Chapter XIX: Book XXXVI: The Natural History of Stones (1)

CHAP. 1. (1.)—LUXURY DISPLAYED IN THE USE OF VARIOUS KINDS OF MARBLE.

It now remains for us to speak of stones, or, in other words, the leading folly of the day; to say nothing at all of our taste for gems and amber, crystal and murrhine vases.[2352] For everything of which we have previously treated, down to the present Book, may, by some possibility or other, have the appearance of having been created for the sake of man: but as to the mountains, Nature has made those for herself, as a kind of bulwark for keeping together the bowels of the earth; as also for the purpose of curbing the violence of the rivers, of breaking the waves of the sea, and so, by opposing to them the very hardest of her materials, putting a check upon those elements which are never at rest. And yet we must hew down these mountains, forsooth, and carry them off; and this, for no other reason than to gratify our luxurious inclinations: heights which in former days it was reckoned a miracle even to have crossed!

Our forefathers regarded as a prodigy the passage of the Alps, first by Hannibal,[2353] and, more recently, by the Cimbri: but at the present day, these very mountains are cut asunder to yield us a thousand different marbles, promontories are thrown open to the sea, and the face of Nature is being everywhere reduced to a level. We now carry away the barriers that were destined for the separation of one nation from another; we construct ships for the transport of our marbles; and, amid the waves, the most boisterous element of Nature, we convey the summits of the mountains to and fro: a thing, however, that is even less unpardonable than to go on the search amid the regions of the clouds for vessels[2354] with which to cool our draughts, and to excavate rocks, towering to the very heavens, in order that we may have the satisfaction of drinking from ice! Let each reflect, when he hears of the high prices set upon these things, when he sees these ponderous masses carted and carried away, how many there are whose life is passed far more happily without them. For what utility or for what so-called pleasure do mortals make themselves the agents, or, more truly speaking, the victims of such undertakings, except in order that others may take their repose in the midst of variegated stones? Just as though too, the shades of night, which occupy one half of each man’s existence, would forbear to curtail these imaginary delights.

CHAP. 2.—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO EMPLOY MARBLE IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

Indeed, while making these reflections, one cannot but feel ashamed of the men of ancient times even. There are still in existence censorial[2355] laws, which forbid the kernels[2356] in the neck of swine to be served at table, dormice too, and other things too trifling to mention: and yet there has been no law passed, forbidding marble to be imported, or the seas to be traversed in search of it!

(2.) It may possibly be observed, that this was, because marble was not then introduced. Such, however, is not the fact; for in the ædileship of M. Scaurus,[2357] three hundred and sixty columns were to be seen imported; for the decorations of a temporary theatre, too, one that was destined to be in use for barely a single month. And yet the laws were silent thereon; in a spirit of indulgence for the amusements of the public, no doubt. But then, why such indulgence or how do vices more insidiously steal upon us than under the plea of serving the public? By what other way, in fact, did ivory, gold, and precious stones, first come into use with private individuals?

Can we say that there is now anything that we have reserved for the exclusive use of the gods? However, be it so, let us admit of this indulgence for the amusements of the public; but still, why did the laws maintain their silence when the largest of these columns, pillars of Lucullan[2358] marble, as much as eight-and-thirty feet in height, were erected in the atrium of Scaurus? a thing, too, that was not done privately or in secret; for the contractor for the public sewers compelled him to give security for the possible damage that might be done in the carriage of them to the Palatium.[2359] When so bad an example as this was set, would it not have been advisable to take some precautions for the preservation of the public morals? And yet the laws still preserved their silence, when such enormous masses as these were being carried past the earthenware[2360] pediments of the temples of the gods, to the house of a private individual!

CHAP. 3. (3.)—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO ERECT COLUMNS OF FOREIGN MARBLE AT ROME.

And yet it cannot be said that Scaurus, by way of a first essay in vice, took the City by surprise, in a state of ignorance and totally unguarded against such evils as these. Already had L. Crassus,[2361] the orator, he who was the first to possess pillars of foreign marble, and in this same Palatium too, received from M. Brutus, on the occasion of a dispute, the nickname of the “Palatine Venus,” for his indulgence in this kind of luxury. The material, I should remark, was Hymettian marble, and the pillars were but six in number, and not exceeding some twelve feet in height. Our forefathers were guilty of this omission, no doubt, because morals were universally contaminated; and, seeing that things which had been interdicted had been forbidden in vain, they preferred the absence of laws to laws that were no better than a dead letter. These particulars and others in the sequel will show that we are so far improved; for who is there at the present day that has, in his atrium, any such massive columns as these of Scaurus?

But before proceeding to treat of the several varieties of this material, it will be as well to mention the various artists, and the degrees of estimation in which they are held, who have worked in marble. We will, therefore, proceed to review the sculptors who have flourished at different periods.

CHAP. 4. (4.)—THE FIRST ARTISTS WHO EXCELLED IN THE SCULPTURE OF MARBLE, AND THE VARIOUS PERIODS AT WHICH THEY FLOURISHED. THE MAUSOLEUM IN CARIA. THE MOST CELEBRATED SCULPTORS AND WORKS IN MARBLE, TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE IN NUMBER.

