The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 6 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny
Chapter 26), were the blue copper earth already mentioned, which may
7693 words | Chapter 138
have been mixed and blended together.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. I. pp. 480, 481.
_Bohn’s Edition._
[1165] According to Vitruvius, B. vii. c. 11, the manufactory of
Vestorius was at Puteoli, now Pozzuoli. This was probably the same C.
Vestorius who was also a money-lender and a friend of Atticus, and with
whom Cicero had monetary transactions. He is mentioned as “Vestorium
meum,” in the Epistles of Cicero to Atticus.
[1166] For colouring surfaces of clay or cretaceous earth. This kind
was also manufactured by Vesturius, most probably.
[1167] “Idem et Puteolani usus, præterque ad fenestras.” “The
expression here, _usus ad fenestras_, has been misapplied by Lehmann,
as a strong proof of his assertion; for he explained it as if Pliny
had said that a blue pigment was used for painting window-frames; but
glass windows were at that time unknown. I suspect that Pliny meant to
say only that one kind of paint could not be employed near openings
which afforded a passage to the light, as it soon decayed and lost its
colour. This would have been the case in particular with _lake_, in
which there was a mixture of vegetable particles.”—Beckmann, Hist. Inv.
Vol. I. p. 480.
[1168] “Indian” pigment. Probably our “indigo.” It is again mentioned,
and at greater length, in B. xxxv. c. 27. See also Beckmann, Hist. Inv.
Vol. II. pp. 259, 267. _Bohn’s Edition._
[1169] This is probably a more correct reading than “seven.”
[1170] See B. xxxv. c. 19. Vitruvius, B. vii. c. 14, describes an
exactly similar method adopted by dyers for imitating the colour of
Attic sil, or ochre, mentioned in Chapter 56.
[1171] A quarter in the city of Capua, inhabited by druggists and
perfumers; see B. xvi. c. 18, and B. xxxiv. c. 25.
[1172] In some MSS. the reading here is “Domitius,” and in others the
name is omitted altogether. We learn from the writings of Suetonius,
that the Emperor Domitian devoted himself to literary pursuits in
his younger days, and Quintilian and the younger Pliny speak of his
poetical productions as equal to those of the greatest masters. Sillig
expresses an opinion that Pliny may possibly have borrowed something
from his works, and inserted his name, with a view of pleasing the
young prince and his father, the Emperor Vespasian.
[1173] He is quoted in Chapter 9 of this Book, where it appears that
he took his cognomen on account of his friendship for C. Gracchus. He
wrote a work, “De Potestatibus,” which gave an account of the Roman
magistrates from the time of the kings. A few fragments of this work,
which was highly esteemed by the ancients, are all that remain.
[1174] See end of B. ii.
[1175] See end of B. iii.
[1176] See end of B. ii.
[1177] Valerius Messala Corvinus. See end of B. ix.
[1178] See end of B. vii.
[1179] Calvus Licinius Macer was the son of C. Licinius Macer, a person
of prætorian rank, who, on being impeached of extortion by Cicero,
committed suicide. We learn from our author, B. xxxiv. c. 50, that
in his youth he devoted himself to study with the greatest zeal, and
applied himself with singular energy to intellectual pursuits. His
constitution, however, was early exhausted, and he died in his 35th or
36th year, leaving behind him twenty-one orations. We learn from Cicero
and Quintilian that his compositions were carefully moulded after the
models of the Attic school, but were deficient in ease and freshness.
As a poet he was the author of many short pieces, equally remarkable
for their looseness and elegance. He wrote also some severe lampoons
on Pompey and Cæsar, and their respective partisans. Ovid and Horace,
besides several of the prose writers, make mention of him.
[1180] See end of B. ii.
[1181] See end of B. ii.
[1182] Cornelius Bocchus. See end of B. xvi.
[1183] Annius or Annæus Fetialis. See end of B. xvi.
[1184] See end of B. viii.
[1185] See end of B. vii.
[1186] See end of B. xx.
[1187] See end of B. xii.
[1188] See end of B. iii.
[1189] See end of B. ii.
[1190] See end of B. v.
[1191] The person mentioned in Chapter 13 of this Book, is probably
different from those of the same name mentioned at the end of Books ii.
and iv. If so, no further particulars are known of him.
[1192] It seems impossible to say which of the physicians of this name
is here alluded to. See end of Books iv. and xii.
[1193] See end of B. xx.
[1194] See end of B. xii.
[1195] See end of B. xiii.
[1196] See end of B. xii.
[1197] See end of B. xii.; and for Sallustius Dionysius, see end of B.
xxxi.
[1198] See end of B. xxix.
[1199] See end of B. xii.
[1200] See end of B. xii.
[1201] As King Attalus was very skilful in medicine, Hardouin is of
opinion that he is the person here meant; see end of B. viii.
[1202] A different person, most probably, from the writer of Pliny’s
age, mentioned in B. xxxvii. c. 2. The Xenocrates here mentioned
is probably the same person that is spoken of in B. xxxv. c. 36, a
statuary of the school of Lysippus, and the pupil either of Tisicrates
or of Euthycrates, who flourished about B.C. 260.
[1203] There were two artists of this name, prior to the time of
Pliny; a sculptor, mentioned by him in B. xxxiv. c. 19, and a painter,
contemporary with Apelles, mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 36. It is
impossible to say which of them, if either, is here meant.
[1204] See end of B. iii.
[1205] See end of B. xii.
[1206] It is impossible to say which writer of this name is here meant.
See end of Books iv., viii., xi., and xx.
