10, init.: Just. 4. lătebra (subterfuge): to seek a p. for perjury, l. quaerere perjurio, Cic. Off. 3, 29, 106. Phr.: under p. of an agrarian law, legis agrariae simulatione atque nomine, Cic. Agr. 2, 6, 15: to allege anything as a p., praetexere aliquid, id. in Pis. 24, 56: Tac.: also, obtendere, Tac. A. 3, 17: to assign a false p. for a war, falsum titulum bello praetendere, cf. Liv. 37, 54, med. (but titulus alone, simply = ground alleged, without notion of falseness).