Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  The first stone-quarries were opened by Cadmus at Thebes, or else, according to Theophrastus, in Phœnicia. Walls were first built by Thrason; according to Aristotle, towers were first erected by the Cyclopes, but according to Theophrastus, by the Tirynthii. The Egyptians invented weaving; the Lydians of Sardis the art of dyeing wool. Closter, the son of Arachne, invented the spindle for spinning wool; Arachne herself, linen cloth and nets; Nicias of Megara, the art of fulling cloth; and Tychius, the Bœotian, the art of making shoes. The Egyptians will have it that the medical art was first discovered among them, while others attribute it to Arabus, the son of Babylonis and Apollo; botany and pharmacy are ascribed to Chiron, the son of Saturn and Philyra.

  Aristotle supposes that Scythes, the Lydian, was the first to fuse and temper copper, while Theophrastus ascribes the art to Delas, the Phrygian. Some persons ascribe the working of copper to the Chalybes, others to the Cyclopes. Hesiod says, that iron was discovered in Crete, by the Idæan Dactyli. Erichthonius, the Athenian, or, as some people say, Æacus, discovered silver. Gold mines, and the mode of fusing that metal, were discovered by Cadmus, the Phœnician, at the mountain of Pangæus, or, according to other accounts, by Thoas or Eaclis, in Panchaia; or else by Sol, the son of Oceanus, whom Gellius mentions as having been the first who employed honey in medicine. Midacritus was the first who brought tin from the island called Cassiteris. The Cyclopes invented the art of working iron. Choræbus, the Athenian, was the first who made earthen vessels; but Anacharsis, the Scthian, or, according to others, Hyperbius, the Corinthian, first invented the potter’s wheel. Dædalus was the first person who worked in wood; it was he who invented the saw, the axe, the plummet, the gimlet, glue, and isinglass; the square, the level, the turner’s lathe, and the key, were invented by Theodorus, of Samos. Measures and weights were invented by Phidon, of Argos, or, according to Gellius, by Palamedes. Pyrodes, the son of Cilix, was the first to strike fire from the flint, and Prometheus taught us how to preserve it, in the stalk of giant-fennel.

  The Phrygians first taught us the use of the chariot with four wheels; the Carthaginians the arts of merchandize, and Eumolpus, the Athenian, the cultivation of the vine, and of trees in general. Staphylus, the son of Silenus, was the first to mix water with wine; olive-oil and the oil-press, as also honey, we owe to Aristæus, the Athenian; the use of oxen and the plough to Buzyges, the Athenian, or, according to other accounts, to Triptolemus.

  The Egyptians were the first who established a monarchical government, and the Athenians, after the time of Theseus, a democracy. Phalaris, of Agrigentum, was the first tyrant that existed; the Lacedæmonians were the introducers of slavery; and the first capital punishment inflicted was ordered by the Areiopagus. The first battles were fought by the Africans against the Egyptians, with clubs, which they are in the habit of calling phalange. Prœtus and Acrisius were the first to use shields, in their contests with each other; or, as some say, Chalcus, the son of Athamas. Midias, the Messenian, invented the coat of mail, and the Lacedæmonians the helmet, the sword, and the spear. Greaves and crests were first used by the Carians; Scythes, the son of Jupiter, it is said, invented the bow and arrows, though some say that arrows were invented by Perses, the son of Perseus. Lances were invented by the Ætolians; the javelin, with the thong attached, by Ætolus, the son of Mars; the spear of the light infantry by Tyrrhenus; the dart by Penthesilea, the Amazon; the axe by Pisæus; the hunting-spear, and the scorpion to hurl missiles, by the Cretans; the catapulta, the balista, and the sling, by the Syrophœnicians. Pisæus, the Tyrrhenian, was the first to invent the brazen trumpet, and Artemon, of Clazomenæ, the use of the testudo. The batter- ing-horse, for the destruction of walls, which is at the present day styled the “ram,” was invented by Epeus, at Troy. Bellerophon was the first who mounted the horse; bridles and saddles for the horse were invented by Pelethronius. The Thessalians, who are called. Centauri, and who dwell along Mount Pelion, were the first to fight on horse — Back. The people of Phrygia were the first who used chariots with two horses; Erichthonius first used four. Palamedes, during the Trojan war, was the first who marshalled an army, and invented watchwords, signals, and the use of sentinels. Sinon, at the same period, invented the art of correspondence by signals. Lycaon was the first to think of making a truce, and Theseus a treaty of alliance.

