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with women making bargains, great burdens carried across on men’s
shoulders, who move along slipping at every step and tottering
beneath their load; with numberless other subjects of a similar
nature, redolent of mirth and of the most amusing ingenuity. It was
this artist, too, who first decorated our uncovered edifices or
promenades with representations of maritime cities,—a subject
which produces a very pleasing effect at a comparatively trifling cost.

There have been some women painters also. Timarete, the daughter
of Micon, painted a Diana at Ephesus, one of the very oldest panel-
paintings known. Irene, daughter and pupil of the artist Cratinus,
painted a figure of a girl, now at Eleusis, a Calypso, an Aged Man,
the juggler Theodorus, and Alcisthenes the dancer. 313
Aristarete, daughter and pupil of Nearchus, painted an
Æsculapius. Iaia of Cyzicus, who always remained single, painted at
Rome, in the youth of Varro, both with the brush, and with the
graver, upon ivory, her subjects being female portraits mostly. At
Naples, there is a large picture by her, the portrait of an Old Woman;
as also a portrait of herself taken by the aid of a mirror. There was
no painter superior to her for expedition; while at the same time her
artistic skill was such, that her works sold at much higher prices than
those of the most celebrated portrait-painters of her day, Sopolis and
Dionysius, with whose pictures our galleries are filled.

But as for fame, that has been reserved solely for the artists who
have painted pictures; which gives us all the more reason to
venerate the prudence displayed by the men of ancient times. For
with them, it was not the practice to decorate the walls of houses,
for the gratification of the owners only; nor did they lavish all their
resources upon a dwelling which must of necessity always remain a
fixture in one spot, and admit of no removal in case of conflagration.
Protogenes was content with a cottage in his little garden; Apelles
had no paintings on the plaster of his walls; it not being the fashion
in their day to color the party-walls of houses from top to bottom.
With all those artists, art was ever watchful for the benefit of whole
cities only, and in those times a painter was regarded as the
common property of all.
 CHAPTER XVII.
THE INVENTORS OF THE ART OF MODELLING.

On painting we have now said enough, and more than enough; but
it will be only proper to append some accounts of the plastic art.
Butades, a potter of Sicyon, was the first who invented, at 314
Corinth, the art of modelling portraits in the earth which he
used in his trade. He made the discovery through his daughter, who,
being deeply in love with a young man about to depart on a long
journey, traced the profile of his face, as thrown upon the wall by
the light of the lamp. Upon seeing this, her father filled in the
outline, by compressing clay upon the surface, and so made a face
in relief, which he then hardened by fire along with other articles of
pottery.

Butades invented the method of coloring plastic compositions, by

adding red earth to the material, or else modelling them in red
chalk: he, too, was the first to make masks on the outer edges of
gutter-tiles upon the roofs of buildings; in low relief, and in high
relief. In these designs in terra cotta the ornaments on the
pediments of temples originated.

The first person who expressed the human features by fitting a

mould of plaster upon the face, and then improving it by pouring
melted wax into the cast, was Lysistratus of Sicyon, brother of
Lysippus, already mentioned. He first made it his study to give a
faithful likeness; for before his time, artists only thought how to
make their portraits as handsome as possible. The same artist, too,
was the first who thought of making models for his statues; a
method which afterwards became so universally adopted, that there
could be neither figure nor statue made without its model in clay.
The art of modelling in clay thus appears to be more ancient than
that of moulding in bronze.
The most celebrated modellers were Damophilus and Gorgasus, who
were painters as well. These artists adorned with their works, in
both kinds, the Temple of Ceres, in the Circus Maximus at Rome,
with an inscription in Greek, which stated that the decorations on
the right-hand were the workmanship of Damophilus, and those on
the left, of Gorgasus. Varro says that, before the construction of this
temple, everything was Tuscan in the temples; and that, when the
temple was afterwards repaired, the painted coatings of the walls
were cut away in tablets and enclosed in frames, but that the 315
figures on the pediments were dispersed. Chalcosthenes
executed at Athens some works in unbaked earth, on the spot
which, from his manufactory, has since obtained the name of
“Ceramicus.”

Varro states that he knew an artist at Rome, Possis by name, who

executed fruit, grapes, and fish, with such exactness, that it was
quite impossible, by looking at them, to distinguish them from the
reality. He speaks very highly also of Arcesilaüs, who was on terms
of intimacy with Lucius Lucullus, and whose models in plaster used
to sell at a higher rate, among artists themselves, than the works of
others. He informs us, also, that the Venus Genetrix in the Forum of
Cæsar was executed by this modeller, and erected before
completion, in the great haste that there was to consecrate it. The
same artist had made an agreement with Lucullus to execute a
figure of Felicity, at the price of sixty thousand sesterces, the
completion of which was prevented by the latter’s death; and
Octavius, a Roman of equestrian rank, being desirous of a model for
a mixing-bowl, Arcesilaüs made him one in plaster, at the price of
one talent.
 CHAPTER XVIII.
WORKS IN POTTERY.