The first artists who distinguished themselves in the sculpture of marble, were Dipœnus[2362] and Scyllis, natives of the Isle of Crete. At this period the Medians were still in power, and Cyrus had not begun to reign in Persia; their date being about the fiftieth Olympiad. They afterwards repaired to Sicyon, a state which for a length of time[2363] was the adopted country of all such pursuits as these. The people of Sicyon had made a contract with them for the execution of certain statues of the gods; but, before completing the work, the artists complained of some injustice being done them, and retired to Ætolia. Immediately upon this, the state was afflicted with sterility and famine, and dreadful consternation was the result. Upon enquiry being made as to a remedy for these evils, the Pythian Apollo made answer, that Dipœnus and Scyllis must complete the statues of the gods; an object which was attained at the cost of great concessions and considerable sums of money. The statues were those of Apollo,[2364] Diana, Hercules, and Minerva; the last of which was afterwards struck by lightning.

(5.) Before these artists were in existence, there had already appeared Melas, a sculptor of the Isle of Chios; and, in succession to him, his son Micciades, and his grandson Archermus;[2365] whose sons, Bupalus and Athenis, afterwards attained the highest eminence in the art. These last were contemporaries of the poet Hipponax, who, it is well known, lived in the sixtieth Olympiad. Now, if a person only reckons, going upwards from their time to that of their great-grandfather, he will find that the art of sculpture must have necessarily originated about the commencement of the era of the Olympiads. Hipponax being a man notorious for his ugliness, the two artists, by way of joke,[2366] exhibited a statue of him for the ridicule of the public. Indignant at this, the poet emptied upon them all the bitterness of his verses; to such an extent indeed, that, as some believe, they were driven to hang themselves in despair. This, however, is not the fact; for, at a later period, these artists executed a number of statues in the neighbouring islands; at Delos for example, with an inscription subjoined to the effect, that Chios was rendered famous not only by its vines[2367] but by the works of the sons of Archermus as well. The people of Lasos[2368] still show a Diana that was made by them; and we find mention also made of a Diana at Chios, the work of their hands: it is erected on an elevated spot, and the features appear stern to a person as he enters, and joyous as he departs. At Rome, there are some statues by these artists on the summit of the Temple[2369] of the Palatine Apollo, and, indeed, in most of the buildings that were erected by the late Emperor Augustus. At Delos and in the Isle of Lesbos there were formerly some sculptures by their father to be seen. Ambracia too, Argos, and Cleonæ, were filled with productions of the sculptor Dipœnus.

All these artists, however, used nothing but the white marble of the Isle of Paros, a stone which was known as “lychnites” at first, because, according to Varro, it was cut in the quarries by lamplight.[2370] Since their time, many other whiter marbles have been discovered, and very recently that of the quarries of Luna.[2371] With reference to the marble of Paros, there is one very marvellous circumstance related; in a single block that was split with wedges, a figure[2372] of Silenus made its appearance.

We must not omit to remark, that the art of sculpture is of much more ancient[2373] date than those of painting and of statuary in bronze; both of which commenced with Phidias, in the eighty-third Olympiad, or in other words, about three hundred and thirty-two years later. Indeed, it is said, that Phidias himself worked in marble, and that there is a Venus of his at Rome, a work of extraordinary beauty, in the buildings of Octavia.[2374] A thing, however, that is universally admitted, is the fact that he was the instructor of Alcamenes,[2375] the Athenian, one of the most famous among the sculptors. By this last artist, there are numerous statues in the temples at Athens; as also, without the walls there, the celebrated Venus, known as the Aphrodite ἐν κήποις,[2376] work to which Phidias himself, it is said, put the finishing hand. Another disciple also of Phidias was Agoracritus[2377] of Paros, a great favourite with his master, on account of his extremely youthful age; and for which reason, it is said, Phidias gave his own name to many of that artist’s works. The two pupils entering into a contest as to the superior execution of a statue of Venus, Alcamenes was successful; not that his work was superior, but because his fellow-citizens chose to give their suffrages in his favour in preference to a stranger. It was for this reason, it is said, that Agoracritus sold his statue, on the express condition that it should never be taken to Athens, and changed its name to that of Nemesis.[2378] It was accordingly erected at Rhamnus,[2379] a borough of Attica, and M. Varro has considered it superior to every other statue. There is also to be seen in the Temple of the Great Mother, in the same city, another work[2380] by Agoracritus.

Among all nations which the fame of the Olympian Jupiter has reached, Phidias is looked upon, beyond all doubt, as the most famous of artists: but to let those who have never even seen his works, know how deservedly he is esteemed, we will take this opportunity of adducing a few slight proofs of the genius which he displayed. In doing this, we shall not appeal to the beauty of his Olympian Jupiter, nor yet to the vast proportions of his Athenian Minerva, six and twenty cubits in height, and composed of ivory and gold; but it is to the shield of this last statue that we shall draw attention; upon the convex face of which he has chased a combat of the Amazons, while, upon the concave side of it, he has represented the battle between the Gods and the Giants. Upon the sandals again, we see the wars of the Lapithæ and Centaurs, so careful has he been to fill every smallest portion of his work with some proof or other of his artistic skill. To the story chased upon the pedestal of the statue, the name of the “Birth of Pandora”[2381] has been given; and the figures of new-born[2382] gods to be seen upon it are no less than twenty in number. The figure of Victory, in particular, is most admirable, and connoisseurs are greatly struck with the serpent and the sphinx in bronze lying beneath the point of the spear. Let thus much be said incidentally in reference to an artist who can never be sufficiently praised; if only to let it be understood that the richness of his genius was always equal to itself, even in the very smallest details.

