Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

It is a remarkable fact that the art of chasing gold should have conferred no celebrity upon any person, while that of embossing silver has rendered many illustrious. The greatest renown, however, has been acquired by Mentor, of whom mention has been made already. Four pairs [of vases] were all that were ever made by him; and at the present day, not one of these, it is said, is any longer in existence, owing to the conflagrations of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus and of that in the Capitol. Varro informs us in his writings that he also was in possession of a bronze statue, the work of this artist. Next to Mentor, the most admired artists were Acra- gas, Boëthus, and Mys. Works of all these artists are still extant in the Isle of Rhodes; of Boëthus, in the Temple of Minerva, at Lindus; of Acragas, in the Temple of Father Liber, at Rhodes, consisting of cups engraved with figures in relief of Centaurs and Bacchantes; and of Mys, in the same temple, figures of Sileni and Cupids. Representations also of the chase by Acragas on drinking cups were held in high estimation.

  Next to these in repute comes Calamis. Antipater too, it has been said, laid, rather than engraved, a Sleeping Satyr upon a drinking-bowl. Next to these come Stratonicus of Cyzicus, and Tauriscus: Ariston also, and Eunicus, of Mytilene are highly praised; Hecatæus also, and, about the age of Pompeius Magnus, Pasiteles, Posidonius of Ephesus, Hedystratides who engraved battle-scenes and armed warriors, and Zopyrus, who represented the Court of the Areopa- gus and the trial of Orestes, upon two cups valued at twelve thousand sesterces. There was Pytheas also, a work of whose sold at the rate of ten thousand denarii for two ounces: it was a drinking-bowl, the figures on which represented Ulysses and Diomedes stealing the Palladium. The same artist engraved also, upon some small drinking-vessels, kitchen scenes, known as “magiriscia;” of such remarkably fine workmanship and so liable to injury, that it was quite impossible to take copies of them. Teucer too, the inlayer, enjoyed a great reputation.

  All at once, however, this art became so lost in point of excellence, that at the present day ancient specimens are the only ones at all valued; and only those pieces of plate are held in esteem the designs on which are so much worn that the figures cannot be distinguished.

  Silver becomes tainted by the contact of mineral waters, and of the salt exhalations from them, as in the interior of Spain, for instance.

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  CHAP. 56.

  SIL: THE PERSONS WHO FIRST USED IT IN PAINTING, AND THE METHOD THEY ADOPTED.

  In the mines of gold and silver there are some other pigments also found, sil and cæruleum. Sil is, properly speaking, a sort of slime. The best kind is that known as Attic sil; the price of which is two denarii per pound. The next best kind is the marbled sil, the price of which is half that of the Attic kind. A third sort is the compressed sil, known to some persons as Scyric sil, it coming from the Isle of Scyros. Then, too, there is the sil of Achaia, which painters make use of for shadow-painting, and the price of which is two sesterces per pound. At a price of two asses less per pound, is sold the clear sil, which comes from Gaul. This last kind, as well as the Attic sil, is used for painting strong lights: but the marbled sil only is employed for colouring compartitions, the marble in it offering a resistance to the natural acridity of the lime. This last kind is extracted also from some mountains twenty miles distant from the City. When thus extracted, it is submitted to the action of fire; in which form it is adulterated by some, and sold for compressed sil. That it has been burnt, however, and adulterated, may be very easily detected by its acridity, and the fact that it very soon crumbles into dust.

  Polygnotus and Micon were the first to employ sil in painting, but that of Attica solely. The succeeding age used this last kind for strong lights only, and employed the Scyric and Lydian kinds for shadow painting. The Lydian sil used to be bought at Sardes; but at the present day we hear nothing of it.

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  CHAP. 57. (13.)

  CÆRULEUM.

