Chapter XX: Book XXXVI: The Natural History of Stones (2)

We must make some mention, too, however cursorily, of the Pyramids of Egypt, so many idle[2565] and frivolous pieces of ostentation of their resources, on the part of the monarchs of that country. Indeed, it is asserted by most persons, that the only motive for constructing them, was either a determination not to leave their treasures to their successors or to rivals that might be plotting to supplant them, or to prevent the lower classes from remaining unoccupied. There was great vanity displayed by these men in constructions of this description, and there are still the remains of many of them in an unfinished state. There is one to be seen in the Nome of Arsinoïtes;[2566] two in that of Memphites, not far from the Labyrinth, of which we shall shortly have to speak;[2567] and two in the place where Lake Mœris[2568] was excavated, an immense artificial piece of water, cited by the Egyptians among their wondrous and memorable works: the summits of the pyramids, it is said, are to be seen above the water.

The other three pyramids, the renown of which has filled the whole earth, and which are conspicuous from every quarter to persons navigating the river, are situate on the African[2569] side of it, upon a rocky sterile elevation. They lie between the city of Memphis and what we have mentioned[2570] as the Delta, within four miles of the river, and seven miles and a-half from Memphis, near a village known as Busiris, the people of which are in the habit of ascending them.

CHAP. 17.—THE EGYPTIAN SPHINX.

In front of these pyramids is the Sphinx,[2571] a still more wondrous object of art, but one upon which silence has been observed, as it is looked upon as a divinity by the people of the neighbourhood. It is their belief that King Harmaïs was buried in it, and they will have it that it was brought there from a distance. The truth is, however, that it was hewn from the solid rock; and, from a feeling of veneration, the face of the monster is coloured red. The circumference of the head, measured round the forehead, is one hundred and two feet, the length of the feet being one hundred and forty-three, and the height, from the belly to the summit of the asp on the head, sixty-two.[2572]

The largest[2573] Pyramid is built of stone quarried in Arabia: three hundred and sixty thousand men, it is said, were employed upon it twenty years, and the three were completed in seventy-eight years and four months. They are described by the following writers: Herodotus,[2574] Euhemerus, Duris of Samos, Aristagoras, Dionysius, Artemidorus, Alexander Polyhistor, Butoridas, Antisthenes, Demetrius, Demoteles, and Apion. These authors, however, are disagreed as to the persons by whom they were constructed; accident having, with very considerable justice, consigned to oblivion the names of those who erected such stupendous memorials of their vanity. Some of these writers inform us that fifteen hundred talents were expended upon radishes, garlic, and onions[2575] alone.

The largest Pyramid occupies seven[2576] jugera of ground, and the four angles are equidistant, the face of each side being eight hundred and thirty-three[2577] feet in length. The total height from the ground to the summit is seven hundred and twenty-five feet, and the platform on the summit is sixteen feet and a-half in circuit. Of the second Pyramid, the faces of the four sides are each seven hundred and fifty-seven feet and a-half in length.[2578] The third is smaller than the others, but far more prepossessing in appearance: it is built of Æthiopian stone,[2579] and the face between the four corners is three hundred and sixty-three feet in extent. In the vicinity of these erections, there are no vestiges of any buildings left. Far and wide there is nothing but sand to be seen, of a grain somewhat like a lentil in appearance, similar to that of the greater part of Africa, in fact.

The most difficult problem is, to know how the materials for construction could possibly be carried to so vast a height. According to some authorities, as the building gradually advanced, they heaped up against it vast mounds of nitre[2580] and salt; which piles were melted after its completion, by introducing beneath them the waters of the river. Others, again, maintain, that bridges were constructed, of bricks of clay, and that, when the pyramid was completed, these bricks were distributed for erecting the houses of private individuals. For[2581] the level of the river, they say, being so much lower, water could never by any possibility have been brought there by the medium of canals. In the interior of the largest Pyramid there is a well, eighty-six cubits deep, which communicates with the river, it is thought. The method of ascertaining the height of the Pyramids and all similar edifices was discovered[2582] by Thales of Miletus; he measuring the shadow at the hour of the day at which it is equal in length to the body projecting it.

Such are the marvellous Pyramids; but the crowning marvel of all is, that the smallest, but most admired of them—that we may feel no surprise at the opulence of the kings—was built by Rhodopis,[2583] a courtesan! This woman was once the fellow-slave of Æsopus the philosopher and fabulist, and the sharer of his bed; but what is much more surprising is, that a courtesan should have been enabled, by her vocation, to amass such enormous wealth.

CHAP. 18.—THE PHAROS.

There is another building, too, that is highly celebrated; the tower that was built by a king of Egypt, on the island of Pharos, at the entrance to the[2584] harbour of Alexandria. The cost of its erection was eight hundred talents, they say; and, not to omit the magnanimity that was shown by King Ptolemæus[2585] on this occasion, he gave permission to the architect, Sostratus[2586] of Cnidos, to inscribe his name upon the edifice itself. The object of it is, by the light of its fires at night, to give warning to ships, of the neighbouring shoals, and to point out to them the entrance of the harbour. At the present day, there are similar fires lighted up in numerous places, Ostia and Ravenna, for example. The only danger[2587] is, that when these fires are thus kept burning without intermission, they may be mistaken for stars, the flames having very much that appearance at a distance. This architect is the first person that built a promenade upon arches; at Cnidos, it is said.

CHAP. 19. (13.)—LABYRINTHS.

We must speak also of the Labyrinths, the most stupendous works, perhaps, on which mankind has expended its labours; and not for chimerical purposes, merely, as might possibly be supposed.