At Rome, and in our municipal towns, we still see many pediments

of temples, wonderful for their workmanship, artistic merit and long
duration, more deserving of our respect than gold, and certainly far
less baneful. At the present day, even, in the midst of such wealth as
we possess, we make our first libation at the sacrifice, not from
murrhine vases or vessels of crystal, but from ladles made of
earthenware.

Bounteous beyond expression is the earth, if we consider in 316

detail her various gifts. To omit all mention of the cereals,
wine, fruits, herbs, shrubs, medicaments, and metals, bounties
which she has lavished upon us, and which have already passed
under our notice, her productions in the shape of pottery alone
would more than suffice, in their variety, to satisfy our domestic
wants; there are gutter-tiles of earthenware, vats for receiving wine,
pipes for conveying water, conduits for supplying baths, baked tiles
for roofs, bricks for foundations, and the productions of the potter’s
wheel; results, all of them, of an art, which induced King Numa to
establish, as a seventh college, or association, that of the makers of
earthenware.

Many have chosen to be buried in coffins of earthenware. There was

Varro himself, who was interred, in true Pythagorean style, in the
midst of leaves of myrtle, olive, and black poplar; indeed, the
greater part of mankind make use of earthen vases for this purpose.
For the service of the table, the Samian pottery is even yet held in
high esteem; and that of Arretium in Italy maintains its high
character; while for their cups, and for those only, the manufactories
of Surrentum, Asta, Pollentia, Saguntum in Spain, and Pergamus in
Asia, are greatly esteemed.
The city of Tralles in Asia, and Mutina in Italy, have their respective
manufactures of earthenware, and are rendered famous by their
productions from the potter’s wheel, now known to all countries, and
conveyed by sea and by land to every quarter of the earth. In a
temple at Erythræ are still shown two amphoræ, that were
consecrated in consequence of the singular thinness of the material:
they originated in a contest between a master and his pupil, which
of the two could make earthenware of the greatest thinness. The
vessels of Cos are the most highly celebrated for their beauty, but
those of Adria are considered the most substantial.

Coponius was condemned for bribery, because he presented 317

a voter with an amphora of wine. To make luxury conduce in
some degree to enhance our estimation of earthenware,
[241]
“tripatinium,” as we learn from Fenestella, was the name given
to the most exquisite course of dishes that was served up at the
Roman banquets. It consisted of one dish of murænæ, one of lupi,
and a third of a mixture of fish. It is clear that the public manners
were then already on the decline; though we still have a right to
hold them preferable to those of the philosophers even of Greece,
seeing that the representatives of Aristotle, it is said, sold, at the
auction of his goods, as many as seventy dishes of earthenware. It
has been already stated by us, when on the subject of birds, that a
single dish cost the tragic actor, Æsopus, one hundred thousand
sesterces; much to the reader’s indignation, no doubt; but, by
Hercules! Vitellius, when emperor, ordered a dish to be made, which
was to cost a million of sesterces, and for the preparation of which a
furnace had to be erected out in the fields! luxury having thus
arrived at such a pitch of excess as to make earthenware even sell
at higher prices than murrhine vessels. Alluding to this circumstance,
Mucianus, in his second consulship, when pronouncing one of his
perorations, reproached the memory of Vitellius with his dishes as
broad as the Pomptine Marsh; not less deserving to be execrated
than the poisoned dish of Asprenas, which, according to the
accusation brought against him by Cassius Severus, caused the
death of one hundred and thirty guests.

What is there that human industry will not devise? Even broken
pottery has been utilized; for when beaten to powder, and tempered
with lime, it becomes more solid and durable than other substances
of a similar nature; forming the cement known as the “Signine”
composition, so called from Signia, in Italy, celebrated for its tiles so
extensively employed for making the pavements of houses.