  Cæruleum is a kind of sand. In former times there were three kinds of it; the Egyptian, which was the most esteemed of all; the Scythian, which is easily dissolved, and which produces four colours when pounded, one of a lighter blue and one of a darker blue, one of a thicker consistency and one comparatively thin; and the Cyprian, which is now preferred as a colour to the preceding. Since then, the kinds imported from Puteoli and Spain have been added to the list, this sand having of late been prepared there. Every kind, however, is submitted to a dyeing process, it being boiled with a plant used particularly for this purpose, and imbibing its juices. In other respects, the mode of preparing it is similar to that of chrysocolla. From cæruleum, too, is prepared the substance known as “lomentum,” it being washed and ground for the purpose. Lomentum is of a paler tint than cæruleum; the price of it is ten denarii per pound, and that of cæruleum but eight. Cæruleum is used upon a surface of clay, for upon lime it will not hold. A more recent invention is the Vestorian cæruleum, so called from the person who first manufactured it: it is prepared from the finer parts of Egyptian cæruleum, and the price of it is eleven denarii per pound. That of Puteoli is used in a similar manner, as also for windows: it is known as “cylon.”

  It is not so long since that indicum was first imported to Rome, the price being seventeen denarii per pound. Painters make use of it for incisures, or in other words, the division of shadows from light. There is also a lomentum of very inferior quality, known to us as “ground” lomentum, and valued at only five asses per pound.

  The mode of testing the genuineness of cæruleum, is to see whether it emits a flame, on being laid upon burning coals. One method of adulterating it is to boil dried violets in water, and then to strain the liquor through linen into Eretrian clay.

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  CHAP. 58.

  TWO REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CÆRULEUM.

  Cæruleum has the medicinal property of acting as a detergent upon ulcers. Hence it is, that it is used as an ingredient in plasters, as also in cauteries. As to sil, it is pounded with the greatest difficulty: viewed as a medicament, it is slightly mordent and astringent, and fills up the cavities left by ulcers. To make it the more serviceable, it is burnt in earthen vessels.

  The prices of things, which I have in different places annexed, vary, I am well aware, according to the locality, and experience a change almost every year: variations dependent upon the opportunities afforded for navigation, and the terms upon which the merchant may have purchased the article. It may so happen, too, that some wealthy dealer has engrossed the market, and so enhanced the price: for I am by no means forgetful of the case of Demetrius, who in the reign of the Emperor Nero was accused before the consuls by the whole community of the Seplasia. Still, however, I have thought it necessary to annex the usual price of each commodity at Rome, in order to give some idea of their relative values.

  SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, one thousand one hundred and twenty-five.

  ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Domitianus Cæsar, Junius Gracchanus, L. Piso, Verrius, M. Varro, Corvinus, Atticus Pomponius, Calvus Licinius, Cornelius Nepos, Mucianus, Bocchus, Fetialis, Fenestella, Valerius Maximus, Julius Bassus who wrote on Medicine in Greek, Sextius Niger who did the same.

  FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Theophrastus, Democritus, Juba, Timæus the historian, who wrote on Metallic Medicines, Heraclides, Andreas, Diagoras, Botrys, Archidemus, Dionysius, Aristogenes, Democles, Mnesides, Attalus the physician, Xenocrates the son of Zeno, Theomnestus, Nymphodorus, Iollas, Apollodorus, Pasiteles who wrote on Wonderful Works, Antigonus who wrote on the Toreutic art, Menæchmus who did the same, Xenocrates who did the same, Duris who did the same, Menander who wrote on Toreutics, Heliodorus who wrote on the Votive Offerings of the Athenians, Metrodorus of Scepsis.

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  BOOK XXXIV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF METALS.

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  CHAP. 1. (1.)

  THE ORES OF BRASS.

  WE must, in the next place, give an a
ccount of the ores of brass, a metal which, in respect of utility, is next in value; indeed the Corinthian brass comes before silver, not to say almost before gold itself. It is also, as I have stated above, the standard of monetary value; hence the terms “æra militum,” “tribuni ærarii,” “ærarium,” “obærati,” and “ære diruti.” I have already mentioned for what length of time the Roman people employed no coin except brass; and there is another ancient fact which proves that the esteem in which it was held was of equal antiquity with that of the City itself, the circumstance that the third associated body which Numa established, was that of the braziers.