There is still in Egypt, in the Nome of Heracleopolites,[2588] a labyrinth,[2589] which was the first constructed, three thousand six hundred years ago, they say, by King Petesuchis or Tithöes: although, according to Herodotus, the entire work was the production of no less than twelve kings, the last of whom was Psammetichus. As to the purpose for which it was built, there are various opinions: Demoteles says that it was the palace of King Moteris, and Lyceas that it was the tomb of Mœris, while many others assert that it was a building consecrated to the Sun, an opinion which mostly prevails.

That Dædalus took this for the model of the Labyrinth which he constructed in Crete, there can be no doubt; though he only reproduced the hundredth part of it, that portion, namely, which encloses circuitous passages, windings, and inextricable galleries which lead to and fro. We must not, comparing this last to what we see delineated on our mosaic pavements, or to the mazes[2590] formed in the fields for the amusement of children, suppose it to be a narrow promenade along which we may walk for many miles together; but we must picture to ourselves a building filled with numerous doors, and galleries which continually mislead the visitor, bringing him back, after all his wanderings, to the spot from which he first set out. This[2591] Labyrinth is the second, that of Egypt being the first. There is a third in the Isle of Lemnos, and a fourth in Italy.

They are all of them covered with arched roofs of polished stone; at the entrance, too, of the Egyptian Labyrinth, a thing that surprises me, the building is constructed of Parian marble, while throughout the other parts of it the columns are of syenites.[2592] With such solidity is this huge mass constructed, that the lapse of ages has been totally unable to destroy it, seconded as it has been by the people of Heracleopolites, who have marvellously ravaged a work which they have always held in abhorrence. To detail the position of this work and the various portions of it is quite impossible, it being subdivided into regions and præfectures, which are styled nomes,[2593] thirty in number, with a vast palace assigned to each. In addition to these, it should contain temples of all the gods of Egypt, and forty statues of Nemesis[2594] in as many sacred shrines; besides numerous pyramids, forty ells[2595] in height, and covering six aruræ[2596] at the base. Fatigued with wandering to and fro, the visitor is sure to arrive at some inextricable crossing or other of the galleries. And then, too, there are banquetting rooms situate at the summit of steep ascents; porticos from which we descend by flights of ninety steps; columns in the interior, made of porphyrites;[2597] figures of gods; statues of kings; and effigies of hideous monsters. Some of the palaces are so peculiarly constructed, that the moment the doors are opened a dreadful sound like that of thunder reverberates within: the greater part, too, of these edifices have to be traversed in total darkness. Then again, without the walls of the Labyrinth, there rises another mass of buildings known as the “Pteron;”[2598] beneath which there are passages excavated leading to other subterranean palaces. One person, and only one, has made some slight repairs to the Labyrinth; Chæremon,[2599] an eunuch of King Necthebis, who lived five hundred years before the time of Alexander the Great. It is asserted, also, that while the arched roofs of squared stone were being raised, he had them supported by beams of thorn[2600] boiled in oil.

As for the Cretan Labyrinth, what I have already stated must suffice for that. The Labyrinth of Lemnos[2601] is similar to it, only that it is rendered more imposing by its hundred and fifty columns; the shafts of which, when in the stone-yard, were so nicely balanced, that a child was able to manage the wheel of the lathe in turning them. The architects were, Smilis,[2602] Rhœcus,[2603] and Theodorus, natives of the island, and there are still in existence some remains of it; whereas of the Cretan Labyrinth and of that in Italy not a vestige is left.

As to this last, which Porsena, King of Etruria, erected as his intended sepulchre, it is only proper that I should make some mention of it, if only to show that the vanity displayed by foreign monarchs, great as it is, has been surpassed. But as the fabulousness of the story connected with it quite exceeds all bounds, I shall employ the words given by M. Varro himself in his account of it:—“Porsena was buried,” says he, “beneath the city of Clusium;[2604] in the spot where he had had constructed a square monument, built of squared stone. Each side of this monument was three hundred feet in length and fifty in height, and beneath the base, which was also square, there was an inextricable labyrinth, into which if any one entered without a clew of thread, he could never find his way out. Above this square building there stand five pyramids, one at each corner, and one in the middle, seventy-five feet broad at the base, and one hundred and fifty feet in height. These pyramids are so tapering in their form, that upon the summit of all of them united there rests a brazen globe, and upon that a petasus;[2605] from which there hang, suspended by chains, bells, which make a tinkling when agitated by the wind, like what was done at Dodona[2606] in former times. Upon this globe there are four other pyramids, each one hundred feet in height; and above them is a single platform, on which there are five more pyramids,”[2607]—the height of which Varro has evidently felt ashamed to add; but, according to the Etruscan fables, it was equal to that of the rest of the building. What downright madness this, to attempt to seek glory at an outlay which can never be of utility to any one; to say nothing of exhausting the resources of the kingdom, and after all, that the artist may reap the greater share of the praise!

CHAP. 20.—HANGING GARDENS. A HANGING CITY.

We read, too, of hanging gardens,[2608] and what is even more than this, a hanging city,[2609] Thebes in Egypt: it being the practice for the kings to lead forth their armies from beneath, while the inhabitants were totally unconscious of it. This, too, is even less surprising than the fact that a river flows through the middle of the city. If, however, all this had really been the case, there is no doubt that Homer would have mentioned it, he who has celebrated the hundred gates of Thebes.

CHAP. 21. (14.)—THE TEMPLE OF DIANA AT EPHESUS.