[1207] A statuary, sculptor, and chaser in silver, who flourished at
Rome about B.C. 60. He was a native of Magna Græcia, in the south of
Italy. He is not only mentioned in Chapter 55 of the present Book, but
also in B. xxxv. c. 45, as an artist of the highest distinction. His
narrow escape from a panther, while copying from nature, is mentioned
in B. xxxvi. c. 4. His five Books on the most celebrated works of
sculpture and chasing were looked upon as a high authority in art. He
was also the head of a school of artists.
[1208] A writer on painting of this name is mentioned by Diogenes
Laertius, B. vii. c. 12. He is probably the same as the person here
mentioned, and identical with the Greek sculptor mentioned by Pliny in
B. xxxiv. c. 19, who probably flourished about 240 B.C. The Toreutic
Art, “Toreutice,” was the art of making raised work in silver or
bronze, either by graving or casting: but the exact meaning of the word
is somewhat uncertain.
[1209] Menæchmus of Sicyon, probably; see end of B. iv., also B. xxxiv.
c. 19.
[1210] If he is really a different person from the Xenocrates mentioned
above, nothing is known of him.
[1211] See end of B. vii.
[1212] Possibly one of the persons mentioned at the end of Books viii.,
xix., and xxxi. If not, nothing whatever is known of him.
[1213] An Athenian writer, surnamed “Periegetes.” The work here
mentioned, is alluded to by other writers under different names. From
a passage in Athenæus, he is supposed to have lived after the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes.
[1214] See end of B. iii.
[1215] The present Book is translated by the late Dr. Bostock, the
translation being corrected by the readings of the Bamberg MS., which
do not appear to have come under his notice. Some Notes by Dr. Bostock
will be also found at the commencement of Books 33 and 35; they are
distinguished by the initial B.
[1216] “Æris Metalla.” The word “Æs” does not entirely correspond to
our word “brass;” the brass of the moderns being a compound of copper
and zinc, while the “Æs” of the ancients was mostly composed of copper
and tin, and therefore, would be more correctly designated by the word
“bronze.” But this last term is now so generally appropriated to works
of art, that it would seem preferable to employ in most cases the more
general terms “copper” or “brass.” For an excellent account of the “Æs”
of the ancients, see Smith’s Dict. Antiq. “Æs.”—B. Mr. Westmacott, in
the above-mentioned article, says that the ancient “Æs” has been found,
upon analysis, to contain no zinc, but in nearly every instance to be
a mixture of copper and tin, like our bronze. Beckmann says, on the
other hand, that the mixture of zinc and copper now called “brass,”
first discovered by ores, abundant in zinc, _was certainly known to
the ancients_. “In the course of time, an ore, _which must have been
calamine_, was added to copper while melting, to give it a yellow
colour.” Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 32, 33. _Bohn’s Edition._ There can
be little doubt that the native _Cadmia_ of Chapter 22 of this Book
was our Calamine, hydrosilicate of zinc, or carbonate of zinc, or else
copper ore impregnated with calamine.
[1217] In B. xxxiii. c. 13.
[1218] “Stipis auctoritas.” The standard in money payments.
[1219] These terms must have come into use when brass, “æs,” was the
ordinary medium, of circulation.—B. Their meaning is, “soldiers’ pay,”
“tribunes of the treasury,” the “public treasury,” “made bondmen for
debt,” and “mulcted of their pay.”
[1220] In B. xxxiii. c. 13.—B.
[1221] “Collegium” The colleges of the priests and of the augurs being
the first two associated bodies.—B.
[1222] In B. xxxiii. c. 31, where we have an account of the ores of
silver.—B.
[1223] Pliny again refers to this mineral in the 22d Chapter. We
have no means of ascertaining, with certainty, what is the substance
to which this name was applied by the ancients. The ores of copper
are very numerous, and of various chemical constitutions] the most
abundant, and those most commonly employed in the production of the
pure metal, are the sulphurets, more especially what is termed copper
pyrites, and the oxides. It has been supposed, by some commentators,
that the Cadmia of the ancients was Calamine, which is an ore of zinc;
but we may be confident that the _Æs_ of the ancients could not be
produced from this substance, because, as has been stated above, the
_Æs_ contains no zinc. I must, however, observe that the contrary
opinion is maintained by M. Delafosso.—B. See Note 1216 above.
[1224] The inhabitants of Bergamum, the modern Bergamo.—B. See B. iii.
c. 21.
[1225] Aristotle gives the same account of the copper ore of Cyprus.
Chalcitis is also spoken of by Dioscorides, as an ore of copper.—B. See
further as to “Chalcitis,” in Chapter 29 of this Book.
[1226] There has been much discussion respecting the nature of this
substance, and the derivation of the word. Hardouin conceives it
probable that it was originally written “orichalcum,” _i.e._ “mountain
brass” or “copper.”—B. Ajasson considers it to be native brass,
a mixture of copper and zinc. In the later writers it signifies
artificial brass. The exact composition of this metal is still unknown,
but there is little doubt that Hardouin is right in his supposition as
to the origin of the name.
[1227] Possibly so called from Sallustius Crispus, the historian, who
was one of the secretaries of Augustus.
[1228] There is some doubt respecting the locality of these people;
they are enumerated by Pliny among the inhabitants of the mountainous
districts of Savoy, B. iii. c. 24, and are referred to by Ptolemy.—B.
[1229] Livia.
[1230] It was named “Marian,” after the celebrated Marius, and
“Corduban,” from the place whence it was procured; probably the
mountains near Corduba, in Spain, well known as the birth-place of the
two Senecas and of Lucan.—B. See B. iii. c. 3, and B. xix. c. 43.
