BATRACHUS, according to Pliny (xxxvi. 42), the name of a Greek architect who, along with Sauras (both natives of Sparta), was employed by Metellus in the construction of certain temples in Rome. The story goes that, being forbidden to inscribe their names on the buildings, these two architects gained their end by placing the figures of a frog (batrachos) and a lizard (saura) on the base of the columns. But it is possible that the fanciful use of such figures for ornament in later times may have led to the invention of both the names.