318
 CHAPTER XIX.
SCULPTURE.

The art of sculpture is of much more ancient origin than those of

painting and of statuary in bronze. Phidias himself worked in marble,
and there is a Venus of his at Rome, a work of extraordinary beauty,
in the buildings of Octavia. He was the instructor of Alcamenes, the
Athenian, one of the most famous among the sculptors. By this last
artist, there are numerous statues in the temples at Athens; as also,
without the walls there, the celebrated Venus, known as the
Aphrodite in the Gardens, a work to which Phidias himself, it is said,
put the finishing hand. Another disciple also of Phidias was
Agoracritus of Paros, a great favorite with his master, on account of
his extremely youthful age; and for which reason, it is said, Phidias
gave his own name to many of that artist’s works. The two pupils
entering into a contest as to the superior execution of a statue of
Venus, Alcamenes was successful; not that his work was superior,
but because his fellow-citizens chose to give their suffrages in his
favor in preference to a stranger. It was for this reason, it is said,
that Agoracritus sold his statue, on the express condition that it
should never be taken to Athens, and changed its name to that of
Nemesis. It was accordingly erected at Rhamnus, a borough of
Attica, and Varro has considered it superior to every other statue.

Among all nations which the fame of the Olympian Jupiter has
reached, Phidias is looked upon, beyond all doubt, as the most
famous of artists: but to let those who have never even seen his
works, know how deservedly he is esteemed, we will take this
opportunity of adducing a few slight proofs of the genius which he
displayed. In doing this, we shall not appeal to the beauty of his
Olympian Jupiter, nor yet to the vast proportions of his 319
Athenian Minerva, six-and-twenty cubits in height, and
composed of ivory and gold; but to the shield of this last statue we
shall draw attention; upon the convex face of which he has chased a
combat of the Amazons, while, upon the concave side of it, he has
represented the battle between the Gods and the Giants. Upon the
sandals again, we see the wars of the Lapithæ and Centaurs, so
careful has he been to fill every smallest portion of his work with
some proof or other of his artistic skill. To the story chased upon the
pedestal of the statue, the name of the “Birth of Pandora” has been
given; and the figures of gods to be seen upon it are no less than
twenty in number. The figure of Victory, in particular, is most
admirable, and connoisseurs are greatly struck with the serpent and
the sphinx in bronze lying beneath the point of the spear. Let so
much be said incidentally in reference to an artist who can never be
sufficiently praised; if only to let it be understood that the richness
of his genius was always equal to itself, even in the very smallest
details.

When speaking of the statuaries, we have already given the period

at which Praxiteles flourished; an artist, who, in the glory which he
acquired by his works in marble, surpassed even himself. There are
some works of his in the Ceramicus at Athens; but, superior to all
the statues, not only of Praxiteles, but of any other artist that ever
existed, is his Cnidian Venus; for the inspection of which, many
persons before now have purposely undertaken a voyage to Cnidos.
The artist made two statues of the goddess, and offered them both
for sale: one of them was represented with drapery, and for this
reason was preferred by the people of Cos, who had the choice; the
second was offered them at the same price, but, on the grounds of
propriety and modesty, they thought fit to choose the other. Upon
this, the Cnidians purchased the rejected statue, and immensely
[242]
superior has it always been held in general estimation. At 320
a later period, King Nicomedes wished to purchase this
statue of the Cnidians, and made them an offer to pay off the whole
of their public debt, which was very large. They preferred, however,
to submit to any extremity rather than part with it; and with good
reason, for by this statue Praxiteles has perpetuated the glory of
Cnidos. The little temple in which it is placed is open on all sides, so
that the beauties of the statue admit of being seen from every point
of view; an arrangement which was favored by the goddess herself,
it is generally believed. Indeed, from whatever point it is viewed, its
execution is equally worthy of admiration.

Cephisodotus, the son of Praxiteles, inherited his father’s talent.

There is, by him, at Pergamus, a splendid Group of Wrestlers, a
work that has been highly praised, and in which the fingers have all
the appearance of being impressed upon real flesh rather than upon
marble.

Scopas rivals these artists in fame: there is by him, a Venus

venerated at Samothrace with the most august ceremonials. He was
also the sculptor of the Palatine Apollo. But the most highly
esteemed of all his works, are those in the Temple erected by Cneius
Domitius, in the Flaminian Circus; a figure of Neptune himself, a
Thetis and Achilles, Nereids seated upon dolphins, cetaceous fishes,
and seahorses, Tritons, the train of Phorcus, whales, and numerous
other sea-monsters, all by the same hand; an admirable 321
piece of workmanship, even if it had taken a whole life to
complete it. In addition to the works by him already mentioned, and
others of the existence of which we are ignorant, there is still to be
seen a colossal Mars of his, seated, in the Temple erected by Brutus
Callæcus, also in the Flaminian Circus; as also, a naked Venus, of
anterior date to that by Praxiteles, and a production that would be
quite sufficient to establish the renown of any other place.