  The art of divination by means of birds we owe to Car, from whom Caria derives its name; Orpheus extended it to other animals. Delphus taught us the art of divining by the inspection of entrails; Amphiaraüs divination by fire; and Tiresias, the Theban, presages from the entrails of birds. We owe to Amphictyon the interpretation of portents and of dreams, and to Atlas, the son of Libya, the art of astrology, or else, according to other accounts, to the Egyptians or the Assyrians. Anaximander, the Milesian, invented the astronomical sphere; and Æolus, the son of Hellen, gave us the theory of the winds.

  Amphion was the inventor of music; Pan, the son of Mercury, the music of the reed, and the flute with the single pipe; Midas, the Phrygian, the transverse flute; and Marsyas, of the same country, the double-pipe. Amphion invented the Lydian measures in music; Thamyris the Thracian, the Dorian, and Marsyas the Phrygian, the Phrygian style. Amphion, or, according to some accounts, Orpheus, and according to others, Linus, invented the lyre. Terpander, adding three to the former four, increased the number of strings to seven; Simonides added an eighth, and Timotheus a ninth. Thamyris was the first who played on the lyre, without the accompaniment of the voice; and Amphion, or, as some say, Linus, was the first who accompanied it with the voice. Terpander was the first who composed songs expressly for the lyre; and Ardalus, the Trœzenian, was the first who taught us how to combine the voice with the music of the pipe. The Curetes taught us the dance in armour, and Pyrrhus, the Pyrrhic dance, both of them in Crete.

  We are indebted to the Pythian oracle for the first heroic verse. A very considerable question has arisen, as to what was the origin of poetry; it is well known to have existed before the Trojan war. Pherecydes of Scyros, in the time of King Cyrus, was the first to write in prose, and Cadmus, the Milesian, was the first historian.

  Lycaon first instituted gymnastic games, in Arcadia; Acastus funereal games, at Iolcos; and, after him, Theseus instituted them at the Isthmus. Hercules first instituted the athletic contests at Olympia. Pythus invented the game of ball. Painting was invented in Egypt by Gyges, the Lydian, or, according to Aristotle, in Greece, by Euchir, a kinsman of Dædalus; according to Theophrastus, again, it was invented by Polygnotus, the Athenian.

  Danaüis was the first who passed over in a ship from Egypt to Greece. Before his time, they used to sail on rafts, which had been invented by King Erythras, to pass from one island to another in the Red Sea. There are some writers to be found, who are of opinion that they were first thought of by the Mysians and the Trojans, for the purpose of crossing the Hellespont into Thrace. Even at the present day, they are made in the British ocean, of wicker-work covered with hides; on the Nile they are made of papyrus, rushes, and reeds.

  We learn from Philostephanus, that Jason was the first person who sailed in a long vessel; Hegesias says it was Paralus, Ctesias, Semiramis, and Archemachus, Ægeon. According to Damastes, the Erythræi were the first to construct vessels with two banks of oars; according to Thucydides, Aminocles, the Corinthian, first constructed them with three banks of oars; according to Aristotle, the Carthaginians, those with four banks; according to Mnesigiton, the people of Salamis, those with five banks; and, according to Xenagoras, the Syracusans, those with six; those above six, as far as ten, Mnesigiton says were first constructed by Alexander the Great. From Philostephanus, we learn that Ptolemy Soter made them as high as twelve banks; Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, with fifteen; Ptolemy Philadelphus, with thirty; and Ptolemy Philopater, who was surnamed Tryphon, with forty. Hippus, the Tyrian, was the first who invented merchant-ships; the Cyrenians, the pinnace; the Phœnicians, the passage — Boat; the Rhodians, the skiff; and the Cyprians, the cutter.<
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  We are indebted to the Phœnicians for the first observation of the stars in navigation; the Copæ invented the oar, and the Platæans gave it its broad blade. Icarus was the person who invented sails, and Dædalus the mast and yards; the Samians, or else Pericles, the Athenian, transports for horses, and the Thracians, long covered vessels, — Before which time they used to fight only from the prow or the stern. Pisæus, the Tyrrhenian, added the beak to ships; Eupalamus, the anchor; Anacharsis, that with two flukes; Pericles, the Athenian, grappling-irons, and hooks like hands; and Tiphys, the helm and rudder. Minos was the first who waged war by means of ships; Hyperbius, the son of Mars, the first who killed an animal; and Prometheus, the first who slew the ox.

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  CHAP. 58. (57.)

  THE THINGS ABOUT WHICH MANKIND FIRST OF ALL AGREED. THE ANCIENT LETTERS.