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  CHAP. 2.

  THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF COPPER.

  The ore is extracted in the mode that has been described above, and is then purified by fusion. The metal is also obtained from a coppery stone called “cadmia.” The most highly esteemed copper is procured from beyond seas: it was formerly obtained in Campania also, and at present is found in the country of the Bergomates, at the extremity of Italy. It is said to have been lately discovered also in the province of Germany.

  (2.) In Cyprus, where copper was first discovered, it is also procured from another stone, which is called “chalcitis.” This, however, was afterwards considered of little value, a better kind having been found in other regions, especially that called “aurichalcum,” which was long in high request, on account of its excellent quality; but none of it has been found for this long time, the earth having been quite exhausted. The kind which was next in value was the Sallustian, procured from the Alpine district of the Centrones; but this did not last long, and was succeeded by the Livian, in Gaul. They both took their names from the owners of the mines; the former a friend of the Emperor Augustus, the latter that emperor’s wife. They soon failed, however, and in the Livian even there is now found but a very small quantity of ore. That which is at present held in the highest estimation is the Marian, likewise known as the Corduban: next to the Livian, this kind most readily absorbs cadmia, and becomes almost as excellent as aurichalcum for making sesterces and double asses, the Cyprian copper being thought good enough for the as. Thus much concerning the natural qualities of this metal.

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  CHAP. 3.

  THE CORINTHIAN BRASS.

  The other kinds are made artificially, all of which will be described in the appropriate places, the more celebrated kinds first coming under our notice. Formerly a mixture was made of copper fused with gold and silver, and the workmanship in this metal was considered even more valuable than the material itself; but, at the present day, it is difficult to say whether the workmanship in it, or the material, is the worst. Indeed, it is wonderful, that while the value of these works has so infinitely increased, the reputation of the art itself is nearly extinct. But it would appear, that in this, as in every thing else, what was formerly done for the sake of reputation, is now undertaken for the mere purpose of gain. For whereas this art was ascribed to the gods themselves, and men of rank in all countries endeavoured to acquire fame by the practice of it, we have now so entirely lost the method of making this valuable compound by fusion, that, for this long time past, not even chance itself has assumed, in this department, the privilege which formerly belonged to art.

  Next after the above compound, so celebrated in antiquity, the Corinthian metal has been the most highly esteemed. This was a compound produced by accident, when Corinth was burnt at the time of its capture. There has been a wonderful mania with many for gaining possession of this metal. It is even said, that Verres, whom M. Cicero caused to be condemned, was proscribed by Antonius, along with Cicero, for no other reason than his refusal to give up some specimens of Corinthian metal, which were in his possession. But most of these people seem to me to make a pretence of their discernment in reference to this metal, rather for the purpose of distinguishing themselves from the multitude, than from any real knowledge which they possess; and this I will briefly show.

  Corinth was captured in the third year of the 158th Olympiad, being the year of the City, 608, some ages after the period when those artists flourished, who produced all the specimens of what these persons now call Corinthian metal. It is in order, therefore, to refute this opinion, that I shall state the age when these different artists lived; for, if we reckon according to the above-mentioned era of the Olympiads, it will be easy to compare their dates with the corresponding years of our City. The only genuine Corinthian vessels, then, are those which these men of taste metamorphose, sometimes into dishes, sometimes into lamps, or even into washing-basins, without any regard to decency. They are of three kinds; the white variety, approaching very nearly to the splendour of silver, and in which that metal forms a large proportion of the compound; a second kind, in which the yellow colour of gold predominates; and a third, in which all the metals are mixed in equal proportions. Besides these, there is another mixture, the composition of which it is impossible to describe, for although it has been formed into images and statues by the hand of man, it is chance that rules in the formation of the compound. This last is highly prized for its colour, which approaches to that of liver, and it is on this account that it is called “hepatizon:” it is far inferior to the Corinthian metal, but much superior to the Æginetan and Delian, which long held the first rank.