When speaking[2383] of the statuaries, we have already given the period at which Praxiteles flourished; an artist, who, in the glory which he acquired by his works in marble, surpassed even himself. There are some works of his in the Ceramicus[2384] at Athens; but, superior to all the statues, not only of Praxiteles, but of any other artist that ever existed, is his Cnidian Venus; for the inspection of which, many persons before now have purposely undertaken a voyage to Cnidos. The artist made two statues of the goddess, and offered them both for sale: one of them was represented with drapery,[2385] and for this reason was preferred[2386] by the people of Cos, who had the choice; the second was offered them at the same price, but, on the grounds of propriety and modesty, they thought fit to choose the other. Upon this, the Cnidians purchased the rejected statue,[2387] and immensely superior has it always been held in general estimation. At a later period, King Nicomedes wished to purchase this statue of the Cnidians, and made them an offer to pay off the whole of their public debt, which was very large. They preferred, however, to submit to any extremity rather than part with it; and with good reason, for by this statue Praxiteles has perpetuated the glory of Cnidos. The little temple in which it is placed is open on all sides, so that the beauties[2388] of the statue admit of being seen from every point of view; an arrangement which was favoured by the goddess herself, it is generally believed. Indeed, from whatever point it is viewed, its execution is equally worthy of admiration. A certain individual, it is said, became enamoured of this statue, and, concealing himself in the temple during the night, gratified his lustful passion upon it, traces of which are to be seen in a stain left upon the marble.[2389]

There are also at Cnidos some other statues in marble, the productions of illustrious artists; a Father Liber[2390] by Bryaxis,[2391] another by Scopas,[2392] and a Minerva by the same hand: indeed, there is no greater proof of the supreme excellence of the Venus of Praxiteles than the fact that, amid such productions as these, it is the only one that we generally find noticed. By Praxiteles, too, there is a Cupid, a statue which occasioned[2393] one of the charges brought by Cicero against Verres, and for the sake of seeing which persons used to visit Thespiæ: at the present day, it is to be seen in the Schools[2394] of Octavia. By the same artist there is also another Cupid, without drapery, at Parium, a colony of the Propontis; equal to the Cnidian Venus in the fineness of its execution, and said to have been the object of a similar outrage. For one Alcetas, a Rhodian, becoming deeply enamoured of it, left upon the marble similar traces of the violence of his passion.

At Rome there are, by Praxiteles, a Flora, a Triptolemus, and a Ceres, in the Gardens of Servilius; statues of Good Success[2395] and Good Fortune, in the Capitol; as also some Mænades,[2396] and figures known as Thyiades[2397] and Caryatides;[2398] some Sileni,[2399] to be seen in the memorial buildings of Asinius Pollio, and statues of Apollo and Neptune.

Cephisodotus,[2400] the son of Praxiteles, inherited his father’s talent. There is, by him, at Pergamus, a splendid Group[2401] of Wrestlers, a work that has been highly praised, and in which the fingers have all the appearance of being impressed upon real flesh rather than upon marble. At Rome there are by him, a Latona, in the Temple of the Palatium; a Venus, in the buildings that are memorials of Asinius Pollio; and an Æsculapius, and a Diana, in the Temple of Juno situate within the Porticos of Octavia.

Scopas[2402] rivals these artists in fame: there are by him, a Venus[2403] and a Pothos,[2404] statues which are venerated at Samothrace with the most august ceremonials. He was also the sculptor of the Palatine Apollo; a Vesta seated, in the Gardens of Servilius, and represented with two Bends[2405] around her, a work that has been highly praised; two similar Bends, to be seen upon the buildings of Asinius Pollio; and some figures of Canephori[2406] in the same place. But the most highly esteemed of all his works, are those in the Temple erected by Cneius Domitius,[2407] in the Flaminian Circus; a figure of Neptune himself, a Thetis and Achilles, Nereids seated upon dolphins, cetaceous fishes, and[2408] sea-horses,[2409] Tritons, the train of Phorcus,[2410] whales,[2411] and numerous other sea-monsters, all by the same hand; an admirable piece of workmanship, even if it had taken a whole life to complete it. In addition to the works by him already mentioned, and others of the existence of which we are ignorant, there is still to be seen a colossal Mars of his, seated, in the Temple erected by Brutus Callæcus,[2412] also in the Flaminian Circus; as also, a naked Venus, of anterior date to that by Praxiteles, and a production that would be quite sufficient to establish the renown of any other place.

At Rome, it is true, it is quite lost sight of amid such a vast multitude of similar works of art: and then besides, the inattention to these matters that is induced by such vast numbers of duties and so many items of business, quite precludes the generality of persons from devoting their thoughts to the subject. For, in fact, the admiration that is due to this art, not only demands an abundance of leisure, but requires that profound silence should reign upon the spot. Hence it is, that the artist is now forgotten, who executed the statue of Venus that was dedicated by the Emperor Vespasianus in his Temple of Peace, a work well worthy of the high repute of ancient times. With reference, too, to the Dying Children of Niobe, in the Temple of the Sosian[2413] Apollo, there is an equal degree of uncertainty, whether it is the work[2414] of Scopas or of Praxiteles. So, too, as to the Father Janus, a work that was brought from Egypt and dedicated in his Temple[2415] by Augustus, it is a question by which of these two artists[2416] it was made: at the present day, however, it is quite hidden from us by the quantity of gold that covers it. The same question, too, arises with reference to the Cupid brandishing a Thunderbolt, now to be seen in the Curia of Octavia: the only thing, in fact, that is affirmed with any degree of certainty respecting it, is, that it is a likeness of Alcibiades, who was the handsomest man of his day. There are, too, in the Schools[2417] of Octavia, many other highly attractive works, the authors of which are now unknown: four Satyrs, for example, one of which carries in his arms a Father Liber, robed in the palla;[2418] another similarly supports the Goddess Libera;[2419] a third is pacifying a child who is crying; and a fourth is giving a child some water to drink, from a cup; two Zephyrs also, who agitate their flowing drapery with their breath. No less is the uncertainty that prevails as to the authors of the statues now to be seen in the Septa;[2420] an Olympus[2421] and Pan, and a Charon and Achilles;[2422] and yet their high reputation has caused them to be deemed valuable enough for their keepers to be made answerable for their safety at the cost of their lives.

