Chapter 40: of this Book (1)

[2080] Built by Augustus in the Ninth Region of the City, in honour of his sister Octavia.

[2081] See Chapter 36.

[2082] Bacchus.

[2083] And so caused his death by falling from his chariot. See the “Hippolytus” of Euripides.

[2084] Near the Theatre of Pompey, in the Ninth Region of the City.

[2085] “Caricatures.” Sillig thinks it not unlikely that Gryllus was painted with a pig’s face, that animal being signified by the Greek word γρυλλὸς.

[2086] See Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2087] See Chapter 6 of this Book.

[2088] In the original, as given by Sillig, “Plautiu, Marcus Cleœtas.” That commentator supposes him to have been a Greek by birth, and adopted into the Plautian family, on being made a citizen of Rome.

[2089] “Euripi.” See B. ii. c. 100, B. viii. c. 40, and B. ix. cc. 22, 80. The landscape paintings on the interior walls of houses at Herculaneum and Pompeii may be taken as specimens of this artist’s style.

[2090] “Succollatis sponsione mulieribus.” This passage appears to be a mass of confusion, in spite of Sillig’s attempts to amend and explain it. The meaning can only be guessed at, not given with any degree of certainty: of Ludius himself, no further particulars are known.

[2091] The “hypæthra” or promenades.

[2092] Most editions give “Famulus.” Nothing further is known of him.

[2093] See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[2094] Both in the First Region of the City, near the Capenian Gate.

[2095] See Chapter 41 of this Book, where the difficulties attending this description will be considered.

[2096] See Chapter 36 of this Book.

[2097] See Chapter 35 of this Book.

[2098] Possibly the artist of that name mentioned by Athenæus, B. x., as a tutor of Apelles. If so, he must have flourished about the ninety-seventh Olympiad.

[2099] Elasippus “inburned” this picture, _i.e._ executed it in encaustic. From the Attic form of this word, it has been concluded that he was an Athenian. The spelling of his name is very doubtful.

[2100] See Chapter 36 of this Book.

[2101] Two paintings of his at Epidaurus are mentioned by Pausanias, B. ii. c. 27.

[2102] And _not_ in encaustic; though, as we shall see in Chapter 41, the brush was sometimes used in this branch.

[2103] The “One day” picture.

[2104] See B. xxi. c. 3.

[2105] The “Chaplet-wearer.” See B. xxi. c. 3.

[2106] The “Chaplet-seller.”

[2107] A “correct” copy.

[2108] “In confracto.” Meaning probably the group of the surrounding spectators, on which the shadow of the animal’s body was thrown. It is evident that this artist excelled in his effect of light and shade, enhanced by contrasts, and strong foreshortenings.”—Wornum, Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. _Painting_.

[2109] A.U.C. 678. See B. xxxvi. c. 24.

[2110] Mentioned also in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2111] Praised by Pausanias, B. i. It was in this combat, he says, that Gryllus, the son of Xenophon, and Epaminondas the Theban, first distinguished themselves.

[2112] “Carne.” Beef, according to Plutarch, was the flesh mentioned.

[2113] The dress of the Greek philosophers, more particularly.

[2114] Born in the island of Cythnos, one of the Cyclades. He is supposed to be the artist mentioned by Theophrastus, De Lapid. c. 95.

[2115] It is supposed by Sillig, from Dio Cassius, B. liii. c. 27, that this painting was transferred by M. Vipsanius Agrippa, to the Portico of Neptune.

[2116] See Chapter 20 of this Book, where he is mentioned as having been the first artist who used “usta” or burnt ceruse. From Pausanias we learn that his remains were interred at Athens, in the road leading to the Academia.

[2117] Chiaroscuro.

[2118] In Chapter 10 of this Book.

[2119] Bacchus.

[2120] In the Eighth Region of the City.

[2121] Spoken of by Pausanias, B. iii. c. 19.

[2122] In the Forum at Rome.

[2123] See Chapter 36 of this Book, Note 2025, p. 261.

[2124] “Place of the prophecies of the dead;” in reference to the description of the Infernal Regions in the Fourth Book of the Odyssey.

[2125] See Chapter 37 of this Book.

[2126] See B. iv. c. 18.

[2127] Supposed by Hardouin to be the writer mentioned at the end of B. vii. and B. x.: or perhaps, “a chief” of an Athenian tribe.

[2128] A “group of kindred.”

[2129] A disciple of Carneades. See the list of writers at the end of this Book.

[2130] B.C. 168.

[2131] Represented in a sitting posture, as mentioned by Ovid, Trist. II. 525, and by Philostratus, Vit. Apol. B. II. c. 10. The Medea is described in an Epigram in B. iv. of the Greek Anthology, imitated by Ausonius, Epigr. 22.

[2132] See Note 2116 above.

[2133] Medusa, slain by Perseus.

[2134] In the former editions, “Mecophanes.”

[2135] Or ochre. See B. xxxiii. c. 56.

[2136] Health, Brightness, and All-heal.

[2137] Greek for “sluggard.”

[2138] Probably, from the context, a pupil, also, of Pausias.

[2139] In pencil painting, and in encaustic.

[2140] Probably the same painter that is mentioned in Chapter 37.

[2141] An effect for which Schalken is famous.

[2142] “Shading his eyes.”

[2143] Son and pupil of Aglaopho, and brother of Polygnotus. He was probably a native of Thasos.

[2144] See Chapter 36, Note 2029, page 261.

[2145] “Dolus.” An emblematical picture evidently, probably representing the events just prior to the capture of Troy.

[2146] A famous diver, mentioned by Herodotus, B. viii. c. 8, Pausanias, B. x. c. 19, and Strabo, B. ix.

[2147] Probably the wife of Seleucus, given by him to his son Antiochus. See B. vii. c. 37, Note 1165.

[2148] That they should rebuild the walls of Troy.

[2149] His contest with Corragus the Macedonian, whom he defeated, is mentioned also by Ælian, Diodorus Siculus, Athenæus, and Quintus Curtius.

[2150] Gained “without raising the dust,” _i.e._ without any difficulty.

[2151] This is perhaps the meaning of “stemmata;” “heraldic pictures,” probably. See Juvenal, Sat. viii. l. 2.

[2152] Suidas seems to mention him, under the name of “Ctesiochus,” as the brother of Apelles.

[2153] Who was said to have been born from the thigh of Jove.

[2154] Or cap; see Chapter 35 of this Book.