The most wonderful monument of Græcian magnificence, and one that merits our genuine admiration, is the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, which took one hundred and twenty years in building, a work in which all Asia[2610] joined. A marshy soil was selected for its site, in order that it might not suffer from earthquakes, or the chasms which they produce. On the other hand, again, that the foundations of so vast a pile might not have to rest upon a loose and shifting bed, layers of trodden charcoal were placed beneath, with fleeces[2611] covered with wool upon the top of them. The entire length of the temple is four hundred and twenty-five feet, and the breadth two hundred and twenty-five. The columns are one hundred and twenty-seven in number, and sixty feet in height, each of them presented by a different king. Thirty-six of these columns are carved, and one of them by the hand of Scopas.[2612] Chersiphron[2613] was the architect who presided over the work.

The great marvel in this building is, how such ponderous architraves[2614] could possibly have been raised to so great a height. This, however, the architect effected by means of bags filled with sand, which he piled up upon an inclined plane until they reached beyond the capitals of the columns; then, as he gradually emptied the lower bags, the architraves[2615] insensibly settled in the places assigned them. But the greatest difficulty of all was found, in laying the lintel which he placed over the entrance-doors. It was an enormous mass of stone, and by no possibility could it be brought to lie level upon the jambs which formed its bed; in consequence of which, the architect was driven to such a state of anxiety and desperation as to contemplate suicide. Wearied and quite worn out by such thoughts as these, during the night, they say, he beheld in a dream the goddess in honour of whom the temple was being erected; who exhorted him to live on, for that she herself had placed the stone in its proper position. And such, in fact, next morning, was found to be the case, the stone apparently having come to the proper level by dint of its own weight. The other decorations of this work would suffice to fill many volumes, but they do not tend in any way to illustrate the works of Nature.

CHAP. 22. (15.)—MARVELS CONNECTED WITH OTHER TEMPLES.

There still exists, too, at Cyzicus,[2616] a temple of polished stone, between all the joints of which the artist has inserted a thread of gold; it being his intention to erect an ivory statue of Jupiter within, with Apollo in marble crowning him. The result is, that the interstices quite glisten with their fine, hair-like threads; and the reflection of the gold, obscured as it is, gently falling upon the statues, besides proclaiming the genius of the artist, heightens their effect, and so teaches us to appreciate the costliness of the work.

CHAP. 23.—THE FUGITIVE STONE. THE SEVEN-FOLD ECHO. BUILDINGS ERECTED WITHOUT THE USE OF NAILS.

In the same city also, there is a stone, known as the “Fugitive Stone;”[2617] the Argonautæ, who used it for the purposes of an anchor, having left it there. This stone having repeatedly taken flight from the Prytanæum,[2618] the place so called where it is kept, it has been fastened down with lead. In this city also, near the gate which is known as the “Trachia,”[2619] there are seven towers, which repeat a number of times all sounds that are uttered in them. This phenomenon, to which the name of “Echo,” has been given by the Greeks, depends upon the peculiar conformation of localities, and is produced in valleys more particularly. At Cyzicus, however, it is the effect of accident only; while at Olympia, it is produced by artificial means, and in a very marvellous manner; in a portico there, which is known as the “Heptaphonon,”[2620] from the circumstance that it returns the sound of the voice seven times.

At Cyzicus, also, is the Buleuterium,[2621] a vast edifice, constructed without a nail of iron; the raftering being so contrived as to admit of the beams being removed and replaced without the use of stays. A similar thing, too, is the case with the Sublician Bridge[2622] at Rome; and this by enactment, on religious grounds, there having been such difficulty experienced in breaking it down when Horatius Cocles”[2623] defended it.

CHAP. 24.—MARVELLOUS BUILDINGS AT ROME, EIGHTEEN IN NUMBER.

But it is now time to pass on to the marvels in building displayed by our own City, and to make some enquiry into the resources and experience that we have gained in the lapse of eight hundred years; and so prove that here, as well, the rest of the world has been outdone by us: a thing which will appear, in fact, to have occurred almost as many times as the marvels are in number which I shall have to enumerate. If, indeed, all the buildings of our City are considered in the aggregate, and supposing them, so to say, all thrown together in one vast mass, the united grandeur of them would lead one to suppose that we were describing another world, accumulated in a single spot.

Not to mention among our great works, the Circus Maximus, that was constructed by the Dictator Cæsar, one stadium in width and three in length, and occupying, with the adjacent buildings, no less than four jugera, with room for two hundred and sixty thousand spectators seated; am I not to include in the number of our magnificent constructions, the Basilica of Paulus,[2624] with its admirable Phrygian columns; the Forum of the late Emperor Augustus; the Temple of Peace, erected by the Emperor Vespasianus Augustus—some of the finest works that the world has ever beheld—the roofing, too, of the Vote-Office,[2625] that was built by Agrippa? not to forget that, before his time, Valerius of Ostia, the architect, had covered in a theatre at Rome, at the time of the public Games celebrated by Libo?[2626]

We behold with admiration pyramids that were built by kings, when the very ground alone, that was purchased by the Dictator Cæsar, for the construction of his Forum, cost one hundred millions of sesterces! If, too, an enormous expenditure has its attractions for any one whose mind is influenced by monetary considerations, be it known to him that the house in which Clodius dwelt, who was slain by Milo, was purchased by him at the price of fourteen million eight hundred thousand sesterces! a thing that, for my part, I look upon as no less astounding than the monstrous follies that have been displayed by kings. And then, as to Milo himself, the sums in which he was indebted, amounted to no less than seventy millions of sesterces; a state of things, to be considered, in my opinion, as one of the most portentous phænomena in the history of the human mind. But it was in those days, too, that old men still spoke in admiration of the vast proportions of the Agger,[2627] and of the enormous foundations of the Capitol; of the public sewers, too, a work more stupendous than any; as mountains had to be pierced for their construction, and, like the hanging city[2628] which we recently mentioned, navigation had to be carried on beneath Rome; an event which happened in the ædileship[2629] of M. Agrippa, after he had filled the office of consul.

