  We calculate the magneto-resistivities of a two-dimensional electron gas
subjected to a lateral superlattice (LSL) of rectangular symmetry within the
guiding-center picture, which approximates the classical electron motion as a
rapid cyclotron motion around a slowly drifting guiding center. We explicitly
evaluate the velocity auto-correlation function along the trajectories of the
guiding centers, which are equipotentials of a magnetic-field dependent
effective LSL potential. The existence of closed equipotentials may lead to a
suppression of the commensurability oscillations, if the mean free path and the
LSL modulation potential are large enough. We present numerical and analytical
results for this suppression, which allow, in contrast to previous quantum
arguments, a classical explanation of similar suppression effects observed
experimentally on square-symmetric LSL. Furthermore, for rectangular LSLs of
lower symmetry they lead us to predict a strongly anisotropic resistance
tensor, with high- and low-resistance directions which can be interchanged by
tuning the externally applied magnetic field.