[2155] By Hercules, when he demanded Iole of her father Eurytus, king of Œchalia.

[2156] See Note 2147 above.

[2157] Several Cratini were distinguished as Comic writers, but we do not read in any other author of any one of them being a painter. The reading is doubtful.

[2158] A building at the entrance into Athens, whence the “pompæ,” or solemn processions, set out.

[2159] Hardouin thinks that this was the victory gained by Aratus of Sicyon over Aristippus, the Tyrant of Argos. If so, Leontiscus must have flourished about Olymp. 136.

[2160] Caused by the anger of Juno. In this fit of insanity he slew his wife Megara and her children.

[2161] See also Chapter 36. From Plutarch we learn that he was greatly in favour with Aratus of Sicyon.

[2162] According to Brotero, a representation of the Ass and Crocodile was found in the pictorial embellishments at Herculaneum.

[2163] See B. xvii. c. 36, B. xviii. c. 56, and B. xix. c. 24.

[2164] “Theodoras” in most of the editions.

[2165] See Chapter 36 of this Book, page 252.

[2166] See the Æneid, B. II. c. 403, _et seq._

[2167] Poliorcetes.

[2168] A native of Samos, mentioned by Quintilian, B. xii. c. 10, as one of the painters between the time of Philip and that of the successors of Alexander.

[2169] After the murder of his mother.

[2170] See B. vii. c. 57.

[2171] Or player with the discus.

[2172] Against his brother Eteocles.

[2173] Who assisted Polynices in his siege of Thebes.

[2174] Helen, Castor, and Pollux.

[2175] See B. vii. c. 37.

[2176] Mentioned in Chapter 36, as having been commenced for the people of Cos, but never finished.

[2177] See B. xxxiv. cc. 19, 39. Sillig is of opinion that the picture mentioned by Pausanias, B. I. c. 1, in honour of Leosthenes, killed in the Lamina War, B.C. 323, was by this artist.

[2178] Poliorcetes, who began to reign B.C. 306.

[2179] Already mentioned in this Chapter, at greater length.

[2180] See B. xxxiv. c. 40.

[2181] See Chapter 36 of this Book, and the present Chapter. Of the greater part of these artists nothing further is known.

[2182] See Chapter 35 of this Book.

[2183] Previously mentioned in this Chapter.

[2184] Or stylus—“cestrum.”

[2185] Probably the same painter as the one mentioned in Chapter 37 of this Book.

[2186] See Chapter 39 of this Book. Pausias painted in wax with the cestrum.

[2187] Wornum is of opinion that this must have been a species of drawing with a heated point, upon ivory, without the use of wax. Smith’s Dict. Antiq. Art. _Painting_.

[2188] This method, as Wornum remarks, though first employed on ships, was not necessarily confined to ship-painting; and it must have been a very different style of painting from the ship-colouring of Homer, since it was of a later date even than the preceding methods.

[2189] Though he says nothing here of the use of the “cauterium,” or process of _burning in_, its employment may certainly be inferred from what he has said in Chapter 39. Wornum is of opinion that the definition at the beginning of this Chapter, of _two_ methods apparently, “_in_ wax and _on_ ivory,” is in reality an explanation of _one_ method only, and that the ancient modes of painting in encaustic were not only three, but several.

[2190] Or Temple of the Nymphs. The daughter of Butades is called “Core” by Athenagoras.

[2191] See B. xxxiv. c. 3.

[2192] Son of Philæus. He is mentioned by Pausanias, B. viii. c. 14, and by Herodotus, B. iii. c. 60, as the architect of a fine temple at Samos, and, with Smilis and Theodorus, of the Labyrinth at Lemnos.

[2193] Mentioned also in B. xxxiv. c. 19. Pliny is in error here in using the word “plastice;” for it was the art of casting brass, and not that of making plaster casts, that these artists invented.

[2194] See Chapter 5 of this Book. He is said by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, B. iii., to have been a member of the family of the Bacchiadæ.

[2195] A different person, probably, from the one of the same name mentioned in B. vii. c. 56.

[2196] Terra cotta figures.

[2197] See B. xxxiv. c. 19. Tatian mentions a statue of Melanippe by Lysistratus.

[2198] See B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[2199] In the Eleventh Region of the City. This Temple of Ceres, Bacchus, and Proserpine, in the Circus Maximus, was vowed by A. Posthumius, the Dictator, A.U.C. 258, and dedicated by the consul Cassius, A.U.C. 261, or B.C. 493.

[2200] See B. xxxiv. c. 16.

[2201] Sillig (Dict. Anc. Art.) is of opinion that this Chalcosthenes is not identical with the artist of that name mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19; the name “Ceramicus” probably being of far earlier origin than the formation of the statues of Comedians.

[2202] “Et.” The insertion of this word seems to militate against Sillig’s position.

[2203] The “Pottery.”

[2204] See also B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[2205] See Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2206] “Crater.” A vase in which wine and water were mixed for drinking.

[2207] See B. xxxiii. c. 55, B. xxxvi. c. 4, and end of B. xxxiii.

[2208] See B. xxxiii. c. 36.

[2209] In B. viii. c. 4, for instance.

[2210] The “Hercules fictilis.” It is mentioned by Martial, B. xiv. Ep. 178.

[2211] See B. xxxiii. c. 2, and B. xxxvii. cc. 7, 8, 11.

[2212] “Simpuvia.”

[2213] See B. xxxi. c. 31.

[2214] “Mammatis.” The exact meaning of this word is unknown. The passage is evidently in a corrupt state.

[2215] As to the Roman “Collegia,” see B. viii. c. 42, and B. xxxiv. c. 1.

[2216] “Solia.”—The same name is given also to a kind of sitting or reclining-bath, often mentioned by Pliny.

[2217] Asia Minor.

[2218] See B. iii. c. 18.

[2219] A service of three dishes.

[2220] See B. ix. c. 39.

[2221] See B. ix. cc. 24, 28, 74, 79.

[2222] In B. x. c. 72.

[2223] See Note 2211 above.

[2224] See B. xxiii. c. 47, and the end of this Book.

[2225] Martial speaks of this practice, B. iii. Epigr. 81.

[2226] Nothing further seems to be known of this personage, or of the grounds of his invective. Pliny may possibly allude to some abominable practices, with which Vitellius is charged by Suetonius also.

[2227] The “Opus Signinum” was a plaster or cement much used for making pavements. It took its name from Signia, in Italy, celebrated for its tiles. See B. iii. c. 9.