For this purpose, there are seven rivers, made, by artificial channels, to flow beneath the city. Rushing onward, like so many impetuous torrents, they are compelled to carry off and sweep away all the sewerage; and swollen as they are by the vast accession of the pluvial waters, they reverberate against the sides and bottom of their channels. Occasionally, too, the Tiber, overflowing, is thrown backward in its course, and discharges itself by these outlets: obstinate is the contest that ensues within between the meeting tides, but so firm and solid is the masonry, that it is enabled to offer an effectual resistance. Enormous as are the accumulations that are carried along above, the work of the channels never gives way. Houses falling spontaneously to ruins, or levelled with the ground by conflagrations, are continually battering against them; the ground, too, is shaken by earthquakes every now and then; and yet, built as they were in the days of Tarquinius Priscus, seven hundred years ago, these constructions have survived, all but unharmed. We must not omit, too, to mention one remarkable circumstance, and all the more remarkable from the fact, that the most celebrated historians have omitted to mention it. Tarquinius Priscus having commenced the sewers, and set the lower classes to work upon them, the laboriousness and prolonged duration of the employment became equally an object of dread to them; and the consequence was, that suicide was a thing of common occurrence, the citizens adopting this method of escaping their troubles. For this evil, however, the king devised a singular remedy, and one that has never[2630] been resorted to either before that time or since: for he ordered the bodies of all who had been thus guilty of self-destruction, to be fastened to a cross, and left there as a spectacle to their fellow-citizens and a prey to birds and wild beasts. The result was, that that sense of propriety which so peculiarly attaches itself to the Roman name, and which more than once has gained a victory when the battle was all but lost, came to the rescue on this occasion as well; though for this once, the Romans were in reality its dupes, as they forgot that, though they felt shocked at the thoughts of such ignominy while alive, they would be quite insensible to any such disgrace when dead. It is said that Tarquinius made these sewers of dimensions sufficiently large to admit of a waggon laden with hay passing along them.

All that we have just described, however, is but trifling when placed in comparison with one marvellous fact, which I must not omit to mention before I pass on to other subjects. In the consulship[2631] of M. Lepidus and Q. Catulus, there was not at Rome, as we learn from the most trustworthy authors, a finer house than the one which belonged to Lepidus himself: and yet, by Hercules! within five-and-thirty years from that period, the very same house did not hold the hundredth rank even in the City! Let a person, if he will, in taking this fact into consideration, only calculate the vast masses of marble, the productions of painters, the regal treasures that must have been expended, in bringing these hundred mansions to vie with one that had been in its day the most sumptuous and the most celebrated in all the City; and then let him reflect how that, since that period, and down to the present time, these houses have all of them been surpassed by others without number. There can be no doubt that conflagrations are a punishment inflicted upon us for our luxury; but such are our habits, that in spite of such warnings as these, we cannot be made to understand that there are things in existence more perishable even than man himself.

But there are still two other mansions by which all these edifices have been eclipsed. Twice have we seen the whole City environed by the palaces of the Emperors Caius[2632] and Nero; that of the last, that nothing might be wanting to its magnificence, being coated with gold.[2633] Surely such palaces as these must have been intended for the abode of those who created this mighty empire, and who left the plough or their native hearth to go forth to conquer nations, and to return laden with triumphs! men, in fact, whose very fields even occupied less space than the audience-chambers[2634] of these palaces.

Indeed, one cannot but help reflecting how trifling a portion of these palaces was equal to the sites which the republic granted to its invincible generals, for the erection of their dwellings. The supreme honour, too, attendant upon these grants—as in the case of P. Valerius Publicola, the first consul with L. Brutus, for his many meritorious services; and of his brother, who twice in one consulship defeated the Sabines—was the permission granted, by the terms of the decree, to have the doors of their houses opening from without, and the gates thrown back upon the public street. Such was the most distinguished privilege accorded in those days to triumphal mansions even!

I will not permit, however, these two Caiuses,[2635] or two Neros, to enjoy this glory even, such as it is; for I will prove that these extravagant follies of theirs have been surpassed, in the use that was made of his wealth by M. Scaurus, a private citizen. Indeed, I am by no means certain that it was not the ædileship of this personage that inflicted the first great blow upon the public manners, and that Sylla was not guilty of a greater crime in giving such unlimited power to his step-son,[2636] than in the proscription of so many thousands. During his ædileship, and only for the temporary purposes of a few days, Scaurus executed the greatest[2637] work that has ever been made by the hands of man, even when intended to be of everlasting duration; his Theatre, I mean. This building consisted of three storeys, supported upon three hundred and sixty columns; and this, too, in a city which had not allowed without some censure one of its greatest citizens[2638] to erect six[2639] pillars of Hymettian marble. The ground-storey was of marble, the second of glass, a species of luxury which ever since that time has been quite unheard of, and the highest of gilded wood. The lowermost columns, as previously[2640] stated, were eight-and-thirty feet in height; and, placed between these columns, as already[2641] mentioned, were brazen statues, three thousand in number. The area[2642] of this theatre afforded accommodation for eighty thousand spectators; and yet the Theatre of Pompeius, after the City had so greatly increased, and the inhabitants had become so vastly more numerous, was considered abundantly large, with its sittings for forty thousand only. The rest of the fittings of it, what with Attalic[2643] vestments, pictures, and the other stage-properties,[2644] were of such enormous value that, after Scaurus had had conveyed to his Tusculan villa such parts thereof as were not required for the enjoyment of his daily luxuries, the loss was no less than three hundred millions of sesterces, when the villa was burnt by his servants in a spirit of revenge.