[1231] No light is thrown upon the nature either of Cadmia or
Aurichalcum by this statement; we only learn from it that different
compounds, or substances possessing different physical properties, went
under the common appellation of _Æs_, and were, each of them, employed
in the formation of coins.—B.
[1232] “Dupondiariis.” The “as,” it must be remembered, _originally_
weighed one pound. See B. xxxiii. c. 13, and the Introduction to Vol.
III.
[1233] He alludes to the _ancient_ works of art in this compound metal.
[1234] The art of making compound metals.
[1235] Vulcan, namely.
[1236] No one has accidentally stumbled upon the art of making this
composite metal.
[1237] We have an account of the destruction of Corinth, and the
accidental formation of this compound, in Florus, B. ii. c. 16.
Although this account was generally received by the ancients, we may
venture to assert, that it cannot be correct; we cannot conceive the
possibility of such a fusion taking place during the destruction of the
city, or of the complete union of the components, in the mode in which
they have been found to exist.—B.
[1238] B.C. 146.—B.
[1239] “Trulleos.” In an epigram of Martial, B. ix. Ep. 97, the word
“trulla” signifies a chamber-pot.
[1240] From the Greek ἥπαρ, “the liver.”
[1241] The Delian brass is mentioned by Cicero, in his oration “Pro
Roscio Amerino,” s. 46, and in his Fourth oration “In Verrem,” s. 1.—B.
Pausanias, in his “Eliaca,” says that the Spanish copper, or copper of
Tartessus, was the first known.
[1242] Or Cattle Market: in the Eighth Region of the City. See B. xxxv.
c. 7, and Chapter 16 of this Book.
[1243] A distinguished statuary and engraver on silver. He lived in
Olympiad 87. Further mention is made of him by Cicero, Ovid, Strabo,
and Pausanias. See also Chapter 19 of this Book.
[1244] There were several artists of this name. The elder Polycletus, a
native either of Sicyon or of Argos, is probably the one here referred
to. For further particulars of him, see Chapter 19.
[1245] The words in the original are, respectively _candelabra_,
_superficies_, and _scapi_.—B.
[1246] Probably a proverbial expression at Rome, as it is employed by
Juvenal, in an analogous manner, upon another occasion; Sat. iii. l.
132.—B.
[1247] Plutarch speaks of the Geganii as an ancient noble family at
Rome.
[1248] See B. xxxiii. c. 53.
[1249] A.U.C. 585; we have an account of it in Livy, B. xiv. c. 42.—B.
[1250] This building is referred to by Velleius Paterculus, in the
beginning of the Second Book of his History.—B. According to Aurelius
Victor, it was situated in the Ninth Region of the City.
[1251] The Temple of Vesta is described by Ovid, Fasti, B. vi. l. 265,
_et seq._—B.
[1252] C. Camillus probably, the Roman jurist and friend of Cicero.
[1253] See end of B. ii.
[1254] “Triclinia,” “abaci,” and “monopodia;” these appear to have
been couches for dining-tables, tables furnished with cupboards, and
tables standing on a single foot. Livy, B. xxxix. c. 6, informs us,
that Cneius Manlius, in his triumphal procession, introduced into Rome
various articles of Asiatic luxury; “Lectos æratos, vestem stragulam
preciosam, monopodia, et abacos.” We are not to suppose that the whole
of these articles were made of brass, but that certain parts of them
were formed of this metal, or else were ornamented with brass.—B.
[1255] See end of B. ii.
[1256] “Cortinas tripodum.” These articles of furniture consisted of a
table or slab, supported by three feet, which was employed, like our
sideboards, for the display of plate, at the Roman entertainments.—B.
[1257] “Lychnuchi pensiles;” this term is applied by Suetonius,
Julius, s. 37; we may conceive that they were similar to the modern
chandeliers.—B.
[1258] This temple was dedicated by Augustus A.U.C. 726. The lamps in
it, resembling trees laden with fruit, are mentioned by Victor in his
description of the Tenth Quarter of the City.—B.
[1259] See B. v. c. 32.
[1260] We have an account of this event in Livy, B. ii. c. 41, in
Valerius Maximus, and in Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—B.
[1261] “Iconicæ,” “portrait statues,” from εἴκων, of the same
meaning. This term is employed by Suetonius, in speaking of a statue of
Caligula, c. 22.—B.
[1262] Pisistratus. These statues are mentioned in the 19th Chapter of
this Book, as being the workmanship of Praxiteles.—B.
[1263] See B. vii. cc. 31, 34: B. viii. c. 74: and B. ix. c. 63.
[1264] Near the Temple of Janus, in the Eighth Region of the City.
[1265] The Luperci were the priests of Pan, who, at the celebration of
their games, called Lupercalia, were in the habit of running about the
streets of Rome, with no other covering than a goat’s skin tied about
the loins.—B.
[1266] “Pænula.” See B. viii. c. 73.
[1267] We are informed by Cicero, De Off. B. iii. c. 30, and by
Valerius Maximus, B. ii. c. 7, that Marcinus made a treaty with the
Numantines, which the senate refused to ratify, and that he was, in
consequence, surrendered to the enemy. We may suppose that he regarded
the transaction as redounding more to the discredit of the senate than
of himself.—B.
[1268] See end of B. xviii.
[1269] In the First Region of the City, near the Capenian Gate.
[1270] “Celetes;” this appellation is derived from the Greek word
κέλης, “swift,” and was applied to those who rode on
horseback, in opposition to the charioteers—B.
[1271] Poinsinet remarks that Pliny has forgotten the gilded chariot,
with six horses, which Cneius Cornelius dedicated in the Capitol, two
hundred years before Augustus; he also refers to an ancient inscription
in Gruter, which mentions chariots of this description.—B.