Scopas had for rivals and contemporaries, Bryaxis,[2423] Timotheus,[2424] and Leochares,[2425] artists whom we are bound to mention together, from the fact that they worked together at the Mausoleum; such being the name of the tomb that was erected by his wife Artemisia in honour of Mausolus, a petty king of Caria, who died in the second year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad. It was through the exertions of these artists more particularly, that this work came to be reckoned one of the Seven Wonders of the World.[2426] The circumference[2427] of this building is, in all, four hundred and forty feet, and the breadth from north to south sixty-three, the two fronts[2428] being not so wide in extent. It is twenty-five cubits in height, and is surrounded with six-and-thirty columns, the outer circumference being known as the “Pteron.”[2429] The east side was sculptured by Scopas, the north by Bryaxis, the south by Timotheus, and the west by Leochares; but, before their task was completed, Queen Artemisia died.[2430] They did not leave their work, however, until it was finished, considering that it was at once a memorial of their own fame and of the sculptor’s art: and, to this day even, it is undecided which of them has excelled. A fifth artist also took part in the work; for above the Pteron there is a pyramid erected, equal in height to the building below, and formed of four and twenty steps, which gradually taper upwards towards the summit; a platform, crowned with a representation of a four-horse chariot by Pythis. This addition makes the total height of the work one hundred and forty feet.[2431]

There is at Rome, by Timotheus, a Diana, in the Temple of Apollo in the Palatium, the head of which has been replaced by Avianius Evander.[2432] A Hercules, too, by Menestratus,[2433] is greatly admired; and there is a Hecate of his at Ephesus, in the Temple of Diana there, behind the sanctuary. The keepers of the temple recommend persons, when viewing it, to be careful of their eyes, so remarkably radiant is the marble. No less esteemed, too, are the statues of the Graces,[2434] in the Propylæum[2435] at Athens; the workmanship of Socrates the sculptor, a different person from the painter[2436] of that name, though identical with him in the opinion of some. As to Myron,[2437] who is so highly praised for his works in bronze, there is by him at Smyrna, An Old Woman Intoxicated, a work that is held in high estimation.

Asinius Pollio, a man of a warm and ardent temperament, was determined that the buildings which he erected as memorials of himself should be made as attractive as possible; for here we see groups representing, Nymphs carried off by Centaurs, a work of Arcesilas:[2438] the Thespiades,[2439] by Cleomenes:[2440] Oceanus and Jupiter, by Heniochus:[2441] the Appiades,[2442] by Stephanus:[2443] Hermerotes,[2444] by Tauriscus, not the chaser in silver, already[2445] mentioned, but a native of Tralles:[2446] a Jupiter Hospitalis[2447] by Papylus, a pupil of Praxiteles: Zethus and Amphion, with Dirce, the Bull,[2448] and the halter, all sculptured from a single block of marble, the work of Apollonius and Tauriscus, and brought to Rome from Rhodes. These two artists made it a sort of rivalry as to their parentage, for they declared that, although Apollodorus was their natural progenitor, Menecrates[2449] would appear to have been their father. In the same place, too, there is a Father Liber,[2450] by Eutychides,[2451] highly praised. Near the Portico of Octavia, there is an Apollo, by Philiscus[2452] of Rhodes, placed in the Temple of that God; a Latona and Diana also; the Nine Muses; and another Apollo, without drapery. The Apollo holding the Lyre, in the same temple, was executed by Timarchides.[2453] In the Temple of Juno, within the Porticos of Octavia, there is a figure of that goddess, executed by Dionysius,[2454] and another by Polycles,[2455] as also other statues by Praxiteles.[2456] This Polycles, too, in conjunction with Dionysius,[2457] the son of Timarchides, made the statue of Jupiter, which is to be seen in the adjoining temple.[2458] The figures of Pan and Olympus Wrestling, in the same place, are by Heliodorus;[2459] and they are considered to be the next finest group[2460] of this nature in all the world. The same artist also executed a Venus at the Bath, and Polycharmus another Venus, in an erect[2461] posture.

By the honourable place which the work of Lysias occupies, we may see in what high esteem it was held by the late Emperor Augustus, who consecrated it in honour of his father Octavius, in the Palatium, placing it on an arch within a small temple, adorned with columns: it is the figure of a four-horse chariot, with an Apollo and Diana, all sculptured from a single block. I find it stated, also, that the Apollo by Calamis, the chaser already[2462] mentioned, the Pugilists by Dercylides, and the statue of Callisthenes the historian, by Amphistratus,[2463] all of them now in the Gardens of Servilius, are works highly esteemed.