The consideration of such prodigality as this quite distracts my attention, and compels me to digress from my original purpose, in order to mention a still greater instance of extravagance, in reference to wood. C. Curio,[2645] who died during the civil wars, fighting on the side of Cæsar, found, to his dismay, that he could not, when celebrating the funeral games in honour of his father, surpass the riches and magnificence of Scaurus—for where, in fact, was to be found such a stepsire as Sylla, and such a mother as Metella, that bidder at all auctions for the property of the proscribed? Where, too, was he to find for his father, M. Scaurus, so long the principal man in the city, and one who had acted, in his alliance with Marius, as a receptacle for the plunder of whole provinces?—Indeed, Scaurus himself was now no longer able to rival himself; and it was at least one advantage which he derived from this destruction by fire of so many objects brought from all parts of the earth, that no one could ever after be his equal in this species of folly. Curio, consequently, found himself compelled to fall back upon his own resources, and to think of some new device of his own. It is really worth our while to know what this device was, if only to congratulate ourselves upon the manners of the present day, and to reverse the ordinary mode of expression, and term ourselves the men of the olden time.[2646]

He caused to be erected, close together, two theatres of very large dimensions, and built of wood, each of them nicely poised, and turning on a pivot. Before mid-day, a spectacle of games was exhibited in each; the theatres being turned back to back, in order that the noise of neither of them might interfere with what was going on in the other. Then, in the latter part of the day, all on a sudden, the two theatres were swung round, and, the corners uniting, brought face to face; the outer frames,[2647] too, were removed, and thus an amphitheatre was formed, in which combats of gladiators were presented to the view; men whose safety was almost less compromised than was that of the Roman people, in allowing itself to be thus whirled round from side to side. Now, in this case, which have we most reason to admire, the inventor or the invention? the artist, or the author of the project? him who first dared to think of such an enterprize, or him who ventured to undertake it? him who obeyed the order, or him who gave it? But the thing that surpasses all is, the frenzy that must have possessed the public, to take their seats in a place which must of necessity have been so unsubstantial and so insecure. Lo and behold! here is a people that has conquered the whole earth, that has subdued the universe, that divides the spoils of kingdoms and of nations, that sends its laws to foreign lands, that shares in some degree the attributes of the immortal gods in common with mankind, suspended aloft in a machine, and showering plaudits even upon its own peril!

This is indeed holding life cheap; and can we, after this, complain of our disasters at Cannæ? How vast the catastrophe that might have ensued! When cities are swallowed up by an earthquake, it is looked upon by mankind as a general calamity; and yet, here have we the whole Roman people, embarked, so to say, in two ships, and sitting suspended on a couple of pivots; the grand spectacle being its own struggle with danger, and its liability to perish at any moment that the overstrained machinery may give way! And then the object, too, of all this—that public favour may be conciliated for the tribune’s[2648] harangues at a future day, and that, at the Rostra, he may still have the power of shaking the tribes, nicely balanced[2649] as they are! And really, what may he not dare with those who, at his persuasion, have braved such perils as these? Indeed, to confess the truth, at the funeral games celebrated at the tomb of his father, it was no less than the whole Roman people that shared the dangers of the gladiatorial combats. When the pivots had now been sufficiently worked and wearied, he gave another turn to his magnificent displays. For, upon the last day, still preserving the form of the amphitheatre, he cut the stage in two through the middle, and exhibited a spectacle of athletes; after which, the stage being suddenly withdrawn on either side, he exhibited a combat, upon the same day, between such of the gladiators as had previously proved victorious. And yet, with all this, Curio was no king, no ruler of the destinies of a nation, nor yet a person remarkable for his opulence even; seeing that he possessed no resources of his own, beyond what he could realize from the discord between the leading men.[2650]

But let us now turn our attention to some marvels which, justly appreciated, may be truthfully pronounced to remain unsurpassed. Q. Marcius Rex,[2651] upon being commanded by the senate to repair the Appian[2652] Aqueduct, and those of the Anio[2653] and Tepula,[2654] constructed during his prætorship a new aqueduct,[2655] which bore his name, and was brought hither by a channel pierced through the sides of mountains. Agrippa,[2656] in his ædileship, united the Marcian with the Virgin[2657] Aqueduct, and repaired and strengthened the channels of the others. He also formed seven hundred wells, in addition to five hundred fountains, and one hundred and thirty reservoirs, many of them magnificently adorned. Upon these works, too, he erected three hundred statues of marble or bronze, and four hundred marble columns; and all this in the space of a single year! In the work[2658] which he has written in commemoration of his ædileship, he also informs us that public games were celebrated for the space of fifty-nine days, and that one hundred and seventy gratuitous baths were opened. The number of these last at Rome, has increased to an infinite[2659] extent since his time.

