Toynbee "Lano"
gentleman of Siena, said to be a member of the Maconi family; placed by D. in Round 2 of Circle VII of Hell among those who have squandered their substance, [Inf. xiii. 120]; (he and Giacomo da Sant'Andrea) (due peccatori), [Inf. xiii. 115]; quel dinanzi, [Inf. xiii. 118] [Scialacquatori]. As D. and Virgil are conversing with Pier della Vigna in the wood of the Suicides, they hear a tremendous crash, and see two spirits (those of Lano and Giacomo), naked and bleeding, come flying through the bushes, pursued by black hounds ([Inf. xiii. 109-126]); the one in front (Lano) calls upon death to release him, whereupon the other, whose breath was failing him, reminds him that he had not run so quickly when he was 'at the jousts of il Toppo' ([Inf. xiii. 118-121]) [Giacomo da Santo Andrea].

According to the early commentators, Lano (said to be an abbreviation of Arcolano) was a member of the Spendthrift Club of Siena, and squandered all his property in riotous living. He appears to have taken part in an expedition of the Florentines and Sienese against Arezzo in 1287, which ended in the Sienese force falling into an ambush and being cut to pieces by the Aretines under Buonconte da Montefeltro at a spot near Arezzo, called the ford of the Pieve del Toppo. Lano, being ruined and desperate, chose to fight and be killed, rather than run away and make his escape; hence the allusion of Giacomo in the text. [Brigata Spendereccia: Toppo, il.]

Boccaccio gives the following account of Lano:

. . . fu un giovane sanese, il qual fu ricchissimo di patrimonio, e, accostatosi ad una brigata d'altri giovani sanesi, la qual fu chiamata la Brigata spendereccia, li quali similimente erano tutti ricchi, e, insiememente con loro, non spendendo ma gittando, in piccol tempo consumò ciò ch'egli aveva, e rimase poverissimo. E, avvenendo per caso che i sanesi mandarono certa quantità di lor cittadini in aiuto de' fiorentini sopra gli are- tini, fu costui del numero di quelli che v'andarono. E avendo fornito il servigio, e tornandosene a Siena assai male ordinati e mal condotti, come pervennero alla Pieve al Toppo, furono assaliti dagli aretini, e rotti e sconfitti; e nondimeno, potendosene a salvamento venire Lano, ricordandosi del suo misero stato e parendogli gravissima cosa a sostener la povertà, sì come a colui che era uso d'esser ricchissimo, si mise in fra' nemici, fra' quali come esso per avventura desiderava, fu uceiso.

However, the words shouted at Lano by his companion Giacomo ([Inf. xiii. 120-121]) seem rather to be a taunt, and to imply that Lano ran away from the battle, but not speedily enough to escape death.

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press