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  CHAP. 4.

  THE DELIAN BRASS.

  The Delian brass was the first that became famous, all the world coming to Delos to purchase it; and hence the attention paid to the manufacture of it. It was in this island that brass first obtained celebrity for the manufacture of the feet and supports of dining-couches. After some time it came to be employed for the statues of the gods, and the effigies of men and other animated beings.

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  CHAP. 5.

  THE ÆGINETAN BRASS.

  The next most esteemed brass was the Æginetan; the island itself being rendered famous for its brass — not indeed that the metal was produced there, but because the annealing of the Æginetan manufactories was so excellent. A brazen Ox, which was taken from this is and, now stands in the Forum Bearium at Rome. This is a specimen of the Æginetan metal, as the Jupiter in the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, in the Capitol, is of the Delian. Myron used the former metal and Polycletus the latter; they were contemporaries and fellow-pupils, but there was great rivalry between them as to their materials.

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  CHAP. 6. (3.)

  STANDS FOR LAMPS.

  Ægina was particularly famous for the manufacture of sockets only for lamp-stands, as Tarentum was for that of the branches; the most complete articles were, therefore, produced by the union of the two. There are persons, too, who are not ashamed to give for one a sum equal to the salary of a military tribune, although, as its name indicates, its only use is to hold a lighted candle. On the sale of one of these lamp-stands, Theon the public crier announced, that the purchaser must also take, as part of the lot, one Clesippus, a fuller, who was hump-backed, and in other respects, of a hideous aspect. The purchase was made by a female named Gegania, for fifty thousand sesterces. Upon her exhibiting these purchases at an entertainment which she gave, the slave, for the amusement of her guests, was brought in naked. Conceiving an infamous passion for him, she first admitted him to her bed, and finally left him all her estate. Having thus become excessively rich, he adored the lamp-stand as much as any divinity, and the story became a sort of pendant to the celebrity of the Corinthian lamp-stands. Still, however, good morals were vindicated in the end, for he erected a splendid monument to her memory, and so kept alive the eternal remembrance of the misconduct of Gegania. But although it is well known that there are no lamp-stands in existence made of the Corinthian metal, yet this name is very generally attached to them, because, in consequence of the victory of Mummius, Corinth was destroyed: at the same time, however, it should be remembered that this victory dispersed a number o
f bronzes which originally came from many other cities of Achaia.

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  CHAP. 7.

  ORNAMENTS OF THE TEMPLES MADE OF BRASS.

  The ancients were in the habit of making the door-sills and even the doors of the temples of brass. I find it stated, also, that Cneius Octavius, who obtained a naval triumph over King Perseus, erected the double portico to the Flaminian Circus, which was called the “Corinthian” from the brazen capitals of the pillars. It is stated also, that an ordinance was made that the Temple of Vesta should be covered with a coating of Syracusan metal. The capitals, too, of the pillars, which were placed by M. Agrippa in the Pantheon, are made of similar metal. Even the opulence, too, of private individuals has been wrested to similar purposes. Spurius Carvilius, the quæstor, among the other charges which he brought against Camillus, accused him of having brazen doors in his house.

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  CHAP. 8.

  COUCHES OF BRASS.

  We learn from L. Piso, that Cneius Manlius was the first who introduced brazen banquetting-couches, buffets, and tables with single feet, when he entered the City in triumph, in the year of Rome 567, after his conquests in Asia. We also learn from Antias, that the heirs of L. Crassus, the orator, sold a number of banquetting-couches adorned with brass. The tripods, which were called Delphian, because they were devoted more particularly to receiving the offerings that were presented to the Delphian Apollo, were usually made of brass: also the pendant lamps, so much admired, which were placed in the temples, or gave their light in the form of trees loaded with fruit; such as the one, for instance, in the Temple of the Palatine Apollo, which Alexander the Great, at the sacking of Thebes, brought to Cyme, and dedicated to that god.