[1272] Mænius was consul with Furius Camillus, A.U.C. 416; we have an
account of his victories over the Latins and other neighbouring nations
in Livy, B. viii. c. 14.—B.
[1273] We have an account of this transaction in Livy, B. viii. c. 14.
This trophy is also mentioned by Florus, B. i. c. 11. The “Suggestus”
was an elevated place, formed for various purposes, the stage from
which the orators addressed the people, the place from which the
general addressed his soldiers, and the seat occupied by the emperor at
the public games.—B.
[1274] Florus, B. ii. c. 2, gives an account of the arrangements and
equipment of the Carthaginian fleet, the victory of Duillius, and the
rostral monument erected in its commemoration.—B.
[1275] See B. xviii. c. 4.
[1276] “Unciariâ stipe;” the _uncia_ was the twelfth part of the “as,”
and the word _stips_ was regarded as equivalent to _as_, as being the
usual pay of the soldiers.—B. See Introduction to Vol. III.
[1277] See B. xv. c. 20.
[1278] This circumstance is mentioned by Cicero in his Defence of Milo,
§ 90-1.—B.
[1279] We have some account of Hermodorus in Cicero’s Tusc. Quæs. B. v.
c. 36.—B.
[1280] See B. x. c. 2, B. xviii. c. 3, and B. xxxiii. c. 7.
[1281] Livy, B. ii. c. 10, and Valerius Maximus, B. iii. c. 2, give an
account of this event. A. Gellius incidentally mentions the statue, and
its position in the Comitium, B. iv. c. 5.—B.
[1282] We are informed by Dion Cassius, that there were eight statues
in the Capitol, seven of which were of the kings, and the eighth of
Brutus, who overthrew the kingly government; at a later period the
statue of Cæsar was placed by the side of that of Brutus.—B.
[1283] Suetonius, speaking of this temple, remarks, that though
dedicated to the brothers Castor and Pollux, it was, only known as the
Temple of Castor.—B.
[1284] We have an account of the victory of Tremulus over the Hernici,
and of the statue erected in honour of him, in Livy, B. ix. c. 43.—B.
[1285] This event is referred to by Cicero, Philipp. ix., 5.—B.
[1286] Florus, B. ii. c. 5, gives an account of the murder of P. Junius
and T. Coruncanius.—B.
[1287] In the Bamberg MS. the reading is “unum se. verbum.” Gronovius
is probably right in his conjecture that the word is “senatus consulti.”
[1288] By one Leptines, at Laodicea.
[1289] “Oculatissimo.” The place where there was “the most extended
eyeshot.” It is to this singular expression, probably, that Pliny
alludes.
[1290] “Quod campum Tiberinum gratificata esset ea populo.”
[1291] A.U.C. 441.
[1292] See B. vii. c. 31.
[1293] His life has been written by Diogenes Laertius, and he is
mentioned by Cicero, de Fin. B. v. c. 19, and by Strabo.—B.
[1294] In B. xxxiii. c. 46.
[1295] We have an account of the exploit of Clælia in Livy, B. ii. c.
13, and in Valerius Maximus, B. iii. c. 2: there is a reference to this
statue in Seneca, de Consol. c. 16.—B.
[1296] To King Porsena.
[1297] See end of B. xvi.
[1298] Plutarch says that it was uncertain whether the statue was
erected to Clælia or to Valeria.—B.
[1299] A.U.C. 596.—B.
[1300] See Chapter 9.
[1301] “In Octaviæ operibus.” These were certain public buildings,
erected in Rome by Augustus, and named by him after his sister Octavia;
they are mentioned by Suetonius.—B.
[1302] Valerius Maximus refers to this event, but he names the
individual Statius Servilius, B. i. c. 8, § 6.—B.
[1303] See B. xxxiii. cc. 50, 54.
[1304] We have an account of the attack by Hannibal on Rome in the
twenty-sixth Book of Livy, but we have no mention of the particular
circumstance here referred to.—B.
[1305] “Forum Boarium.” See Chapter 5.
[1306] Livy, B. i. c. 19, informs us, that Numa made Janus of a form to
denote both peace and war.—B.
[1307] The mode in which the fingers were placed, so as to serve the
purpose here indicated, is supposed to have been by their forming the
letters which were the Roman numerals for the figures in question. We
are informed that some MSS. of Pliny give the number three hundred and
fifty-five only, and there is reason to believe that, in the time of
Numa, this was considered to be the actual number of days in the year.
Some of the commentators, however, are disposed to read three hundred
and sixty-five; and this opinion derives some support from Macrobius,
who refers to this statue as indicating this latter number with its
fingers.—B. The Bamberg MS. gives three hundred and sixty-five.
[1308] See end of B. iii.
[1309] “Misoromæus”—“Roman-hater.” See end of B. iii.
[1310] Pliny himself informs us, in B. xxxv. c. 45, that the statue of
Jupiter in the Capitol, erected by Tarquinius Priscus, was formed of
earth.—B.
[1311] The art of moulding or modelling in argillaceous earth; see B.
xxxv. cc. 43, 45.
[1312] See B. xxxvi. c. 2, where he informs us that this theatre was
hardly one month in use.—B.
[1313] Hardouin gives several quotations illustrative of his liberality
in bestowing ornaments in the City, and his inattention to his domestic
concerns.—B.
[1314] The brothers Lucius and Marcus, the former of whom triumphed in
the Mithridatic, the latter in the Macedonian War.—B.
[1315] See end of B. ii.
[1316] See B. vii. c. 38.
[1317] The absolute number of statues assigned to Lysippus differs
considerably in the different editions, as is the case in almost every
instance where figures are concerned. Pliny gives a further account of
his works in the next two Chapters and in the following Book.—B.