The preceding aqueducts, however, have all been surpassed by the costly work which was more recently commenced by the Emperor Caius,[2660] and completed by Claudius. Under these princes, the Curtian and Cærulean Waters, with the New Anio,[2661] were brought from a distance of forty miles, and at so high a level that all the hills were supplied with water, on which the City is built. The sum expended on these works was three hundred and fifty millions of sesterces. If we only take into consideration the abundant supply of water to the public, for baths, ponds, canals, household purposes, gardens, places in the suburbs, and country-houses; and then reflect upon the distances that are traversed, the arches that have been constructed, the mountains that have been pierced, the valleys that have been levelled, we must of necessity admit that there is nothing to be found more worthy of our admiration throughout the whole universe.

Among the most memorable works, too, I, for my own part, should include another undertaking of the Emperor Claudius, although it was afterwards abandoned in consequence of the hatred borne him by his successor;[2662] I mean the channel that was cut through a mountain as an emissary for Lake Fucinus;[2663] a work which cost a sum beyond all calculation, and employed a countless multitude of workmen for many years. In those parts where the soil was found to be terreous, it was necessary to pump up the water by the aid of machinery; in other parts, again, the solid rock had to be hewn through. All this, too, had to be done in the midst of darkness within; a series of operations which can only be adequately conceived by those who were witnesses of them, and which no human language can possibly describe.

I pass in silence the harbour that has been formed at Ostia; the various roads, too, that have been cut across mountains; the Tyrrhenian Sea separated by an embankment from Lake Lucrinus;[2664] and vast numbers of bridges constructed at an enormous expense. Among the many other marvels, too, of Italy, we are informed by Papirius Fabianus, a most diligent enquirer into the operations of Nature, that the marble there grows in the quarries; and those who work in the quarries assure us that the wounds thus inflicted upon the mountains fill up spontaneously. If such is the fact, luxury has good grounds for hoping that it will never be at a loss for a supply of materials for its gratification.

CHAP. 25. (16.)—THE MAGNET: THREE REMEDIES

Upon quitting the marbles to pass on to the other more remarkable stones, who can for a moment doubt that the magnet[2665] will be the first to suggest itself? For what, in fact, is there endowed with more marvellous properties than this? or in which of her departments has Nature displayed a greater degree of waywardness? She had given a voice to rocks, as already[2666] mentioned, and had enabled them to answer man, or rather, I should say, to throw back his own words in his teeth. What is there in existence more inert than a piece of rigid stone? And yet, behold! Nature has here endowed stone with both sense and hands. What is there more stubborn than hard iron? Nature has, in this instance, bestowed upon it both feet and intelligence. It allows itself, in fact, to be attracted by the magnet, and, itself a metal which subdues all other elements, it precipitates itself towards the source of an influence at once mysterious and unseen. The moment the metal comes near it, it springs towards the magnet, and, as it clasps it, is held fast in the magnet’s embraces. Hence it is that this stone is sometimes known by the name of “sideritis;”[2667] another name given to it being “heraclion.”[2668] It received its name “magnes,” Nicander informs us, from the person who was the first to discover it, upon Ida.[2669] It is found, too, in various other countries, as in Spain, for example. Magnes, it is said, made this discovery, when, upon taking his herds to pasture, he found that the nails of his shoes and the iron ferrel of his staff adhered to the ground.

Sotacus[2670] describes five[2671] different kinds of magnet; the Æthiopian magnet; that of Magnesia, a country which borders on Macedonia, and lies to the right of the road which leads from, the town of Bœbe to Iolcos; a third, from Hyettus in Bœotia; a fourth, from Alexandria in Troas; and a fifth, from Magnesia in Asia. The leading distinction in magnets is the sex, male and female,[2672] and the next great difference in them is the colour. Those of Magnesia, bordering on Macedonia, are of a reddish black; those of Bœotia are more red than black; and the kind that is found in Troas is black, of the female sex, and consequently destitute of attractive power. The most inferior, however, of all, are those of Magnesia in Asia: they are white, have no attractive influence on iron, and resemble pumice in appearance. It has been found by experience, that the more nearly the magnet approaches to an azure colour, the better it is in quality. The Æthiopian magnet is looked upon as the best of all, and is purchased at its weight in silver: Zmiris in Æthiopia is the place where it is found, such being the name of a region there, covered with sand.

In the same country, too, the magnet called “hæmatites”[2673] is found, a stone of a blood-red colour, and which, when bruised, yields a tint like that of blood, as also of saffron. The hæmatites has not the same property[2674] of attracting iron that the ordinary magnet has. The Æthiopian magnet is recognized by this peculiarity, that it has the property, also, of attracting other magnets to it.[2675] All these minerals are useful as ingredients in ophthalmic preparations, in certain proportions according to the nature of each: they are particularly good, too, for arresting defluxions of the eyes. Triturated in a calcined state, they have a healing effect upon burns.

In Æthiopia, too, not far from Zmiris, there is a mountain in which the stone called “theamedes”[2676] is found, a mineral which repels and rejects all kinds of iron. Of the attractive and repulsive properties of iron, we have spoken[2677] more than once.

CHAP. 26.—STONE OF SCYROS.

In the Isle of Scyros[2678] there is a stone,[2679] they say, which floats upon water when whole, but which falls to the bottom when broken into fragments.

CHAP. 27. (17.)—SARCOPHAGUS, OR STONE OF ASSOS: TEN REMEDIES.

At Assos in Troas, there is found a stone of a laminated texture, called “sarcophagus.”[2680] It is a well-known fact, that dead bodies, when buried in this stone, are consumed in the course of forty days, with the sole exception of the teeth. According to Mucianus, too, mirrors, body-scrapers, garments, and shoes, that have been buried with the dead, become transformed into stone. In Lycia, and in the East, there are certain stones of a similar nature, which, when attached to the bodies of the living even, corrode the flesh.