[2228] The floors of the Roman houses were seldom boarded.

[2229] “Pulvis.” See B. iii. c. 9, B. xvi. c. 76, and B. xxxvi. c. 14. He alludes to the cement made of volcanic ashes, now known as “Pozzuolane.”

[2230] See B. iv. c. 17.

[2231] It being the practice to rub the bodies of the athletes with sand.

[2232] This circumstance is mentioned also by Suetonius, in his life of Nero. Patrobius was slain by order of the Emperor Galba.

[2233] Ajasson says that they are called _tapias_ at the present day in Spain.

[2234] See B. ii. c. 73.

[2235] “Rubrica.”

[2236] See B. xxxi. c. 28.

[2237] Which was, as a measure, nearly three inches in breadth. See Introduction to Vol. III.

[2238] See B. v. c. 32.

[2239] Ajasson says that these bricks have been imitated by Fabroni, with a light argillaceous earth, found in the territory of Sienna. Delafosse thinks that a place called “Cala,” in the Sierra Morena, probably marks the site of the cities above mentioned.

[2240] See B. iv. c. 5, and B. xxxvi. c. 4.

[2241] “Gerusia.”

[2242] See B. iii. c. 19.

[2243] In B. iii. c. 6.

[2244] See B. xviii. c. 29.

[2245] “Untouched by fire.” Native sulphur.

[2246] “Gleba.”

[2247] Sulphur has been always considered highly useful for the cure of cutaneous affections.

[2248] From ἅρπαζω, “to carry away.”

[2249] Ovid, in his “Art of Love,” speaks of purifying houses with eggs and sulphur.

[2250] See B. xxxi. c. 32.

[2251] There are three distinct kinds of bitumen. 1. Naphtha, also known as petroleum, or rock-oil, inflammable, volatile, soluble in alcohol, and found in France and Italy. 2. Asphalt, or bitumen of Judæa, solid, insoluble in alcohol, and found in Lake Asphaltites in Syria, more particularly. 3. Pissasphalt, of a medium consistency between the other substances, of which it appears to be composed. See B. xxiv. c. 25.

[2252] In B. v. c. 15.

[2253] Naphtha, most probably.

[2254] See B. xxiv. c. 25.

[2255] Chapter 109.

[2256] As to the “nitrum” of Pliny, see B. xxxi. c. 46.

[2257] “Asphalt plaster,” probably.

[2258] Or mint. See B. xix. c. 47, and B. xx. c. 53.

[2259] See B. xxxii. c. 13.

[2260] In B. xxxiv. c. 9.

[2261] Beckmann is of opinion that our _alum_ was not known to the Greeks or Romans, and that what the latter called “alumen” was green vitriol, or sulphate of the protoxide of iron, in an impure state. Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 180. _Bohn’s Edition._ Dr. Pereira remarks, however, that “there can be little doubt that Pliny was acquainted with our alum, but did not distinguish it from sulphate of iron, for he informs us that one kind of alum was white, and was used for dyeing wool of bright colours.” Materia Medica, Vol. I, Delafosse identifies the “alumen” of Pliny with double sulphate of alum and iron.

[2262] “Salsugo terræ.”

[2263] See Note 2261 above.

[2264] For gilding, Hardouin says.

[2265] The Roman provinces in Africa, other than Egypt.

[2266] Now Strombolo. See B. iii. c. 14.

[2267] Herodotus, B. ii., mentions the fact that King Amasis sent the people of Delphi a thousand talents of this substance, as his contribution towards rebuilding their temple.

[2268] “Fruitful,” or “useful.”

[2269] “Adulterated.”

[2270] See B. xx. c. 71.

[2271] “Split” alum. Probably iron alum, the French _alum de plume_; of a flaky, silky appearance.

[2272] “Hairy alum.”

[2273] See B. xxxiv. cc. 2, 29.

[2274] So called, according to Dioscorides, from the “round” form of the pieces.

[2275] He has previously said that the most esteemed kind was the Egyptian, that of Melos being the next best.

[2276] Στυπτηρία, the “styptic.”

[2277] “Sero picis.” Hardouin is of opinion that under this name pisselæon is intended. See B. xv. c. 7, B. xxiv. cc. 11, 24, and B. xxv. c. 22.

[2278] At the beginning of this Chapter in part.

[2279] Aluminous silicates, as Delafosse remarks, more or less combined with other minerals. Though employed for various purposes in the arts, they are now but little used in medicine.

[2280] Probably because it was the more extensively employed of the two, in “collyria,” or compositions for the eyes.

[2281] “Star” earth, apparently.

[2282] From Eretria, in Eubœa. See B. iv. c. 21.

[2283] In Chapter 21 of this Book.

[2284] It appears to be a matter of doubt whether it was found at Selinus, in Sicily, or the place of that name in Cilicia. See B. iii. c. 14, and B. v. c. 22.

[2285] Agricola is of opinion that this earth had its name from the place called Pnigeum, in the Libyan Mareotis. Other commentators would have it to be derived from πνίγω, “to suffocate,” such being its effect if taken internally.

[2286] See the next Chapter.

[2287] So called from ἀμπέλος, a “vine;” either because it was applied to vines to kill the insects, or because its admixture with the soil was favourable to the cultivation of the vine.

[2288] “Washes for beautifying the eye-brows.” See B. xxi. c. 73, B. xxiii. c. 51, and B. xxxiii. c. 34.

[2289] Cimolian earth, known in modern chemistry as Cimolite, is not a cretaceous earth, but an aluminous silicate, still found in the island of Kimoli, or Argentiera, one of the Cyclades; See B. iv. c. 23. Tournefort describes it as a white chalk, very heavy, tasteless, and dissolving in water. It is found also at Alexandrowsk in Russia.

[2290] See Chapter 25 of this Book.

[2291] See B. xxxi. c. 46.

[2292] See B. xii. c. 51.

[2293] See B. v. c. 28.

[2294] Beckmann thinks that this may have been our common chalk. Vol. II. p. 105.

[2295] This _seems_ to be the meaning of “crescit in macerando.”

[2296] A.U.C. 535, it is supposed.

[2297] As a plebiscitum.

[2298] “Desquamatur.” This is most probably the meaning of the word, though Beckmann observes “that it was undoubtedly a term of art, which cannot be further explained, because we are unacquainted with the operation to which it alludes.”—Vol II. p. 104. _Bohn’s Edition._

[2299] “Funditur sulphure.” The meaning of these words is very doubtful. Beckmann proposes to read “offenditur,” but he is not supported by any of the MSS. He has evidently mistaken the meaning of the whole passage.