Beyond these, there are not many sculptors of high repute; for, in the case of several works of very great excellence, the number of artists that have been engaged upon them has proved a considerable obstacle to the fame of each, no individual being able to engross the whole of the credit, and it being impossible to award it in due proportion to the names of the several artists combined. Such is the case with the Laocoön, for example, in the palace of the Emperor Titus, a work that may be looked upon as preferable to any other production of the art of painting or of statuary. It is sculptured from a single block, both the main figure as well as the children, and the serpents with their marvellous folds. This group was made in concert by three most eminent artists,[2464] Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, natives of Rhodes. In similar manner also, the palaces of the Cæsars, in the Palatium, have been filled with most splendid statuary, the work of Craterus, in conjunction with Pythodorus, of Polydeuces with Hermoläus, and of another Pythodorus with Artemon; some of the statues, also, are by Aphrodisius of Tralles, who worked alone. The Pantheon of Agrippa has been decorated by Diogenes of Athens, and the Caryatides, by him, which form the columns of that temple, are looked upon as master-pieces of excellence: the same, too, with the statues that are placed upon the roof, though, in consequence of the height, they have not had an opportunity of being so well appreciated.

Without glory, and excluded from every temple, is the statue of Hercules,[2465] in honour of whom the Carthaginians were accustomed to sacrifice human victims every year: it stands upon the ground before the entrance of the Portico of the Nations.[2466] There were erected, too, near the Temple of Felicity, the statues of the Thespian[2467] Muses; of one of which, according to Varro, Junius Pisciculus, a Roman of equestrian rank, became enamoured. Pasiteles,[2468] too, speaks in terms of high admiration of them, the artist who wrote five Books on the most celebrated works throughout the world. Born upon the Grecian[2469] shores of Italy, and presented with the Roman citizenship granted to the cities of those parts, Pasiteles constructed the ivory statue of Jupiter which is now in the Temple of Metellus,[2470] on the road to the Campus Martius. It so happened, that being one day at the Docks,[2471] where there were some wild beasts from Africa, while he was viewing through the bars of a cage a lion which he was engaged in drawing, a panther made its escape from another cage, to the no small danger of this most careful artist. He executed many other works, it is said, but we do not find the names of them specifically mentioned.

Arcesilaüs,[2472] also, is an artist highly extolled by Varro; who states that he had in his possession a Lioness in marble of his, and Winged Cupids playing with it, some holding it with cords, and others making it drink from a horn, the whole sculptured from a single block: he says, also, that the fourteen figures around the Theatre of Pompeius,[2473] representing different Nations, are the work of Coponius.

I find it stated that Canachus,[2474] an artist highly praised among the statuaries in bronze, executed some works also in marble. Saurus,[2475] too, and Batrachus must not be forgotten, Lacedæmonians by birth, who built the temples[2476] enclosed by the Porticos of Octavia. Some are of opinion that these artists were very wealthy men, and that they erected these buildings at their own expense, expecting to be allowed to inscribe their names thereon; but that, this indulgence being refused them, they adopted another method of attaining their object. At all events, there are still to be seen, at the present day, on the spirals[2477] of the columns, the figures of a lizard and a frog,[2478] emblematical of their names. In the Temple of Jupiter by the same artists, the paintings, as well as all the other ornaments, bear reference to the worship of a goddess. The[2479] fact is, that when the temple of Juno was completed, the porters, as it is said, who were entrusted with the carriage of the statues, made an exchange of them; and, on religious grounds, the mistake was left uncorrected, from an impression that it had been by the intervention of the divinities themselves, that this seat of worship had been thus shared between them. Hence it is that we see in the Temple of Juno, also, the ornaments which properly pertain to the worship of Jupiter.

Some minute works in marble have also gained reputation for their artists: by Myrmecides,[2480] there was a four-horse chariot, so small that it could be covered, driver and all, by the wings of a fly; and by Callicrates,[2481] some ants, in marble, the feet and other limbs of which were so fine as to escape the sight.

CHAP. 5. (6.)—AT WHAT PERIOD MARBLE WAS FIRST USED IN BUILDINGS.

This must suffice for the sculptors in marble, and the works that have gained the highest repute; with reference to which subject it occurs to me to remark, that spotted marbles were not then in fashion. In making their statues, these artists used the marble of Thasos also,[2482] one of the Cyclades, and of Lesbos, this last being rather more livid than the other. The poet Menander, in fact, who was a very careful enquirer into all matters of luxury, is the first who has spoken, and that but rarely, of variegated marbles, and, indeed, of the employment of marble in general. Columns of this material were at first employed in temples, not on grounds of superior elegance, (for that was not thought of, as yet), but because no material could be found of a more substantial nature. It was under these circumstances, that the Temple[2483] of the Olympian Jupiter was commenced at Athens, the columns of which were brought by Sylla to Rome, for the buildings in the Capitol.

Still, however, there had been a distinction drawn between ordinary stone and marble, in the days of Homer even. The poet speaks in one passage of a person[2484] being struck down with a huge mass of marble; but that is all; and when he describes the abodes of royalty adorned with every elegance, besides brass, gold, electrum,[2485] and silver, he only mentions ivory. Variegated marbles, in my opinion, were first discovered in the quarries of Chios, when the inhabitants were building the walls of their city; a circumstance which gave rise to a facetious repartee on the part of M. Cicero. It being the practice with them to show these walls to everybody, as something magnificent; “I should admire them much more,” said he, “if you had built them of the stone used at Tibur.”[2486] And, by Hercules! the art of painting[2487] never would have been held in such esteem, or, indeed, in any esteem at all, if variegated marbles had been held in admiration.

CHAP. 6.—WHO WERE THE FIRST TO CUT MARBLE INTO SLABS, AND AT WHAT PERIOD.

I am not sure whether the art of cutting marble into slabs, is not an invention for which we are indebted to the people of Caria. The most ancient instance of this practice, so far as I know of, is found in the palace of Mausolus, at Halicarnassus, the walls of which, in brick, are covered with marble of Proconnesus. Mausolus died in the second year of the hundred and seventh[2488] Olympiad, being the year of Rome, 403.

