The Spoils of War & the Origin of the Word Rostrum

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Images of Rostra Adorn the Facade of Palazzo Koch

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How has the Latin word for a bird's beak (rostrum) come to be used to describe a speakers' platform? 

The prow of an ancient warship was fitted with a metal attachment that served to ram an enemy vessel. As it resembled a bird's beak, it was known as a rostrum.

After their success at the Battle of Antium, in 338 BCE, the Romans began the practise of attaching the rostra of captured ships to the front of a raised stone platform in the Forum, which was used by orators to address the people gathered below. The platform duly came to be known as the rostra. In the 18th century the word rostrum entered the English language. 

Images of rostra can be seen on some of the many palazzi that were erected in Rome after it became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy in 1871. 

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The Speakers' Platform in the Forum Romanum

Antique Bas-relief of a Ship Fitted with a Rostrum