[1318] “Aureum.” See B. xxxiii. c. 13, and B. xxxvii. c. 3.
[1319] In their attack upon Flavius Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian;
A.U.C. 822.
[1320] See B. iv. c. 27.
[1321] It was a statue of Jupiter.
[1322] Better known by the name of Q. Fabius Maximus; he acquired the
soubriquet of Verrucosus from a large wart on the upper lip.—B.
[1323] The Colossus of Rhodes was begun by Chares, but he committed
suicide, in consequence of having made some mistake in the estimate;
the work was completed by Laches, also an inhabitant of Lindos.—B.
[1324] It remained on the spot where it was thrown down for nearly nine
hundred years, until the year 653 A.D., when Moavia, khalif of the
Saracens, after the capture of Rhodes, sold the materials; it is said
that it required nine hundred camels to remove the remains.—B.
[1325] Demetrius Poliorcetes. See B. xxxv. c. 36.
[1326] He is mentioned by Columella, in his Introduction to his work De
Re Rusticâ, in connexion with the most celebrated Grecian artists.—B.
[1327] Suetonius, in describing the temple which Augustus dedicated to
Apollo, on the Palatine Hill, speaks of the Portico with the Latin and
Greek library.—B.
[1328] This victory took place A.U.C. 461; we have an account of it in
Livy, the concluding Chapter of the Tenth Book.—B.
[1329] This was a statue of Jupiter, placed on the Alban Mount, twelve
miles from Rome. At this place the various states of Latium exercised
their religious rites in conjunction with the Romans; it was sometimes
called Latialis.—B. See B. iii. c. 9, and Notes; Vol. I. p. 205.
[1330] The designer of the Colossus at Rhodes.
[1331] Decius is said by Hardouin to have been a statuary, but nothing
is known respecting him or his works.—B. He probably lived about the
time of the Consul P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, A.U.C. 697.
[1332] His country is unknown.
[1333] See B. iv. c. 33.
[1334] St. Jerome informs us, that Vespasian removed the head of Nero,
and substituted that of the Sun with seven rays. Martial refers to it
in the Second Epigram _De Spectaculis_, and also B. i. Ep. 71.—B.
[1335] “Parvis admodum surculis.” There is, it appears, some difficulty
in determining the application of the word _surculis_ to the subject in
question, and we have no explanation of it by any of the commentators.
Can it refer to the frame of wicker work which contained the model into
which the melted metal was poured?—B.
[1336] This observation has been supposed to imply, that Zenodotus
cast his statues in a number of separate pieces, which were afterwards
connected together, and not, as was the case with the great Grecian
artists, in one entire piece.—B.
[1337] See B. xxxiii. c. 55.
[1338] The term _signum_, which is applied to the Corinthian figures,
may mean a medallion, or perhaps a seal-ring or brooch; we only
know that it must have been something small, which might be carried
about the person, or, at least, easily moved from place to place.—B.
_Statuette_, probably.
[1339] Her riddle, and its solution by Œdipus, are too well known to
need repetition here.
[1340] In the following Chapter.
[1341] Consul A.U.C. 787.
[1342] The “Avenger.” In the Forum of Augustus, in the Eighth Region of
the City.
[1343] “Regia.” The palace of Minerva, also in the Forum of Augustus.—B.
[1344] See B. vii. c. 39, B. xxxv. c. 34, and B. xxxvi. c. 4.
[1345] We have an account of this statue, and of the temple in which
it was placed, by Pausanias, B. v. There is no work of Phidias now in
existence; the sculptures in the Parthenon were, however, executed by
his pupils and under his immediate directions, so that we may form some
judgment of his genius and taste.—B. There is a foot in the British
Museum, said to be the work of Phidias.
[1346] An Athenian; see B. xxxvi. c. 5. He is spoken of in high terms
by Pausanias and Valerius Maximus.
[1347] Tutor of Ptolichus of Corcyra, and highly distinguished for his
statues of the slayers of the tyrants at Athens. He is mentioned also
by Lucian and Pausanias.
[1348] The reading is uncertain here, the old editions giving
“Nestocles.” We shall _only_ devote a Note to such artists as are
mentioned by other authors besides Pliny.
[1349] An Athenian; mentioned also by Pausanias.
[1350] There were probably two artists of this name; one an Argive,
tutor of Phidias, and the other a Sicyonian, the person here referred
to.
[1351] A native of Ægina, mentioned by Pausanias. There is also a
statuary of Elis of the same name, mentioned by Pausanias, and to whom
Thiersch is of opinion reference is here made.
[1352] See Chapter 5 of this Book.
[1353] An Argive, mentioned by Pausanias.
[1354] See Chapter 5 of this Book.
[1355] Again mentioned by Pliny, as a native of Rhegium in Italy.
[1356] A native of Paros, mentioned also by Pausanias and Strabo.
[1357] Probably “Perillus,” the artist who made the brazen bull for
Phalaris, the tyrant of Agrigentum. The old reading is “Parelius.”
[1358] This and the following word probably mean one person—“Asopodorus
the Argive.”
[1359] Perhaps the same person that is mentioned by Pausanias, B. vi.
c. 20, as having improved the form of the starting-place at the Olympic
Games.
[1360] Mentioned by Pausanias as an Arcadian, and son of Clitor.
[1361] A native of Clitorium in Arcadia, and mentioned also by
Pausanias.
[1362] He is said by Pausanias and Athenæus to have been the son, also,
of Myron.
[1363] Son of Motho, and a native of Argos. He was brother and
instructor of the younger Polycletus, of Argos. He is mentioned also by
Pausanias and Tatian.