[2300] Probably because it was too calcareous, Beckmann thinks.

[2301] See B. iv. c. 3, and B. xxxvi. c. 59.

[2302] Plate powder; from “argentum,” “silver.” See B. xvii. c. 4.

[2303] Whitening, or chalk washed and prepared, is still used for this purpose.

[2304] The goal for the chariots.

[2305] This reading is restored by Sillig from the Bamberg MS., but no particulars are known relative to the person alluded to; unless, indeed, as Sillig suspects to be the case, he is identical with Publius Syrus, the writer of mimes, mentioned in B. viii. c. 77.

[2306] Supposed by some to have been the Manilius who was author of the poem called “Astronomica,” still in existence. It is more probable, however, that he was the father of the poet, or perhaps the grandfather; as it is clear from a passage in Suetonius, that Staberius Eros taught at Rome during the civil wars of Sylla, while the poem must have been written, in part at least, after the death of Augustus.

[2307] Being afterwards manumitted. Sillig thinks that they may have arrived in Rome about B.C. 90.

[2308] “Catasta.” A raised platform of wood on which the slaves were exposed for sale.

[2309] “Rectorem.” For an explanation of this allusion, see B. xxviii. c. 14.

[2310] A native of Gadara in Syria, according to Josephus. Seneca speaks of him as being more wealthy than his master.

[2311] Or Menodorus, who deserted Sextus Pompeius and went over to Octavianus.

[2312] Who remained faithful to Pompeius, and died in his cause.

[2313] He is probably speaking in reference to her paramour, the freedman Pallas. See B. xxxiii. c. 47.

[2314] As to the earths of Galata and Clypea, see B. v. c. 7. The others are mentioned in B. iii. c. 11.

[2315] See end of B. ix.

[2316] See end of B. xxxiv.

[2317] See end of B. viii.

[2318] See end of Books vii. and xiv.

[2319] See end of B. ii.

[2320] See end of B. iii.

[2321] See end of B. ii.

[2322] See end of B. x.

[2323] See end of B. ii.

[2324] See end of B. vii.

[2325] See end of B. xvi.

[2326] A native of Longula in Latium. Though of dissolute character, he was famous as an orator and satirical writer. It was he who accused Nonius Asprenas of poisoning, as mentioned in Chapter 46 of this Book. He died in exile at the island of Seriphos, about A.D. 33. His works were at first proscribed, but were afterwards permitted by Caligula to be read.

[2327] See end of B. vii.

[2328] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2329] The painter, mentioned at great length in Chapter 36 of this Book, and elsewhere.

[2330] A painter of Sicyon, mentioned in Chapters 32 and 36 of this Book.

[2331] Probably the painter of that name, mentioned in Chapter 36 of this Book.

[2332] The artist mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19, and in Chapter 40 of the present Book.

[2333] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2334] Possibly the painter of that name, mentioned in Chapter 40 of this Book.

[2335] See end of B. ii.

[2336] See end of B. iii.

[2337] See end of B. xxx.

[2338] See end of B. iii.

[2339] See end of B. xii.

[2340] See end of Books iv., viii., xi., and xx.

[2341] See end of B. xx.

[2342] See end of Books iv. and xii.

[2343] See end of B. xii.

[2344] See end of B. xiii.

[2345] See end of B. xii.

[2346] See end of B. xii.

[2347] See end of B. xxix.

[2348] See end of B. xii.

[2349] See end of B. xii.

[2350] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2351] See end of B. xxxiii.

[2352] See B. xxxvii. cc. 7, 8, 11.

[2353] See the lines of Juvenal, Sat. x. l. 151, _et seq._

[2354] He alludes to vessels made of crystal, which, as Dalechamps remarks, was long supposed to be nothing but ice in a concrete form. See B. xxxvii. c. 9.

[2355] See B. viii. c. 82.

[2356] “Glandia.”

[2357] See Chapter 24 of this Book.

[2358] See Chapter 8 of this Book.

[2359] In the Eleventh Region of the City.

[2360] See B. xxxv. cc. 43, 45.

[2361] See B. xvii. c. 1.

[2362] These two artists are invariably mentioned together. Pausanias, B. ii. c. 14, and B. iii. c. 17, speaks or them as the pupils or sons of Dædalus; only intimating thereby, as Sillig thinks, that they were the first sculptors worthy of being associated with the father of artists. Pausanias, B. ii. c. 22, mentions ebony statues by them.

[2363] In the time of the Telchines, before the arrival of Inachus in Argolis.

[2364] Pausanias says that this statue was completed by their pupils. Clemens Alexandrinus mentions other works of theirs.

[2365] Another reading is “Anthermus.” Of many of these sculptors, no further particulars are known.

[2366] Another cause of the quarrel is said to have been the refusal of Bupalus to give his daughter in marriage to Hipponax. This quarrel is referred to in the Greek Anthology, B. iii. Epigr. 26.

[2367] See B. xiv. c. 9.

[2368] See B. iv. c. 20.

[2369] Dedicated by Augustus, in the Tenth Region of the City.

[2370] Λύχνος being the Greek for a “lamp.”

[2371] See B. iii. c. 8: now known as the marble of Massa and Carrara, of a bluish white, and a very fine grain.

[2372] A similar case has been cited, in the figure of St. Jerome, to be seen on a stone in the Grotto of Our Saviour at Bethlehem, and in a representation of the Crucifixion, in the Church of St. George, at Venice. A miniature resembling that of the poet Chaucer is to be seen on the surface of a small stone in the British Museum.

[2373] See B. xxxv. c. 44.

[2374] See B. xxxv. cc. 37, 40.

[2375] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2376] “In the Gardens.” A suburb of Athens, in which there was a temple of Venus, or Aphrodite Urania.

[2377] He is mentioned also by Pausanias and Strabo.

[2378] The Goddess of Retribution. Pausanias, B. i. c. 33, says that it was the work of Phidias, and that it was made of Parian marble, which the Persians had brought into Attica for the purpose of erecting a trophy. Strabo, however, in B. ix., says that it was the work of Agoracritus and Diodotus (an artist otherwise unknown), and that it was not at all inferior to the production of Phidias. Tzetzes again, Suidas, and Photius, say that it was the work of Phidias, and that it was presented by him to his favourite pupil, Agoracritus. Sillig rejects the story of the contest, and the decision by the suffrages of the Athenian people. Some modern writers have doubted also, whether a statue of Venus could be modified so as to represent Nemesis; but not with sufficient reason, Sillig thinks.