At Rome, it is true, it is quite lost sight of amid such a vast multitude

of similar works of art: and then besides, the inattention to these
matters that is induced by such vast numbers of duties and so many
items of business, quite precludes the generality of persons from
devoting their thoughts to the subject. For, in fact, the admiration
that is due to this art, not only demands an abundance of leisure,
but requires that profound silence should reign upon the spot. Hence
the artist is now forgotten, who executed the statue of Venus that
was dedicated by the Emperor Vespasianus in his Temple of Peace, a
work well worthy of the high repute of ancient times. With
reference, too, to the Dying Children of Niobe, in the Temple of the
Sosian Apollo, there is an equal degree of uncertainty, whether it is
the work of Scopas or of Praxiteles.

Scopas had for rivals and contemporaries, Bryaxis, Timotheus and

Leochares, artists whom we are bound to mention together, from the
fact that they worked together at the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus,
such being the name of the tomb that was erected by his wife
Artemisia in honor of Mausolus, a petty king of Caria, who died in
the second year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad. Through the
exertions of these artists more particularly, this work came to be
reckoned one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The circumference
of this building is, in all, four hundred and forty feet, and the
breadth from north to south sixty-three, the other two fronts being
not so wide in extent. It is twenty-five cubits in height, and is 322
surrounded with six-and-thirty columns, the outer
circumference being known as the “Pteron,” or “wing.” The east side
was sculptured by Scopas, the north by Bryaxis, the south by
Timotheus, and the west by Leochares; but, before their task was
completed, Queen Artemisia died. They did not leave their work,
however, until it was finished, considering that it was at once a
memorial of their own fame and of the sculptor’s art: and even to
this day, it is undecided which of them has excelled. A fifth artist
also took part in the work; for above the Pteron there is erected a
pyramid equal in height to the building below, and formed of four-
and-twenty steps, which gradually taper upwards towards the
summit; a platform, crowned with a representation of a four-horse
chariot by Pythis. This addition makes the total height of the work
one hundred and forty feet.

Beyond these, there are not many sculptors of high repute; for, in
the case of several works of very great excellence, the number of
artists that have been engaged upon them has proved a
considerable obstacle to the fame of each, no individual being able
to engross the whole of the credit, and it being impossible to award
it in due proportion to the names of the several artists combined.
[243]
Such is the case with the Laocoön, for example, in the palace of
the Emperor Titus, a work that may be looked upon as preferable to
any other production of the art of painting or of statuary. It is
sculptured from a single block, both the main figure as well as the
children, and the serpents with their marvellous folds. This 323
group was made in concert by three most eminent artists,
Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, natives of Rhodes.
 CHAPTER XX.
OBELISKS.

Thebaic stone, which is sprinkled all over with spots like gold, is
found in Africa, adjacent to Egypt; being peculiarly adapted, from its
natural properties, for the manufacture of hones. In the
neighborhood of Syene, too, in Thebais, there is a stone found that
is now known as syenite, but was formerly called red-spotted
granite.

Monarchs have entered into a sort of rivalry with one another in

[244]
forming elongated blocks of this stone, known as obelisks, and
consecrated to the divinity of the Sun. The blocks had this form
given to them in resemblance to the rays of that luminary, which are
[245]
so called in the Egyptian language.

Mesphres, who reigned in the City of the Sun, Heliopolis, was the
first who erected one of these obelisks, being warned to do so in a
dream: and there is an inscription upon the obelisk to this effect.

At a later period other kings had these obelisks hewn. Sesosthes

erected four of them in the above-named city, forty-eight cubits in
height. Rhamsesis, too, who was reigning at the time of the capture
of Troy, erected one, a hundred and forty cubits high. Having quitted
the spot where the palace of Apis stood, this monarch 324
erected another obelisk, one hundred and twenty cubits in
height, but of prodigious thickness, the sides being no less than
eleven cubits in breadth. It is said that one hundred and twenty
[246]
thousand men were employed upon this work; and that the
king, when it was on the point of being elevated, being apprehensive
that the machinery employed might not prove strong enough for the
weight, with the view of increasing the peril that might be entailed
by due want of precaution on the part of the workmen, had his own
son fastened to the summit; in order that the safety of the prince
might at the same time ensure the safety of the mass of stone. It
was in his admiration of this work, that, when King Cambyses took
the city by storm, and the conflagration had already reached the
very foot of the obelisk, he ordered the fire to be extinguished; for
he entertained a respect for this stupendous erection which he had
not entertained for the city itself.

