The thongs or bands of leather, which were tied round the hands of boxers, in order to render their blows more powerful. The cestus was used by boxers in the earliest times, and is mentioned in he Iliad; but in the heroic times it consisted merely of thongs of leather, and differed from the cestos used in later times in the public games, which was a most formidable weapon, being frequently covered with knots and nails, and loaded with lead and iron. - Smith, 1873