[2379] See B. iv. c. 11.

[2380] A statue, Sillig supposes, of the goddess Cybele.

[2381] “Pandoras Genesis.”

[2382] Sillig is of opinion that this passage is corrupt, and is inclined to think, with Panofka, that the reading should be “nascenti adstantes,”—gods “standing by the new-born” Pandora.

[2383] In B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2384] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[2385] “Velatâ specie.” There has been much discussion about the meaning of these words; and Sillig is of opinion that the figure was represented draped in a garment, which, while it seemed designed to hide the person, really exposed it to view. This dress would not improbably recommend it additionally to the inhabitants of Cos, who were skilled in making the _Coæ vestes_, garments which, while they covered the body, revealed its naked charms. See further mention of them in B. ix. c. 26.

[2386] Visconti thinks that a statue still preserved in the Royal Museum at Paris, is a copy of the Coan Venus. It has, however, a figure of Cupid associated with it, which, as Sillig observes, militates against the supposition.

[2387] The ancient writers abound in praises of this wonderful statue. Lucian, however, has given the most complete and artistic description of it. It was supposed by the ancients, to represent Venus as standing before Paris, when he awarded to her the prize of beauty; but it has been well remarked, that the drapery in the right hand, and the vase by the side of the figure, indicate that she has either just left or is about to enter the bath. The artist modelled it from Phryne, a courtesan or hetæra of Athens, of whom he was greatly enamoured. It was ultimately carried to Constantinople, where it perished by fire in the reign of Justinian. It is doubtful whether there are any copies of it in existence. There is, however, a so-called copy in the gardens of the Vatican, and another in the Glyptothek, at Munich. A Venus in the Museo Pio-Clementino, at Rome, is considered by Visconti and others to have been a copy of the Cnidian Venus, with the addition of drapery. It is supposed that Cleomenes, in making the Venus de Medici, imitated the Cnidian Venus in some degree.

[2388] There are numerous Epigrams in reference to this statue in the Greek Anthology; the most striking line in any of which is the beautiful Pentameter:

Φεῦ! φεῦ! ποῦ γυμνὴν εἶδε με Πραξιτέλης;

“Alas! where has Praxiteles me naked seen?”

[2389] Lucian, Valerius Maximus, and Athenæus, tell the same improbable story, borrowing it from Posidippus the historian.

[2390] Bacchus.

[2391] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2392] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2393] Pliny is mistaken here: for in the time of Cicero, as we find in Verr. 4, 2, 4, the Thespian Cupid was still at Thespiæ, in Bœotia, where it had been dedicated by Phryne, and was not removed to Rome till the time of the emperors. It was the Parian Cupid, originally made for the people of Parium, that, after coming into the possession of Heius, a rich Sicilian, was forcibly taken from him by Verres.

[2394] Where it was destroyed by fire in the reign of Titus. See B. xxxiv. c. 37.

[2395] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2396] Frantic Bacchantes.

[2397] Sacrificing Bacchantes.

[2398] The name given in architecture to figures of females employed as columns in edifices. The Spartans, on taking the city of Carya, in Laconia, massacred the male inhabitants, and condemned the females to the most bitter servitude, as “hewers of wood and drawers of water.” Hence the memorials of their servitude thus perpetuated in architecture.

[2399] Or companions of Bacchus. See B. xxxv. c. 36.

[2400] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2401] “Symplegma.”

[2402] Also mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2403] Pausanias, B. I., speaks of _three_ figures sculptured by Scopas; Erôs, Himeros, and Pothos. It is doubtful, however, whether they are identical with those here spoken of.

[2404] Or “Desire.” The name of “Phaëthon” is added in most of the editions, but Sillig rejects it as either a gloss, or a corruption of some other name.

[2405] “Campteras.” This, which is probably the true reading, has been restored by Sillig from the Bamberg MS. The καμπτὴρ was the bend or turning, round the goal in the race-course for chariots; and as Vesta was symbolical of the earth, these figures, Sillig thinks, probably represented the poles, as goals of the sun’s course.

[2406] Figures of Virgins, carrying on their heads baskets filled with objects consecrated to Minerva.

[2407] Dedicated to Neptune by Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus, in the Ninth Region of the City.

[2408] “Et” appears a preferable reading to the “aut” of the Bamberg MS.

[2409] “Hippocampi.” It is pretty clear that by this name he cannot mean the small fish so called in B. xxxii. cc. 20, 23, 27, 30, 35, 38, 50, and 53, and alluded to in B. ix. c. 1; the Syngnathus hippocampus of Linnæus.

[2410] A sea-divinity.

[2411] “Pistrices.” See B. ix. cc. 2, 3, 15.

[2412] Conqueror of Callæcia. See B. iv. c. 35. This temple was dedicated to Mars.

[2413] A statue of Apollo, Hardouin thinks, which was originally brought from Seleucia by C. Sosius, the quæstor of M. Lepidus. See B. xiii. c. 5.

[2414] Ajasson says that this work is identical with the group representing Niobe and her children, now at Florence. It was found in 1535, or, as some say, 1583, near the Lateran Gate at Rome; upon which, it was bought by Ferdinand de Medici, and placed in the park of one of his villas. More recently, the Emperor Leopold purchased it, and had it removed to Florence.

[2415] The Temple of Janus, in the Eighth Region of the City.

[2416] Probably by neither of them, as Janus was essentially an Italian Divinity. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. I.

[2417] See B. xxxv. c. 37.

[2418] A large upper garment, reaching to the ankles.

[2419] Both Liber and Libera were originally Italian Divinities, who presided over the vine and the fields. Pliny, however, always identifies the former with Bacchus, and other writers the latter with Persephone, or Proserpina, the daughter of Demeter or Ceres. Ovid, Fasti, B. iii. l. 512, calls Ariadne, “Libera.”

[2420] See B. xvi. c. 76.

[2421] A disciple of Marsyas, and a famous player on the flute. See p. 319.

[2422] All these figures have been found copied in the frescoes of Herculaneum.

[2423] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2424] It is doubtful whether this is the same artist that is mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2425] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2426] Hence, too, the use of the word “Mausoleum,” as meaning a splendid tomb.

[2427] He means, probably, the extent of the colonnade or screen which surrounded it. The Mausoleum was erected at Halicarnassus.