[1364] He is once mentioned by Pausanias, and there is still extant the
basis of one of his works, with his name inscribed.
[1365] It is supposed that there were two artists of this name, both
natives of Sicyon, the one grandson of the other. They are both named
by Pausanias.
[1366] Probably a Sicyonian; he is mentioned also by Pausanias.
[1367] As Pliny mentions two artists of this name, it is impossible to
say to which of them Pausanias refers as being an Athenian, in B. vi.
c. 4.
[1368] The elder artist of this name. He was an Athenian, and his
sister was the wife of Phocion. He is also mentioned by Plutarch and
Pausanias.
[1369] An Athenian; he is mentioned also by Vitruvius, Pausanias, and
Tatian. Winckelmann mentions an inscription relative to him, which,
however, appears to be spurious.
[1370] He is mentioned also by Pausanias, and is supposed by Sillig to
have been a Theban.
[1371] Praxiteles held a high rank among the ancient sculptors, and may
be considered as second to Phidias alone; he is frequently mentioned by
Pausanias and various other classical writers. Pliny gives a further
account of the works of Praxiteles in the two following Books.—B.
[1372] He was also an eminent painter, and is also mentioned by
Quintilian, Dio Chrysostom, and Plutarch.
[1373] Another reading is “Echion.”
[1374] See B. xxxv. cc. 32, 36.
[1375] This great artist, a native of Sicyon, has been already
mentioned in B. vii. c. 39, and in the two preceding Chapters of the
present Book; he is again mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 39.—B. See note 1344
above.
[1376] Also a native of Sicyon. He is mentioned by Tatian.
[1377] Mentioned also by Pausanias, Plutarch, Strabo, and Appian. The
next two names in former editions stand as one, “Euphronides.”
[1378] Supposed to have been an architect, and builder of the Pharos
near Alexandria: see B. xxxvi. c. 18. The same person is mentioned also
by Strabo, Lucian, and Suidas.
[1379] An Athenian. He is mentioned also by Pausanias, Plutarch,
Diogenes Laertius, and Tatian.
[1380] See B. xxxv. c. 36.
[1381] A Sicyonian, pupil of Lysippus. He is also mentioned by
Pausanias; see also B. xxxvi. c. 4.
[1382] Son and pupil of Lysippus. He is mentioned also by Tatian, and
by some writers as the instructor of Xenocrates.
[1383] Sillig thinks that this is a mistake made by Pliny for
“Daïppus,” a statuary mentioned by Pausanias.
[1384] Son of Praxiteles, and mentioned by Tatian in conjunction with
Euthycrates. The elder Cephisodotus has been already mentioned. See
Note 1368.
[1385] Another son of Praxiteles. He is also alluded to by Pausanias,
though not by name.
[1386] His country is uncertain, but he was preceptor of Mygdon of
Soli. See B. xxxv. c. 40.
[1387] Mentioned also by Tatian; his country is unknown.
[1388] It is doubtful whether Pausanias alludes, in B. vi. c. 4, to
this artist, or to the one of the same name mentioned under Olymp. 102.
See Note 1367.
[1389] Sillig suggests that this word is an adjective, denoting the
country of Polycles, in order to distinguish him from the elder
Polycles.
[1390] We learn from Pausanias that he worked in conjunction with
Timarchides. The other artists here mentioned are quite unknown.
[1391] Sillig, in his “Dictionary of Ancient Artists,” observes that
“this passage contains many foolish statements.” Also that there is “an
obvious intermixture in it of truth and falsehood.”
[1392] This is universally admitted to have been one of the most
splendid works of art. It is celebrated by various writers; Pausanias
speaks of it in B. i. See also B. xxxvi. c. 4.—B.
[1393] As being made for the Temple of Diana at Ephesus.
[1394] Probably “Callimorphos,” or “Calliste.” We learn from Pausanias
that it was placed in the Citadel of Athens. Lucian prefers it to every
other work of Phidias.
[1395] A figure of a female “holding keys.” The key was one of the
attributes of Proserpina, as also of Janus; but the latter was an
Italian divinity.
[1396] “Ædem Fortunæ hujusce diei.” This reading, about which there has
been some doubt, is supported by an ancient inscription in Orellius.
[1397] “Artem toreuticen.” See Note at the end of B. xxxiii.
[1398] Pliny has here confounded two artists of the same name; the
Polycletus who was the successor of Phidias, and was not much inferior
to him in merit, and Polycletus of Argos, who lived 160 years later,
and who also executed many capital works, some of which are here
mentioned. It appears that Cicero, Vitruvius, Strabo, Quintilian,
Plutarch, and Lucian have also confounded these two artists; but
Pausanias, who is very correct in the account which he gives us of all
subjects connected with works of art, was aware of the distinction; and
it is from his observations that we have been enabled to correct the
error into which so many eminent writers had fallen.—B.
[1399] Derived from the head-dress of the statue, which had the “head
ornamented with a fillet.” Lucian mentions it.
[1400] The “Spear-bearer.”
[1401] “Canon.” This no doubt was _the same_ statue as the Doryphoros.
See Cicero, Brut. 86, 296.
[1402] Or “strigil.” Visconti says that this was a statue of Tydeus
purifying himself from the murder of his brother. It is represented on
gems still in existence.
[1403] “Talo incessentem.” “Gesner (Chrestom. Plin.) has strangely
explained these words as intimating a person _in the act of kicking
another_. He seems to confound the words _talus_ and _calx_.”—Sillig,
Dict. Ancient Artists.
[1404] “The players at dice.” This is the subject of a painting found
at Herculaneum.—B.