CHAP. 28.—CHERNITES.

Less active in its properties is chernites,[2681] a stone which preserves bodies without consuming them, and strongly resembles ivory in appearance: the body of King Darius, they say, was buried in it. The stone that is known as “porus,”[2681] is similar to Parian marble in hardness and whiteness, but is not so heavy. Theophrastus mentions also a transparent stone that is found in Egypt, and is similar to stone of Chios in appearance; it is by no means improbable that it may have existed in his time, for stones, we know, disappear, and new kinds are discovered. The stone of Assos,[2682] which is saltish to the taste, modifies the attacks of gout, the feet being placed in a vessel made of it for the purpose; in addition to which, in the quarries of this stone, all maladies of the legs disappear, whereas, in mines in general, the legs become affected with disease. “Flower of stone of Assos” is the name given to a soft stone which crumbles into dust, and is found very efficacious in some cases; it resembles red pumice in appearance. In combination with Cyprian wax, this stone is curative of affections of the mamillæ; and, employed with pitch or resin, it disperses scrofulous sores and inflammatory tumours. Used in the form of an electuary, it is good for phthisis, and, with honey, it causes old sores to cicatrize, and consumes proud flesh. It is used, also, for the cure of wounds of an obstinate nature inflicted by animals, and acts as a desiccative upon suppurations. Plaisters, too, are made of it for gout, bean-meal being incorporated with it for the purpose.

CHAP. 29. (18.)—OSSEOUS STONES. PALM STONES. CORANI. BLACK STONES.

Theophrastus and Mucianus are of opinion that there are certain stones which bring[2683] forth other stones. Theophrastus states, also, that a fossil[2684] ivory is found, both white and black; that the earth, too, produces bones, and that osseous[2685] stones are sometimes found. In the vicinity of Munda in Spain, the place where the Dictator Cæsar defeated Pompeius,[2686] there are stones found, which, when broken asunder, bear the impression of palm leaves.[2687]

There are some black stones, also, which are held in much the same esteem as the marbles; the Tænarian[2688] stone, for example. Varro says that the black stone of Africa is more durable than that of Italy; while, on the other hand, the white corani[2689] are harder than Parian marble. He states, also, that the silex of Luna admits of being cut with a saw; that that of Tusculum decrepitates in the fire; that the tawny silex of the Sabine districts, with the addition of oil, will yield a flame even; and that, at Volsinii, molar stones[2690] for grinding are found. Among the prodigies that have happened, I find mention made of millstones that have moved of themselves,

CHAP. 30.—MOLAR STONES. PYRITES; SEVEN REMEDIES.

In no country are the molar stones[2691] superior to those of Italy; stones, be it remembered, and not fragments of rock: there are some provinces, too, where they are not to be found at all. Some stones of this class are softer than others, and admit of being smoothed with the whetstone, so as to present all the appearance, at a distance, of ophites.[2692] There is no stone of a more durable nature than this; for in general, stone, like wood, suffers from the action, more or less, of rain, heat, and cold. Some kinds, again, become deteriorated by the action of the moon, while others are apt to contract a rust in lapse of time, or to change their white colour when steeped in oil.

(19.) Some persons give this molar stone the name of “pyrites,”[2693] from the circumstance that it has a great affinity to fire;[2694] but there is also another kind of pyrites, of a more porous nature, and another,[2695] again, which resembles copper. This last, it is said, is found in the mines, near Acamas,[2696] in the Isle of Cyprus; one variety of it being of a silver, another of a golden, colour. There are various methods of melting these stones, some persons fusing them twice, or three times even, in honey, till all the liquid has evaporated; while others, again, calcine them upon hot coals, and, after treating them with honey, wash them like copper.

The medicinal properties which these minerals possess are of a calorific, desiccative, dispersive, and resolvent nature, and, applied topically, they case indurations to suppurate. They are employed also, in a crude state and pulverized, for the cure of scrofulous sores and boils. Some writers mention another kind of pyrites also. Those among them have the greatest affinity to fire which we distinguish as “live”[2697] pyrites. They are the most ponderous of all, and are found remarkably useful for advance-guards when laying out encampments; for, on being struck with a nail or any other kind of stone, they emit a spark, which, received upon sulphur, dried fungus,[2698] or leaves, produces a fire almost sooner than it could be named.

CHAP. 31.—OSTRACITES; FOUR REMEDIES. AMIANTHUS; TWO REMEDIES.

The several varieties of ostracites[2699] bear a resemblance to shells. They are used by way of substitute for pumice-stone, for smoothing the skin. Taken in drink, they arrest discharges of blood; and, applied topically with honey, they are curative of ulcerations and pains in the mamillæ.

Amianthus[2700] resembles alumen[2701] in appearance, and suffers no diminution from the action of fire. This substance effectually counteracts all noxious spells, those wrought by magicians in particular.

CHAP. 32.—GEODES; THREE REMEDIES.

Geodes[2702] is so called from its formation, it containing earth within. It is remarkably beneficial for the eyes, and is used for the cure of diseases of the testes and mamillæ.

CHAP. 33.—MELITINUS; SIX REMEDIES.

The stone called “melitinus”[2703] yields a liquid that is sweet, like honey. Bruised and incorporated with wax, it is curative of pituitous eruptions, spots upon the skin, and ulcerations of the fauces. It removes epinyctis[2704] also, and, applied as a pessary, in wool, it alleviates pains in the uterus.

CHAP. 34.—GAGATES: SIX REMEDIES.