[2428] Facing east and west.

[2429] Or “wing.” The “ptera,” or “pteromata,” properly speaking, were the two wings at the sides of a building. See Note 2431 below.

[2430] She only survived her husband two years.

[2431] Another reading, and perhaps a preferable one, is “one hundred” feet. The account given by Pliny is very confused, and Littré has taken some pains to explain the construction of this building. He is of opinion that in the first place, a quadrangular main building was erected, 63 feet in length on the north and south, the breadth of the east and west faces being shorter, some 42 feet perhaps. Secondly, that there was a screen of 36 columns surrounding the main building, and 411 feet in circumference. (He adopts this reading in preference to the 440 feet of the Bamberg MS.) That the longer sides of this screen were 113.25 feet in extent, and the shorter 92.125 feet. That between the main building and this screen, or colonnade, there was an interval of 25.125 feet. Thirdly, that the colonnade and the main buildings were united by a vaulted roof, and that this union formed the “Pteron.” Fourthly, that rising from this Pteron, there was a quadrangular truncated pyramid, formed of twenty-four steps, and surmounted with a chariot of marble. This would allow, speaking in round numbers, 37½ feet for the height of the main body of the building, 37½ feet for the pyramid, and twenty-five feet for the height of the chariot and the figure which it doubtless contained.

[2432] Supposed to be the person alluded to by Horace, 1 Sat. 3, 90.

[2433] He is mentioned also by Tatian, and is supposed to have lived about the time of Alexander the Great.

[2434] “Charites.”

[2435] “Porch,” or “Vestibule” of the Citadel at Athens.

[2436] Mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 40. The present Socrates is identified by Pausanias, B. i. c. 22, and B. ix. c. 25, and by Diogenes Laertius, B. ii. c. 19, with the great Athenian philosopher of that name, son of the statuary Sophroniscus: but the question as to his identity is very doubtful. Diogenes Laertius adds, that whereas artists had previously represented the Graces naked, Socrates sculptured them with drapery.

[2437] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2438] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[2439] Or Muses of Thespiæ, in Bœotia.

[2440] There have been several distinguished sculptors, all of this name. A statuary, son of Apollodorus the Athenian, made the celebrated Venus de Medici. It is the opinion of Visconti and Thiersch, that the artist here mentioned flourished before the destruction of Corinth.

[2441] This name is doubtful, and nothing is known relative to the artist.

[2442] “Hippiades” is the old reading, which Dalechamps considers to mean “Amazons.” The Appiades were Nymphs of the Appian Spring, near the temple of Venus Genetrix, in the Forum of Julius Cæsar. See Ovid, Art. Am. B. i. l. 81, and B. iii. l. 451; and Rem. Am. l. 659.

[2443] From an inscription on a statue still extant, he is supposed to have been a pupil of Pasiteles, and consequently to have flourished about B.C. 25.

[2444] Figures in which the form and attributes of Hermes, or Mercury, and Eros, or Cupid, were combined, Hardouin thinks.

[2445] In B. xxxiii. c. 55.

[2446] In Caria: see B. v. c. 29.

[2447] Or “Xenias”—“Presiding over hospitality,” or “Protector of strangers.”

[2448] The story was, that Zethus and Amphion bound Dirce, queen of Thebes, to the flanks of an infuriated bull, in revenge for the death of their mother, Antiope, who had been similarly slain by her. This group is supposed still to exist, in part, in the “Farnese Bull,” which has been in a great measure restored. Winckelmann is of opinion, however, that the Farnese Bull is of anterior date to that here mentioned, and that it belongs to the school of Lysippus.

[2449] Probably a native of Rhodes. No further particulars of this artist appear to be known.

[2450] Bacchus.

[2451] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2452] A different person, probably, from the painter, mentioned in B. xxxv. c. 40.

[2453] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2454] Supposed by Sillig not to be the early statuary of Argos of that name, who flourished, probably, B.C. 476.

[2455] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2456] “Pasiteles” would appear to be a preferable reading; for Pliny would surely have devoted more space to a description of these works of Praxiteles.

[2457] The same artist that is previously mentioned, Sillig thinks.

[2458] Of Jupiter.

[2459] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2460] “Symplegma.” See Note 2401, page 314.

[2461] The first being in a stooping posture, washing herself.

[2462] In B. xxxiii. c. 55, and B. xxxiv. c. 18.

[2463] A sculptor of the age of Alexander the Great. He is also mentioned by Tatian. For an account of Callisthenes, see end of B. xii.

[2464] Winckelmann supposes that these artists lived in the time of Lysippus; but, as may be discovered from an attentive examination of the present passage, Lessing and Thiersch are probably right in considering them to have been contemporaries of the Emperor Titus. This group is generally supposed to have been identical with the Laocoön still to be seen in the Court of the Belvedere, in the Vatican at Rome; having been found, in 1506, in a vault beneath the spot known as the Place _de Sette Sale_, by Felix de Fredi, who surrendered it, in consideration of a pension, to Pope Julius II. The group, however, is not made of a _single_ block, which has caused some to doubt its identity: but it is not improbable, that when originally made, its joints were not perceptible to a common observer. The spot, too, where it was found was actually part of the palace of Titus. It is most probable that the artists had the beautiful episode of Laocoön in view, as penned by Virgil, Æn. B. II.; though Ajasson doubts whether they derived any inspiration from it. Laocoön, in the sublime expression of his countenance, is doing any thing, he says, but—

“Clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit.”

“Sending dire outcries to the stars of heaven.”

[2465] This was an ancient and hideous idol, probably. Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Plautus, Lactantius, Arnobius, and Isidorus, all concur in saying that it was Saturn in honour of whom human victims were immolated.

[2466] “Ad Nationes.” A portico built by Augustus, and adorned with statues representing various nations.

[2467] “Thespiades.” They were brought by Mummius from Thespiæ, in Bœotia. See B. xxxiv. c. 19, and Note 2439, above.

[2468] See B. xxxv. c. 45, and end of B. xxxiii.

[2469] Magna Græcia.

[2470] Built by Metellus Macedonicus.

[2471] “Navalia.” This was the name of certain docks at Rome, where ships were built, laid up, and refitted. They were attached to the Emporium, without the Trigeminian Gate, and were connected with the Tiber.

[2472] See B. xxxv. c. 45.

[2473] In the Ninth Region of the City. These figures are mentioned also by Suetonius, C. 46.

[2474] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.