[1405] The “Leader.” A name given also to Mercury, in Pausanias, B.
viii. c. 31. See Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists.
[1406] “Carried about.” It has been supposed by some commentators, that
Artemon acquired this surname from his being carried about in a litter,
in consequence of his lameness; a very different derivation has been
assigned by others to the word, on the authority of Anacreon, as quoted
by Heraclides Ponticus, that it was applied to Artemon in consequence
of his excessively luxurious and effeminate habits of life.—B. It was
evidently a recumbent figure. Ajasson compares this voluptuous person
to “_le gentleman Anglais aux Indes_”—“The English Gentleman in India!”
[1407] See Note 1397 above.
[1408] “Quadrata.” Brotero quotes a passage from Celsus, B. ii c. 1,
which serves to explain the use of this term as applied to the form
of a statue; “Corpus autem habilissimum quadratum est, neque gracile,
neque obesum.”—B. “The body best adapted for activity is square-built,
and neither slender nor obese.”
[1409] “Ad unum exemplum.” Having a sort of family likeness, similarly
to our pictures by Francia the Goldsmith, and Angelica Kaufmann.
[1410] Myron was born at Eleutheræ, in Bœotia; but having been
presented by the Athenians with the freedom of their city, he
afterwards resided there, and was always designated an Athenian.—B.
[1411] This figure is referred to by Ovid, De Ponto, B. iv. Ep. 1, l.
34, as also by a host of Epigrammatic writers in the Greek Anthology.
[1412] See the Greek Anthology, B. vi. Ep. 2.
[1413] “Player with the Discus.” It is mentioned by Quintilian and
Lucian. There is a copy of it in marble in the British Museum, and
one in the Palazzo Massimi at Home. The Heifer of Myron is mentioned
by Procopius, as being at Rome in the sixth century. No copy of it is
known to exist.
[1414] Seen by Pausanias in the Acropolis at Athens.
[1415] Or “Sawyers.”
[1416] In reference to the story of the Satyr Marsyas and Minerva, told
by Ovid, Fasti, B. vi. l. 697, _et seq._
[1417] Persons engaged in the five contests of quoiting, running,
leaping, wrestling, and hurling the javelin.
[1418] Competitors in boxing and wrestling.
[1419] Mentioned by Cicero In Verrem, Or. 4. This Circus was in the
Eleventh Region of the city.
[1420] See the Anthology, B. iii. Ep. 14, where an epigram on this
subject is ascribed to Anytes or Leonides; but the Myro mentioned is a
female. See Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists.
[1421] She was a poetess of Teios or Lesbos, and a contemporary of
Sappho.
[1422] “Multiplicasse veritatem.” Sillig has commented at some length
on this passage, Dict. Ancient Artists.
[1423] See Note 1418 above.
[1424] There is a painter of this name mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 43. The
reading is extremely doubtful.
[1425] Mentioned by Plato, De Legibus, B. viii. and by Pausanias, B.
vi. c. 13. He was thrice victorious at the Olympic Games.
[1426] Python.
[1427] From the Greek word Δικαιὸς, “just,” or “trustworthy.”—B.
[1428] Diogenes Laertius mentions a Pythagoras, a statuary, in his
life of his celebrated namesake, the founder of the great school of
philosophy.—B. Pausanias, B. ix. c. 33, speaks of a Parian statuary of
this name.
[1429] See Note 1395 above.
[1430] See end of B. vii.
[1431] Cicero remarks, Brut. 86, 296, “that Lysippus used to say
that the Doryphoros of Polycletus was his master,” implying that
he considered himself indebted for his skill to having studied the
above-mentioned work of Polycletus.—B.
[1432] In Chapter 17 of this Book.—B.
[1433] The same subject, which, as mentioned above, had been treated by
Polycletus.—B.
[1434] In the Eighth Region of the City.
[1435] Ἀποξυόμενος, the Greek name of the statue, signifying
one “scraping himself.”
[1436] The head encircled with rays.
[1437] The lines of Horace are well known, in which he says, that
Alexander would allow his portrait to be painted by no one except
Apelles, nor his statue to be made by any one except Lysippus, Epist.
B. ii. Ep. 1, l. 237.—B.
[1438] This expression would seem to indicate that the gold was
attached to the bronze by some mechanical process, and not that the
statue was covered with thin leaves of the metal.—B.
[1439] This story is adopted by Apuleius, in the “Florida,” B. i., who
says that Polycletus was the only artist who made a statue of Alexander.
[1440] A large group of equestrian statues, representing those of
Alexander’s body-guard, who had fallen at the battle of the Granicus.
[1441] A.U.C. 606.
[1442] See the Greek Anthology, B. iv. Ep. 14, where this subject is
treated of in the epigram upon his statue of Opportunity, represented
with the forelock.
[1443] Which is a word of Greek origin, somewhat similar to our word
“proportion.”
[1444] At Lebadæa in Bœotia.
[1445] Hardouin seems to think that “fiscina” here means a “muzzle.”
The Epigram in the Greek Anthology, B. iv. c. 7, attributed to King
Philip, is supposed by Hardouin to bear reference to this figure.
[1446] The circumstance here referred to is related by Q. Curtius, B.
ix. c. 5, as having occurred at the siege of the city of the Oxydracæ;
according to other historians, however, it is said to have taken place
at a city of the Malli.—B.
[1447] See Note 1417, above.
[1448] Κατάγουσα; a figure of Ceres, probably, “leading back”
Proserpine from the domains of Pluto. Sillig, however, dissents from
this interpretation; Dict. Ancient Artists.
[1449] Or Bacchus.