Gagates[2705] is a stone, so called from Gages, the name of a town and river in Lycia.[2706] It is asserted, too, that at Leucolla[2707] the sea throws it up, and that it is found over a space twelve stadia in extent. It is black, smooth, light, and porous, differs but little from wood in appearance,[2708] is of a brittle texture, and emits a disagreeable odour[2709] when rubbed. Marks made upon pottery with this stone cannot be effaced. When burnt, it gives out a sulphureous smell; and it is a singular fact, that the application of water ignites it, while that of oil quenches it.[2710] The fumes of it, burnt, keep serpents at a distance, and dispel hysterical affections: they detect a tendency also to epilepsy,[2711] and act as a test of virginity.[2712] A decoction of this stone in wine is curative of tooth-ache; and, in combination with wax, it is good for scrofula. The magicians, it is said, make use of gagates in the practice of what they call axinomancy;[2713] and they assure us that it will be sure not to burn, if the thing is about to happen as the party desires.

CHAP. 35.—SPONGITES: TWO REMEDIES.

The stone called “spongites” is found in sponges, and is a marine formation. By some persons it is called “tecolithos,”[2714] from the circumstance that it is curative of affections of the bladder. Taken in wine, it breaks and disperses urinary calculi.

CHAP. 36.—PHRYGIAN STONE.

Phrygian stone is so called from the country which produces it, and is a porous mass like pumice. It is first saturated with wine, and then calcined, the fire being kept up with the bellows till the stone is brought to a red heat; which done, it is quenched in sweet wine. This operation is repeated three times. The only use made of it is for dyeing cloths.[2715]

CHAP. 37. (20.)—HÆMATITES: FIVE REMEDIES. SCHISTOS: SEVEN REMEDIES.

Schistos and hæmatites[2716] have a certain affinity between them. The latter is found in mines, and, when burnt, has just the colour[2717] of minium.[2718] It is calcined in the same manner as Phrygian stone, but is not quenched in wine. Adulterations of it are detected by the appearance of red veins in it, and by its comparative friability. It is marvellously useful as an application for bloodshot eyes, and, taken internally, it acts as a check upon female discharges. To patients vomiting blood, it is administered in combination with pomegranate-juice. It is very efficacious also for affections of the bladder; and it is taken with wine for the cure of wounds inflicted by serpents. In all those cases the stone called “schistos”[2719] is efficacious, though not in so high a degree as the other; the most serviceable being that which resembles saffron in colour. Applied with woman’s milk, it is particularly useful for arresting discharges from the corners of the eyes,[2720] and it is also very serviceable for reducing procidence of those organs. Such, at least, is the opinion of the authors who have most recently written on the subject.

CHAP. 38.—ÆTHIOPIC HÆMATITES. ANDRODAMAS; TWO REMEDIES. ARABIAN HÆMATITES. MILTITES OR HEPATITES. ANTHRACITES.

Sotacus, one of the most ancient writers, says, that there are five kinds of hæmatites, in addition to the magnet[2721] so called. He gives the preference among them to that of Æthiopia,[2722] a very useful ingredient in ophthalmic preparations and the compositions which he calls “panchresta,”[2723] and good for the cure of burns. The second, he says, is called “androdamas,”[2724] of a black[2725] colour, remarkable for its weight and hardness, to which it owes its name, in fact, and found in Africa more particularly. It attracts silver, he says, copper, and iron, and is tested with a touchstone made of basanites.[2726] It yields a liquid the colour of blood, and is an excellent remedy for diseases of the liver. The third kind that he mentions is the hæmatites[2727] of Arabia, a mineral of equal hardness, and which with difficulty yields, upon the water-whetstone, a liquid sometimes approaching the tint of saffron. The fourth[2728] kind, he says, is known as “hepatites,”[2729] while raw, and as “miltites”[2730] when calcined; a substance good for burns, and more efficacious than rubrica[2731] for all the purposes for which that mineral is employed. The fifth[2732] variety is schistos; a substance which, taken internally, arrests hæmorrhoidal discharges. Upon the same authority, it is recommended to take any kind of hæmatites, fasting, in doses of three drachmæ, triturated in oil, for affections of the blood.[2733]

The same author mentions also a kind of schistos which has no affinity to hæmatites, and to which he gives the name of “anthracites.”[2734] It is a native of Africa, he says, and is of a black colour. When rubbed upon a water-whetstone, it yields a black colour on the side which has adhered to the earth, and, on the opposite side, a saffron tint. He states also that it is a useful ingredient in ophthalmic preparations.

CHAP. 39. (21)—AËTITES. TAPHIUSIAN STONE. CALLIMUS.

The stone called aëtites[2735] has a great reputation, in consequence of the name which it bears. It is found in the nests of eagles, as already mentioned in our Tenth Book.[2736] There are always two of these stones found together, they say, a male stone and a female; and without them, it is said, the various eagles that we have described would be unable to propagate. Hence it is, too, that the young of the eagle are never more than two in number. There are four varieties of the aëtites: that of Africa is soft and diminutive, and contains in the interior—in its bowels as it were—a sweet, white, argillaceous earth. It is friable, and is generally thought to be of the female sex. The male stone, on the other hand, which is found in Arabia, is hard, and similar to a nut-gall in appearance; or else of a reddish hue, with a hard stone in the interior. The third kind is a stone found in the Isle of Cyprus, and resembles those of Africa in appearance, but is larger and flat, while the others are of a globular form: it contains a sand within, of a pleasing colour, and mixed with small stones; being so soft itself as to admit of being crushed between the fingers.