[2475] A singular combination of names, as they mean “Lizard” and “Frog.” No further particulars of these artists are known, but they appear to have lived in the time of Pompey.

[2476] Of Juno and Apollo.

[2477] “Spiræ.” See Chapter 56 of this Book.

[2478] Winckelmann, in Vol. II. p. 269, of the _Monumenti Antichi ined._, gives the chapiter of an Ionic column, belonging to the church of San Lorenzo, without the walls, at Rome, on the volutes of which are represented a frog and a lizard.

[2479] The old reading is adopted here, in preference to that of the Bamberg MS., which does not appear reconcileable to sense in saying that _this_ temple of Jupiter was originally made in honour of Juno; for in _such case_ there could be no mistake in introducing the emblems of female worship.

[2480] A sculptor of Miletus. See B. vii. c. 21.

[2481] A Lacedæmonian artist. See B. vii. c. 21.

[2482] As well as that of Paros.

[2483] Only completed in the time of the Emperor Adrian.

[2484] Cebriones, the charioteer of Hector. See Il. B. xvi. l. 735.

[2485] See B. xxxiii. c. 23.

[2486] This is generally explained as meaning ordinary stone, but covered with elaborate paintings, as was then the practice in the magnificent villas that were built at Tibur, the modern Tivoli. See, however, Chapter 48, and Note 2784.

[2487] As applied to the decorations of the walls of houses.

[2488] This date does not agree with that given to Scopas, one of the artists who worked at the Mausoleum, in the early part of B. xxxiv. c. 19. Sillig, however, is inclined to think that there were _two_ artists named Scopas, and would thus account for the diversity of about seventy years between the dates.

[2489] See end of B. ii.

[2490] Owing to the liberality of Cæsar, he amassed great riches. He is repeatedly attacked by Catullus (Carm. xxix., xliii., lvii.), and accused of extortion, and other vices. Horace also speaks of him in terms of ridicule, I Sat. 5, 37.

[2491] See B. iv. c. 21.

[2492] See Chapter 4 of this Book.

[2493] The black marbles, Ajasson remarks, are comparatively rare. He is of opinion that the colour of the Lucullan marble was the _noir antique_ of the French, and says that it is to be found at Bergamo, Carrara, Prato in Tuscany, and near Spa in Belgium.

[2494] “Chios” is another reading.

[2495] “Thundering Jupiter.” This temple was built by Augustus.

[2496] Ajasson says that his remarks on the choice of the sand for this purpose, are very judicious.

[2497] A recommendation worse than useless, Ajasson remarks.

[2498] For this purpose, at the present day, granular corindon, or yellow emery, is used, as also a mixture composed of the oxides of lead and of tin; the substance being repeatedly moistened when applied.

[2499] See Chapters 13 and 43 of this Book.

[2500] A city in Crete where the stone was prepared for use.

[2501] “Cotes.”

[2502] Books III. IV. V. and VI.

[2503] The modern Ophite, both Noble, Serpentine, and Common.

[2504] From the Greek ὄφις, a “serpent.”

[2505] This would appear to be a kind of Apatite, or Augustite, found in crystalline rocks.

[2506] A superstition, owing solely to the name and appearance of the stone.

[2507] From the Greek τέφρα, “ashes.” The _modern_ Tephroite is a silicate of manganese.

[2508] Memphis, in Egypt.

[2509] A variety of the modern Porphyry, possibly; a compact feldspathic base, with crystals of feldspar. Ajasson refuses to identify it with porphyry, and considers it to be the stone called _Red antique_, of a deep uniform red, and of a very fine grain; which also was a production of Egypt.

[2510] “Small stone.”

[2511] Of porphyrites.

[2512] “Procurator.”

[2513] See B. xxxvi. c. 38. See also the Lydian stone, or touchstone, mentioned in B. xxxiii. c. 43.

[2514] From Βάσανος, a “touchstone.”

[2515] Philostratus gives a short account of this group, and copies of it are to be seen in the Vatican, and in the grounds of the Tuilleries.

[2516] See B. v. c. 10.

[2517] The Egyptians called it, not Memnon, but Amenophis, and it is supposed that it represented a monarch of the second dynasty. This is probably the statue still to be seen at Medinet Abou, on the Libyan side of the Nile, in a sitting posture, and at least 60 feet in height. The legs, arms, and other parts of the body are covered with inscriptions, which attest that, in the third century of the Christian era, the priests still practised upon the credulity of the devotees, by pretending that it emitted sounds. It may possibly have been erected for astronomical purposes, or for the mystic worship of the sun. The Greek name “Memnon” is supposed to have been derived from the Egyptian _Mei Amun_, “beloved of Ammon.”

[2518] Ajasson remarks that under this name the ancients meant, first, yellow calcareous Alabaster, and secondly, Chalcedony, unclassified.

[2519] See end of the present Book.

[2520] See B. vi. cc. 27, 28, 32.

[2521] “Variatum est.”

[2522] Ajasson thinks that these columns, in reality, were made, in both instances, of yellow jasper, or else yellow sardonyx, a compound of sard and chalcedony.

[2523] Erected A.U.C. 741.

[2524] See B. xxxiii. c. 47.

[2525] The reading here is doubtful, and it is questionable whether he considers the two stones as identical.

[2526] Probably calcareous Alabaster, Ajasson thinks. See B. xxxvii. c. 54.

[2527] See B. xiii. c. 3.

[2528] Plaster of Paris is made of gypsum or alabaster, heated and ground.

[2529] A feature both of jasper and of sardonyx.

[2530] By some persons it has been considered to be the same with the “lychnitis,” or white marble, mentioned in Chapter 4 of this Book. Ajasson is of opinion that it has not been identified.

[2531] Ajasson is in doubt whether this stone was really a marble or a gypsic alabaster. It received its name from the river Curalius or Coural, near which it was found; and it was also known as Sangaric marble. Ajasson thinks that the ancient milk-white marble, still found in Italy, and known to the dealers in antiquities as _Palombino_, may have been the “corallitic” stone. He also mentions the fine white marble known as _Grechetto_.

[2532] See B. v. c. 29. Sulphuret of manganese is now known as Alabandine; it is black, but becomes of a tarnished brown on exposure to the air. It is not improbable that this manganese was used for colouring glass, and that in Chapter 66 of this Book Pliny again refers to manganese when speaking of a kind of “magnet” or load-stone. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 237-8, _Bohn’s Edition_; who thinks, that in the present passage Pliny is speaking of a kind of marble. It is the fact, however, that Pyrolusite, or grey ore of manganese, is used, at a red heat, for discharging the brown and green tints of glass. See also B. xxxiv. c. 42, and the Note.