  There was at the very earliest period a tacit consent among all nations to adopt the letters now used by the Ionians. (58.) That the ancient Greek letters were almost the same with the modern Latin, is proved by the ancient Delphic inscription on copper, which is now in the Palatine library, having been dedicated by the emperors to Minerva; this inscription is as follows:

  ναυσικρατης ανεθετο τηι διος κορηι. [“Nausicrates offered this to the daughter of Zeus.”]

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  CHAP. 59. (59.)

  WHEN BARBERS WERE FIRST EMPLOYED.

  The next point upon which all nations appear to have agreed, was the employment of barbers. The Romans, however, were more tardy in the adoption of their services. According to Varro, they were introduced into Italy from Sicily, in the year of Rome 454, having been brought over by P. Titinius Mena: before which time the Romans did not cut the hair. The younger Africanus was the first who adopted the custom of shaving every day. The late Emperor Augustus always made use of razors.

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  CHAP. 60.

  WHEN THE FIRST TIME-PIECES WERE MADE.

  (60.) The third point of universal agreement was the division of time, a subject which afterwards appealed to the reasoning faculties. We have already stated, in the Second Book, when and by whom this art was first invented in Greece; the same was also introduced at Rome, but at a later period. In the Twelve Tables, the rising and setting of the sun are the only things that are mentioned relative to time. Some years afterwards, the hour of midday was added, the summoner of the consuls proclaiming it aloud, as soon as, from the senate-house, he caught sight of the sun between the Rostra and the Græcostasis; he also proclaimed the last hour, when the sun had gone down from the Mænian column to the prison. This, however, could only be done in clear weather, but it was continued until the first Punic war. The first sun-dial is said to have been erected among the Romans twelve years before the war with Pyrrhus, by L. Papirius Cursor, at the temple of Quirinus, on which occasion he dedicated it in pursuance of a vow which had been made by his father. This is the account given by Fabius Vestalis; but he makes no mention of either the construction of the dial or the artist, nor does he inform us from what place it was brought, or in whose works he found this statement made.

  M. Varro says that the first sun-dial, erected for the use of the public, was fixed upon a column near the Rostra, in the time of the first Punic war, by the consul M. Valerius Messala, and that it was brought from the capture of Catina, in Sicily: this being thirty years after the date assigned to the dial of Papirius, and the year of Rome 491. The lines in this dial did not exactly agree with the hours; it served, however, as the regulator of the Roman time ninety-nine years, until Q. Marcius Philippus, who was censor with L. Paulus, placed one near it, which was more carefully arranged: an act which was most gratefully acknowledged, as one of the very best of his censorship. The hours, however, still remained a matter of uncertainty, whenever the weather happened to be cloudy, until the ensuing lustrum; at which time Scipio Nasica, the colleague of Lænas, by means of a clepsydra, was the first to divide the hours of the day and the night into equal parts: and this time-piece he placed under cover and dedicated, in the year of Rome 595; for so long a period had the Romans remained without any exact division of the day. We will now return to the history of the other animals, and first to that of the terrestrial.

  SUMMARY. — Remarkable events, narratives, and observations, seven hundred and forty-seven.

  ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Verrius Flaccus, Cneius Gellius, Licinius Mutianus, Massurius Sabinius, Agrippina, the wife of Claudius, M. Cicero, Asinius Pollio, M. Varro, Messala Rufus, Cornelius Nepos, Virgil, Livy, Cordus, Melis- sus, Sebosus, Cornelius Celsus, Maximus Valerius, Trogus, Nigidius Figulus, Pomponius Atticus, Pedianus Asconius, Fabianus, Cato the Censor, the Register of the Triumphs,Fabius Vestalis.

  FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Herodotus, Aristeas, Bæton, Isigonus, Crates, Agatharchides, Calliphanes, Aristotle, Nymphodorus, Apollonides, Phylarchus, Damon, Megasthenes, Ctesias, Tauron, Eudoxus, Onesicritus, Clitarchus, Duris, Artemidorus, Hippocrates the physician, Asclepiades the physician, Hesiod, Anacreon, Theopompus, Hellanicus, Damastes, Ephorus, Epigenes, Berosus, Petosiris, Necepsos, Alexander Polyhistor, Xenophon, Callimachus, Democritus, Diyllus the historian, Strabo, who wrote against the Euremata of Ephorus, Heraclides Ponticus, Aclepiades, who wrote the Tragodoumena, Philostephanus, Hegesias, Archima- chus, Thucydides, Mnesigiton, Xenagoras, Metrodorus of Scepsos, Anticlides, Critodemus.