CHAP. 7.—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO ENCRUST THE WALLS OF HOUSES AT ROME WITH MARBLE.

The first person at Rome who covered the whole of the walls of his house with marble, according to Cornelius Nepos,[2489] was Mamurra,[2490] who dwelt upon the Cælian Hill, a member of the equestrian order, and a native of Formiæ, who had been præfect of the engineers under C. Cæsar in Gaul. Such was the individual, that nothing may be wanting to the indignity of the example, who first adopted this practice; the same Mamurra, in fact, who has been so torn to pieces in the verses of Catullus of Verona. Indeed, his own house proclaimed more loudly than Catullus could proclaim it, that he had come into possession of all that Gallia Comata had had to possess. For Nepos adds, as well, that he was the first to have all the columns of his house made of nothing but solid marble, and that, too, marble of Carystus[2491] or of Luna.[2492]

CHAP. 8.—AT WHAT PERIOD THE VARIOUS KINDS OF MARBLE CAME INTO USE AT ROME.

M. Lepidus, who was consul with Q. Catulus, was the first to have the lintels of his house made of Numidian marble, a thing for which he was greatly censured: he was consul in the year of Rome, 676. This is the earliest instance that I can find of the introduction of Numidian marble; not in the form of pillars, however, or of slabs, as was the case with the marble of Carystus, above-mentioned, but in blocks, and that too, for the comparatively ignoble purpose of making the thresholds of doors. Four-years after this Lepidus, L. Lucullus was consul; the same person who gave its name, it is very evident, to the Lucullan marble; for, taking a great fancy to it, he introduced it at Rome. While other kinds of marble are valued for their spots or their colours, this marble is entirely black.[2493] It is found in the island of Melos,[2494] and is pretty nearly the only marble that has taken its name from the person who first introduced it. Among these personages, Scaurus, in my opinion, was the first to build a theatre with walls of marble: but whether they were only coated with slabs of marble or were made of solid blocks highly polished, such as we now see in the Temple of Jupiter Tonans,[2495] in the Capitol, I cannot exactly say: for, up to this period, I cannot find any vestiges of the use of marble slabs in Italy.

CHAP. 9.—THE METHOD OF CUTTING MARBLE INTO SLABS. THE SAND USED IN CUTTING MARBLE.

But whoever it was that first invented the art of thus cutting marble, and so multiplying the appliances of luxury, he displayed considerable ingenuity, though to little purpose. This division, though apparently effected by the aid of iron, is in reality effected by sand; the saw acting only by pressing upon the sand within a very fine cleft in the stone, as it is moved to and fro.

The[2496] sand of Æthiopia is the most highly esteemed for this purpose; for, to add to the trouble that is entailed, we have to send to Æthiopia for the purpose of preparing our marble—aye, and as far as India even; whereas in former times, the severity of the Roman manners thought it beneath them to repair thither in search of such costly things even as pearls! This Indian sand is held in the next highest degree of estimation, the Æthiopian being of a softer nature, and better adapted for dividing the stone without leaving any roughness on the surface; whereas the sand from India does not leave so smooth a face upon it. Still, however, for polishing marble, we find it recommended[2497] to rub it with Indian sand calcined. The sand of Naxos has the same defect; as also that from Coptos, generally known as “Egyptian” sand.

The above were the several varieties of sand used by the ancients in dividing marble. More recently, a sand has been discovered that is equally approved of for this purpose; in a certain creek of the Adriatic Sea, which is left dry at low water only; a thing that renders it not very easy to be found. At the present day, however, the fraudulent tendencies of our workers in marble have emboldened them to use any kind of river-sand for the purpose; a mischief which very few employers rightly appreciate. For, the coarser the sand, the wider is the division made in the stone, the greater the quantity of material consumed, and the more extensive the labour required for polishing the rough surface that is left; a result of which is that the slabs lose so much more in thickness. For giving the last polish to marble,[2498] Thebaic stone[2499] is considered well adapted, as also porous stone, or pumice, powdered fine.

CHAP. 10. (7.)—STONE OF NAXOS. STONE OF ARMENIA.

For polishing marble statues, as also for cutting and giving a polish to precious stones, the preference was long given to the stone of Naxos,[2500] such being the name of a kind of touchstone[2501] that is found in the Isle of Cyprus. More recently, however, the stones imported from Armenia for this purpose have displaced those of Naxos.

CHAP. 11.—THE MARBLES OF ALEXANDRIA.

The marbles are too well known to make it necessary for me to enumerate their several colours and varieties; and, indeed, so numerous are they, that it would be no easy task to do so. For what place is there, in fact, that has not a marble of its own? In addition to which, in our description of the earth and its various peoples,[2502] we have already made it our care to mention the more celebrated kinds of marble. Still, however, they are not all of them produced from quarries, but in many instances lie scattered just beneath the surface of the earth; some of them the most precious even, the green Lacedæmonian marble, for example, more brilliant in colour than any other; the Augustan also; and, more recently, the Tiberian; which were first discovered, in the reigns respectively of Augustus and Tiberius, in Egypt. These two marbles differ from ophites[2503] in the circumstance that the latter is marked with streaks which resemble serpents[2504] in appearance, whence its name. There is also this difference between the two marbles themselves, in the arrangement of their spots: the Augustan marble has them undulated and curling to a point; whereas in the Tiberian the streaks are white,[2505] not involved, but lying wide asunder.