[2533] Syenite is the name still given to feldspar, hornblende, and quartz, passing into each other by insensible gradations, and resembling granite.

[2534] “Varied with red spots,” similar to our red granite.

[2535] “Obelisci.” So called from ὀβελισκὸς, a “small spit,” in consequence of their tapering form.

[2536] Meaning, probably, that in the Egyptian language, the same word is used as signifying a “spit” and a “ray” of light; for it is generally agreed that the word “obeliscus” is of Greek origin.

[2537] He does not appear to have been identified; and the correct reading is doubtful.

[2538] Heliopolis, or On. See B. v. c. 11.

[2539] These figures or hieroglyphics did not denote the _phonetic language_ of Egypt, but only formed a symbolical writing.

[2540] Perhaps the same as “Sesostris.” The former reading is “Sothis.”

[2541] Ajasson identifies him with Rameses III., a king of the eighteenth dynasty, who reigned B.C. 1561. This was also one of the names of Sesostris the Great.

[2542] The name of the bull divinity worshipped by the people of On, or Heliopolis; while by the people of Memphis it was known as Apis.

[2543] This, Hardouin says, was the same obelisk that was afterwards erected by Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, in the Circus Maximus at Rome; whence it was removed by Pope Sextus V., in the year 1588, to the Basilica of the Lateran.

[2544] This name is probably mutilated: there are about twenty different readings of it.

[2545] This name is also very doubtful. One reading is “Eraph,” and Hardouin attempts to identify him with the Pharaoh Hophra of Jeremiah, xliv. 30, the Ouafres of the Chronicle of Eusebius, and the Apries of Herodotus.

[2546] The Nectanabis, probably, of Plutarch, in his Life of Agesilaüs, and the Nectanebus of Nepos, in the Life of Chabrias.

[2547] Callixenus of Rhodes was a contemporary of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and was the author of a description of Alexandria, and of a catalogue of painters and sculptors.

[2548] Egyptian talents, probably. See. B. xxxiii. c. 15.

[2549] Evidently a stupendous monument, or rather aggregate of buildings, erected by Ptolemy II., Philadelphus, in memory of his wife and sister, Arsinoë. See B. xxxiv. c. 42.

[2550] Caligula.

[2551] See B. xvi. c. 76, and B. xxxv. c. 47.

[2552] Or Circus Maximus; in the Eleventh Region of the City. According to Kircher, it was this obelisk that Pope Sextus V. had disinterred, and placed before the church of the Madonna del Popolo.

[2553] There are sixteen various readings to this name.

[2554] Diogenes Laertius says that he arrived in Egypt in the reign of King Amasis.

[2555] Boscovich and Brotero would read here “_eighty-two_ feet and three quarters,” which is more in accordance with its height, as measured by Kircher.

[2556] After being long buried in ruins, it was disinterred, but not re-erected, by Pope Benedict XIV. When thus brought to light, it was found to be broken asunder. On it there was an inscription stating that the Emperor Augustus had “presented it to the Sun”—“Soli donum dedit.”

[2557] Twelve o’clock in the day.

[2558] After the summer solstice.

[2559] The one that is mentioned above as having been removed from Alexandria by Caligula.

[2560] This obelisk was transferred by Pope Sextus V. from the Circus Vaticanus to the place of the Cathedral of St. Peter.

[2561] So called because it was laid out on some gardens which had belonged to one Vaticanus.

[2562] Caligula.

[2563] There are nine or ten readings of this name. Bunsen suggests “Menophtheus,” the Egyptian king Meneph-Pthah.

[2564] In Egypt, probably.

[2565] Ajasson thinks that they were intended as places of sepulture for the kings, but for the concealment, also, of their treasures.

[2566] See B. v. c. 9.

[2567] In Chapter 19 of this Book.

[2568] See B. v. c. 9. Herodotus says that these pyramids were built by King Mœris, in the middle of the lake, towering fifty paces above the surface of the water. Diodorus Siculus says that they were built by him in honour of himself and his wife.

[2569] Or left-hand side to those coming down the stream. He alludes to the three great Pyramids of Ghizeh, not far from Cairo. There are numerous other pyramids to be seen in Egypt.

[2570] In B. v. c. 9.

[2571] It still exists, though the face is mutilated. It was disinterred from the sand by Belzoni, but is now again nearly covered. According to Cavaglia, the signature of the Historian Arrian was found inscribed on one of the fore-paws, when it was disinterred.

[2572] This reading is, perhaps, preferable to the LXI. s, (61½) of the Bamberg MS. The head and neck, when uncovered, were found to be 27 feet in height.

[2573] Built by King Cheops, according to Herodotus, B. ii.

[2574] All these writers are mentioned in the list of authors at the end of the present Book.

[2575] For the use of the workmen. There is, probably, no foundation for a statement so exact as this; as it would be very singular that such a fact should continue to be known, and the names of the builders be buried in oblivion.

[2576] According to modern measurement, the sides of its base measure at the foundation 763 feet 4 inches, and it occupies a space of more than 13 acres. Its perpendicular height is 480 feet.

[2577] Other readings are 883, and 783.

[2578] Differing very considerably from the modern measurement. These variations may possibly arise, however, from a large portion of the base being covered with sand.

[2579] It was entirely coated with marble from the Thebaid; which, however, was removed by the Arabs in the middle ages. In the vicinity there is a fourth pyramid, but of such small dimensions that some of the Egyptian obelisks exceed it in height.

[2580] “Nitrum.” See B. xxxi. c. 46.

[2581] From this reason being given, it would almost appear that these “bridges” in reality were aqueducts, for conveying the water, in order to melt the mounds of salt and nitre.

[2582] A very improbable story, as Ajasson remarks; as if the method of ascertaining the heights of edifices was unknown to the sages of Egypt, and the constructors of the Pyramids!

[2583] Herodotus, B. ii. cc. 134, 5, takes great pains to prove the absurdity of this story; and there is little doubt that the beautiful courtesan has been confounded with the equally beautiful Egyptian Queen, Nitocris, who is said by Julius Africanus and Eusebius to have built the third pyramid. As to the courtesan having been a fellow-slave of the fabulist, Æsop, it is extremely doubtful.

[2584] The greater harbour, there being two at Alexandria.

[2585] Ptolemy Lagus.