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  BOOK VIII. THE NATURE OF THE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS.

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  CHAP. 1. (1.)

  ELEPHANTS; THEIR CAPACITY.

  LET US now pass on to the other animals, and first of all to the land animals. The elephant is the largest of them all, and in intelligence approaches the nearest to man. It understands the language of its country, it obeys commands, and it remembers all the duties which it has been taught. It is sensible alike of the pleasures of love and glory, and, to a degree that is rare among men even, possesses notions of honesty, prudence, and equity; it has a religious respect also for the stars, and a veneration for the sun and the moon. It is said by some authors, that, at the first appearance of the new moon, herds of these animals come down from the forests of Mauritania to a river, the name of which is Amilos; and that they there purify themselves in solemn form by sprinkling their bodies with water; after which, having thus saluted the heavenly body, they return to the woods, carrying before them the young ones which are fatigued. They are supposed to have a notion, too, of the differences of religion; and when about to cross the sea, they cannot be prevailed upon to go on board the ship, until their keeper has promised upon oath that they shall return home again. They have been seen, too, when worn out by disease, (for even these vast masses are liable to disease,) lying on their back, and throwing the grass up into the air, as if deputing the earth to intercede for them with its prayers. As a proof of their extreme docility, they pay homage to the king, fall upon their knees, and offer him the crown. Those of smaller growth, which the Indians call bastards, are employed by them in ploughing.

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  CHAP. 2. (2.)

  WHEN ELEPHANTS WERE FIRST PUT INTO HARNESS.

  The first harnessed elephants that were seen at Rome, were in the triumph of Pompeius Magnus over Africa, when they drew his chariot; a thing that is said to have been done long before, at the triumph of Father Liber on the conquest of India. Procilius says, that those which were used at the triumph of Pompeius, were unable to go in harness through the gate of the city. In the exhibition of gladiators which was given by Germanicus, the elephants performed a sort of dance with their uncouth and irregular movements. It was a common thing to see them throw arrows with such strength, that the wind was unable to turn them from their course, to imitate among themselves the combats of the gladiators, and to frolic through the steps of the Pyrrhic dance. After this, too, they walked upon the tight-rope, and four of them would carry a litter
in which lay a fifth, which represented a woman lying-in. They afterwards took their place; and so nicely did they manage their steps, that they did not so much as touch any of those who were drinking there.

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  CHAP. 3. (3.)

  THE DOCILITY OF THE ELEPHANT.

  It is a well-known fact, that one of these animals, who was slower than usual in learning what was taught him, and had been frequently chastised with blows, was found conning over his lesson in the night-time. It is a most surprising thing also, that the elephant is able not only to walk up the tight-rope backwards; but to come down it as well, with the head foremost. Mutianus, who was three times consul, informs us that one of these animals had been taught to trace the Greek letters, and that he used to write in that language the following words: “I have myself written these words, and have dedicated the Celtic spoils.” Mutianus states also, that he himself was witness to the fact, that when some elephants were being landed at Puteoli and were compelled to leave the ship, being terrified at the length of the platform, which extended from the vessel to the shore, they walked backwards, in order to deceive themselves by forming a false estimate of the distance.

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  CHAP. 4.

  WONDERFUL THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN DONE BY THE ELEPHANT.

  These animals are well aware that the only spoil that we are anxious to procure of them is the part which forms their weapon of defence, by Juba, called their horns, but by Herodotus, a much older writer, as well as by general usage and more appropriately, their teeth. Hence it is that, when their tusks have fallen off, either by accident or from old age, they bury them in the earth. These tusks form the only real ivory, and, even in these, the part which is covered by the flesh is merely common bone, and of no value whatever; though, indeed, of late, in consequence of the insufficient supply of ivory, they have begun to cut the bones as well into thin plates. Large teeth, in fact, are now rarely found, except in India, the demands of luxury having exhausted all those in our part of the world. The youthfulness of the animal is ascertained by the whiteness of the teeth These animals take the greatest care of their teeth; they pay especial attention to the point of one of them, that it may not be found blunt when wanted for combat; the other they employ for various purposes, such as digging up roots and pushing forward heavy weights. When they are surrounded by the hunters, they place those in front which have the smallest teeth, that the enemy may think that the spoil is not worth the combat; and afterwards, when they are weary of resistance, they break off their teeth, by dashing them against a tree, and in this manner pay their ransom.