[1450] See Pausanias, B. i. c. 20. Sillig says, “Pliny seems to have
confounded two Satyrs made by Praxiteles, for that here named stood
alone in the ‘Via Tripodum’ at Athens, and was quite different from the
one which was associated with the figure of Intoxication, and that of
Bacchus.”—Dict. Ancient Artists.
[1451] “Much-famed.” Visconti is of opinion that the Reposing Satyr,
formerly in the Napoleon Museum at Paris, was a copy of this statue.
Winckelmann is also of the same opinion.
[1452] In the Second Region of the city. According to Cicero, in
Verrem. vi., they were brought from Achaia by L. Mummius, who took them
from Thespiæ, A.U.C. 608.
[1453] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.
[1454] A woman plaiting garlands.
[1455] A soubriquet for an old hag, it is thought.
[1456] A female carrying wine.
[1457] According to Valerius Maximus, B. ii. s. 10, these statues were
restored, not by Alexander, but by his successor Seleucus.—B. Sillig
makes the following remark upon this passage—“Pliny here strangely
confounds the statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton, made by Praxiteles,
with other figures of those heroes of a much more ancient date, made by
Antenor.”
[1458] From σαυρὸς a “lizard,” and κτείνω, “to kill.” This statue
is described by Martial, B. xiv. Ep. 172, entitled “Sauroctonos
Corinthius.”—B. Many fine copies of it are still in existence, and
Winckelmann is of opinion that the bronze at the Villa Albani is the
original. There are others at the Villa Borghese and in the Vatican.
[1459] In her worthless favours, probably. Praxiteles was a great
admirer of Phryne, and inscribed on the base of this statue an Epigram
of Simonides, preserved in the Greek Anthology, B. iv. Ep. 12. She was
also said to have been the model of his Cnidian Venus.
[1460] This artist is mentioned also by Cicero, Pausanias, Propertius,
and Ovid, the two latter especially remarking the excellence of his
horses.—B. See B. xxxiii. c. 55.
[1461] The mother of Hercules.—B.
[1462] See B. xxxvi. c. 4. Having now given an account of the artists
most distinguished for their genius, Pliny proceeds to make some
remarks upon those who were less famous, in alphabetical order.—B.
[1463] The “highly approved.”
[1464] Or “Lioness.” See B. vii. c. 23.
[1465] The reading is doubtful here. “Iphicrates” and “Tisicrates” are
other readings.
[1466] The same story is related by Athenæus, B. xiii., and by
Pausanias.—B.
[1467] Pisistratus and his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus.
[1468] A lioness.
[1469] She having bitten off her tongue, that she might not confess.
[1470] Hardouin has offered a plausible conjecture, that for the
word “Seleucum,” we should read “Salutem,” as implying that the two
statues executed by Bryaxis were those of Æsculapius and the Goddess of
Health.—B.
[1471] Already mentioned as a son of Lysippus.
[1472] In the Eighth Region of the City.
[1473] This reading appears preferable to “Cresilas,” though the latter
is supported by the Bamberg MS.
[1474] Ajasson quotes here the beautiful words of Virgil—“Et dulces
moriens reminiscitur Argos”—“Remembers his lov’d Argos, as he dies.”
[1475] Dalechamps supposes that Pericles was here represented in the
act of addressing the people; Hardouin conceives that this statue
received its title from the thunder of his eloquence in debate, or else
from the mighty power which he wielded both in peace and war, or some
of the other reasons which Plutarch mentions in the Life of Pericles.—B.
[1476] It is doubtful to which of the artists of this name he alludes,
the elder or the younger Cephisodotus, the son of Praxiteles. Sillig
inclines to think the former—Dict. Ancient Artists.
[1477] The “Deliverer.”
[1478] The elder Canachus, probably.
[1479] The “Lovely.” Brotero says that this is believed to be the
Florentine Apollo of the present day. It stood in the Temple at Didymi,
near Miletus, until the return of Xerxes from his expedition against
Greece, when it was removed to Ecbatana, but was afterwards restored by
Seleucus Nicator.
[1480] See B. v. c. 31.
[1481] “Alterno morsu calce digitisque retinentibus solum, ita
vertebrato dente utrisque in partibus ut a repulsu per vices resiliat.”
He seems to mean that the statue is so made as to be capable of
standing either on the right fore foot and the left hind foot, or on
the left fore foot and the right hind foot, the conformation of the
under part of the foot being such as to fit into the base.
[1482] The following are the words of the original: “Ita vertebrato
dente utrisque in partibus.” I confess myself unable to comprehend
them, nor do I think that they are satisfactorily explained by
Hardouin’s comment.—B.
[1483] The “Riders on horseback.”
[1484] It is supposed by Sillig, Dict. Ancient Artists, that this
is the same person as the Cresilas, Ctesilas, or Ctesilaüs, before
mentioned in this Chapter, and that Pliny himself has committed a
mistake in the name.
[1485] A figure of a man “brandishing a spear.” See Note 1400 above.
[1486] He is mentioned by Quintilian as being more attentive to
exactness than to beauty; also by Diogenes Laertius, B. v. c. 85.
Sillig supposes that he flourished in the time of Pericles. Pausanias,
B. i., speaks of his Lysimache.
[1487] The Athenians in their flattery, as we learn from Seneca,
expressed a wish to affiance their Minerva Musica to Marc Antony. His
reply was, that he would be happy to take her, but with one thousand
talents by way of portion.
[1488] He is mentioned by Xenophon, according to whom, he dedicated the
brazen statue of a horse in the Eleusinium at Athens. He was probably
an Athenian by birth.
[1489] Son of Patroclus, who is previously mentioned as having lived in
the 95th Olympiad. He was a native of Sicyon, and flourished about B.C.
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