Of ophites, there are only some very small pillars known to have been made. There are two varieties of it, one white and soft, the other inclining to black, and hard. Both kinds, it is said, worn as an amulet, are a cure for head-ache, and for wounds inflicted by serpents.[2506] Some, too, recommend the white ophites as an amulet for phrenitis and lethargy. As a counter-poison to serpents, some persons speak more particularly in praise of the ophites that is known as “tephrias,”[2507] from its ashy colour. There is also a marble known as “memphites,” from the place[2508] where it is found, and of a nature somewhat analogous to the precious stones. For medicinal purposes, it is triturated and applied in the form of a liniment, with vinegar, to such parts of the body as require cauterizing or incision; the flesh becoming quite benumbed, and thereby rendered insensible to pain.

Porphyrites,[2509] which is another production of Egypt, is of a red colour: the kind that is mottled with white blotches is known as “leptospsephos.”[2510] The quarries there are able to furnish blocks[2511] of any dimensions, however large. Vitrasius Pollio, who was steward[2512] in Egypt for the Emperor Claudius, brought to Rome from Egypt some statues made of this stone; a novelty which was not very highly approved of, as no one has since followed his example. The Egyptians, too, have discovered in Æthiopia the stone known as “basanites;”[2513] which in colour and hardness resembles iron, whence the name[2514] that has been given to it. A larger block of it has never been known than the one forming the group which has been dedicated by the Emperor Vespasianus Augustus in the Temple of Peace. It represents the river Nilus with sixteen children sporting around it,[2515] symbolical of the sixteen cubits, the extreme height[2516] to which, in the most favourable seasons, that river should rise. It is stated, too, that in the Temple of Serapis at Thebes, there is a block not unlike it, which forms the statue of Memnon[2517] there; remarkable, it is said, for emitting a sound each morning when first touched by the rays of the rising sun.

CHAP. 12.—ONYX AND ALABASTRITES; SIX REMEDIES.

Our forefathers imagined that onyx[2518] was only to be found in the mountains of Arabia, and nowhere else; but Sudines[2519] was aware that it is also found in Carmania.[2520] Drinking-vessels were made of it at first, and then the feet of beds and chairs. Cornelius Nepos relates that great was the astonishment, when P. Lentulus Spinther exhibited amphoræ made of this material, as large as Chian wine-vessels in size; “and yet, five years after,” says he, “I saw columns of this material, no less than two-and-thirty feet in height.” At a more recent period again, some change took place[2521] with reference to this stone; for four[2522] small pillars of it were erected by Cornelius Balbus in his Theatre[2523] as something quite marvellous: and I myself have seen thirty columns, of larger size, in the banquetting-room which Callistus[2524] erected, the freedman of Claudius, so well known for the influence which he possessed.

(8.) This[2525] stone is called “alabastrites”[2526] by some, and is hollowed out into vessels for holding unguents, it having the reputation of preserving them from corruption[2527] better than anything else. In a calcined state, it is a good ingredient for plaisters.[2528] It is found in the vicinity of Thebes in Egypt and of Damascus in Syria, that of Damascus being whiter than the others. The most esteemed kind, however, is that of Carmania, the next being the produce of India, and then, those of Syria and Asia. The worst in quality is that of Cappadocia, it being utterly destitute of lustre. That which is of a honey colour is the most esteemed, covered with spots curling in whirls,[2529] and not transparent. Alabastrites is considered defective, when it is of a white or horn colour, or approaching to glass in appearance.

CHAP. 13.—LYGDINUS; CORALLITIC STONE; STONE OF ALABANDA; STONE OF THEBAIS; STONE OF SYENE.

Little inferior to it for the preservation of unguents, in the opinion of many, is the stone, called “lygdinus,”[2530] that is found in Paros, and never of a larger size than to admit of a dish or goblet being made of it. In former times, it was only imported from Arabia, being remarkable for its extreme whiteness.

Great value is placed also upon two other kinds of stone, of quite a contrary nature; corallitic[2531] stone, found in Asia, in blocks not more than two cubits in thickness, and of a white somewhat approaching that of ivory, and in some degree resembling it; and Alabandic stone, which, on the other hand, is black, and is so called from the district[2532] which produces it: though it is also to be found at Miletus, where, however, it verges somewhat more upon the purple. It admits of being melted by the action of fire, and is fused for the preparation of glass.

Thebaic stone, which is sprinkled all over with spots like gold, is found in Africa, on the side of it which lies adjacent to Egypt; the small hones which it supplies being peculiarly adapted, from their natural properties, for grinding the ingredients used in preparations for the eyes. In the neighbourhood of Syene, too, in Thebais, there is a stone found that is now known as “syenites,”[2533] but was formerly called “pyrrhopœcilon.”[2534]

CHAP. 14.—OBELISKS.

Monarchs, too, have entered into a sort of rivalry with one another in forming elongated blocks of this stone, known as “obelisks,”[2535] and consecrated to the divinity of the Sun. The blocks had this form given to them in resemblance to the rays of that luminary, which are so called[2536] in the Egyptian language.

Mesphres,[2537] who reigned in the City of the Sun,[2538] was the first who erected one of these obelisks, being warned to do so in a dream; indeed, there is an inscription upon the obelisk to this effect; for the sculptures and figures which we still see engraved thereon are no other than Egyptian letters.[2539]

At a later period other kings had these obelisks hewn. Sesosthes[2540] erected four of them in the above-named city, forty-eight cubits in height. Rhamsesis,[2541] too, who was reigning at the time of the capture of Troy, erected one, a hundred and forty cubits high. Having quitted the spot where the palace of Mnevis[2542] stood, this monarch erected another obelisk,[2543] one hundred and twenty cubits in height, but of prodigious thickness, the sides being no less than eleven cubits in breadth. (9.) It is said that one hundred and twenty thousand men were employed upon this work;[2543] and that the king, when it was on the point of being elevated, being apprehensive that the machinery employed might not prove strong enough for the weight, with the view of increasing the peril that might be entailed by due want of precaution on the part of the workmen, had his own son fastened to the summit; in order that the safety of the prince might at the same time ensure the safety of the mass of stone. It was in his admiration of this work, that, when King Cambyses took the city by storm, and the conflagration had already reached the very foot of the obelisk, he ordered the fire to be extinguished; he entertaining a respect for this stupendous erection which he had not entertained for the city itself.

There are also two other obelisks, one of them erected by Zmarres,[2544] and the other by Phius;[2545] both of them without inscriptions, and forty-eight cubits in height. Ptolemæus Philadelphus had one erected at Alexandria, eighty cubits high, which had been prepared by order of King Necthebis:[2546] it was without any inscription, and cost far more trouble in its carriage and elevation, than had been originally expended in quarrying it. Some writers inform us that it was conveyed on a raft, under the inspection of the architect Satyrus; but Callixenus[2547] gives the name of Phœnix. For this purpose, a canal was dug from the river Nilus to the spot where the obelisk lay; and two broad vessels, laden with blocks of similar stone a foot square, the cargo of each amounting to double the size, and consequently double the weight, of the obelisk, were brought beneath it; the extremities, of the obelisk remaining supported by the opposite sides of the canal. The blocks of stone were then removed, and the vessels, being thus gradually lightened, received their burden. It was erected upon a basis of six square blocks, quarried from the same mountain, and the artist was rewarded with the sum of fifty talents.[2548] This obelisk was placed by the king above-mentioned in the Arsinoœum,[2549] in testimony of his affection for his wife and sister Arsinoë. At a later period, as it was found to be an inconvenience to the docks, Maximus, the then præfect of Egypt, had it transferred to the Forum there, after removing the summit for the purpose of substituting a gilded point; an intention which was ultimately abandoned.

There are two other obelisks, which were in Cæsar’s Temple at Alexandria, near the harbour there, forty-two cubits in height, and originally hewn by order of King Mesphres. But the most difficult enterprise of all, was the carriage of these obelisks by sea to Rome, in vessels which excited the greatest admiration. Indeed, the late Emperor Augustus consecrated the one which brought over the first obelisk, as a lasting memorial of this marvellous undertaking, in the docks at Puteoli; but it was destroyed by fire. As to the one in which, by order of the Emperor Caius,[2550] the other obelisk had been transported to Rome, after having been preserved for some years and looked upon as the most wonderful construction ever beheld upon the seas, it was brought to Ostia, by order of the late Emperor Claudius; and towers of Puteolan[2551] earth being first erected upon it, it was sunk for the construction of the harbour which he was making there. And then, besides, there was the necessity of constructing other vessels to carry these obelisks up the Tiber; by which it became practically ascertained, that the depth of water in that river is not less than that of the river Nilus.

The obelisk that was erected by the late Emperor Augustus in the Great Circus,[2552] was originally quarried by order of King Semenpserteus,[2553] in whose reign it was that Pythagoras[2554] visited Egypt. It is eighty-five feet[2555] and three quarters in height, exclusive of the base, which is a part of the same stone. The one that he erected in the Campus Martius, is nine feet less in height, and was originally made by order of Sesothis. They are both of them covered with inscriptions, which interpret the operations of Nature according to the philosophy of the Egyptians.

CHAP. 15. (10.)—THE OBELISK WHICH SERVES AS A DIAL IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS.

The one that has been erected in the Campus Martius[2556] has been applied to a singular purpose by the late Emperor Augustus; that of marking the shadows projected by the sun, and so measuring the length of the days and nights. With this object, a stone pavement was laid, the extreme length of which corresponded exactly with the length of the shadow thrown by the obelisk at the sixth hour[2557] on the day of the winter solstice. After this period, the shadow would go on, day by day, gradually decreasing, and then again[2558] would as gradually increase, correspondingly with certain lines of brass that were inserted in the stone; a device well deserving to be known, and due to the ingenuity of Facundus Novus, the mathematician. Upon the apex of the obelisk he placed a gilded ball, in order that the shadow of the summit might be condensed and agglomerated, and so prevent the shadow of the apex itself from running to a fine point of enormous extent; the plan being first suggested to him, it is said, by the shadow that is projected by the human head. For nearly the last thirty years, however, the observations derived from this dial have been found not to agree: whether it is that the sun itself has changed its course in consequence of some derangement of the heavenly system; or whether that the whole earth has been in some degree displaced from its centre, a thing that, I have heard say, has been remarked in other places as well; or whether that some earthquake, confined to this city only, has wrenched the dial from its original position; or whether it is that in consequence of the inundations of the Tiber, the foundations of the mass have subsided, in spite of the general assertion that they are sunk as deep into the earth as the obelisk erected upon them is high.

(11.) The third[2559] obelisk[2560] at Rome is in the Vaticanian[2561] Circus, which was constructed by the Emperors Caius[2562] and Nero; this being the only one of them all that has been broken in the carriage. Nuncoreus,[2563] the son of Sesoses, made it: and there remains[2564] another by him, one hundred cubits in height, which, by order of an oracle, he consecrated to the Sun, after having lost his sight and recovered it.

CHAP. 16. (12.)—MARVELLOUS WORKS IN EGYPT. THE PYRAMIDS.