Ptolemæus Philadelphus erected at Alexandria an obelisk eighty

cubits high, which had been prepared by order of King Necthebis: it
was without any inscription, and cost far more trouble in its carriage
and elevation, than had been originally expended in quarrying it.
Some writers inform us that it was conveyed on a raft, under the
inspection of the architect Satyrus. For this purpose, a canal was dug
from the river Nile to the spot where the obelisk lay; and two broad
vessels, laden with blocks of similar stone a foot square, the cargo of
each amounting to double the size, and consequently double the
weight, of the obelisk, were brought beneath it; the extremities of
the obelisk remaining supported by the opposite sides of the canal.
The blocks of stone were then removed, and the vessels being thus
gradually lightened, received their burden. It was erected 325
upon a basis of six square blocks, quarried from the same
mountain, and the artist was rewarded with the sum of fifty talents.
This obelisk was placed by the king above-mentioned in the
[247]
Arsinoœum, in testimony of his affection for his wife and sister
Arsinoë. At a later period, as it was found to be an inconvenience to
the docks, Maximus, then præfect of Egypt, had it transferred to the
Forum there, after removing the summit for the purpose of
substituting a gilded point, an intention which was ultimately
abandoned.

There are two other obelisks, which were in Cæsar’s Temple at

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

326
 CONCLUSION.
ITALY.

Having now treated of all the works of Nature, let me end with a
word about our native land. Throughout the whole earth, wherever
the vault of heaven extends, there is no country so beautiful, or
which, for the productions of Nature, merits so high a rank as Italy,
that ruler and second parent of the world; recommended as she is
by her men, her women, her generals, her soldiers, her slaves, her
superiority in the arts, and the illustrious examples of genius which
she has produced. Her situation, too, is equally in her favor; the
salubrity and mildness of her climate; the easy access which she
offers to all nations; her coasts indented with so many harbors; the
propitious breezes that ever prevail on her shores; advantages, all of
them, due to her situation, lying as she does, midway between the
East and the West. Add to this, the abundant supply of her waters,
the salubrity of her groves, the repeated intersections of her
mountain ranges, the comparative innocuousness of her wild
animals, the fertility of her soil, and the singular richness of her
pastures. In short, whatever there is that can minister comfort to the
life of man is nowhere else to be found in greater perfection. The
cereals, wine, oil, wool, flax, tissues, and oxen—the finest are here.
No horses are preferred to those of Italy for the course; while in
mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron, Italy is held inferior to no
country whatsoever. Ever teeming with these treasures, she lavishes
upon us all her bounties of land and sea.

Hail to thee, Nature, thou parent of all things! and do thou deign to
show thy favor unto me, who, alone of all the citizens of Rome,
have, in thy every department, thus made known thy praise.

327
 FOOTNOTES

[1]
The Romans carried the art of short-hand to its highest perfection,
as appears from the following epigram of Martial:

“Currant verba licet, manus est velocius illis;

Nondum lingua suum, dextra peregit opus.”
xiv. 208.

“Swift though the words, (the pen still swifter sped)

The hand has finished, ere the tongue has said.”

[2]
It seems probable that this was the first eruption of Mount
Vesuvius, at least of any consequence. Dio, indeed, and other
ancient authors speak of it as burning before; but still they
describe it as covered with trees and vines, so that the eruptions
must have been inconsiderable.

[3]
The Stoic and Epicurean philosophers held that the world would
eventually be destroyed by fire, and all things would fall into
original chaos, not excepting even the national gods themselves
from the destruction of this general conflagration.

[4]
The allusion, otherwise obscure, is to the fact that some friends of
Catullus had filched a set of table-napkins, which had been given
to him by Veranius and Fabius, and substituted others in their
place.
[5]
“Sesculysses” and “Flextabula;” literally, Ulysses and a Half, and
Bend-table.

[6]
Pliny the younger, in one of his letters (iii. 5), where he
enumerates all his uncle’s publications, informs us, that he wrote
“a piece of criticism in eight books, concerning ambiguity of
expression.” Melmoth’s Pliny, i. 136.

[7]
His real name was Tyrtamus, but in consequence of the beauty of
his style, he acquired the appellation by which he is generally
known from the words θειος φρασις. Cicero refers to him in
Brutus, 121; Orator, 17; and on various other occasions.

[8]
“Spartum;” this plant was used to make bands for the vines and
cables for ships.

[9]
The term Mundus is used by Pliny, sometimes to mean the earth
and its immediate appendages, the visible solar system; and at
other times the universe; while in some instances it is used in a
rather vague manner, without any distinct reference to either one
or other of the above designations. I have usually translated it by
the term world, as approaching nearest to the sense of the
original.

[10]
The astronomy of our author is derived mainly from Aristotle.

[11]
This theory of the “music of the spheres” was maintained by
Pythagoras, but was derided by Aristotle.
[12]
The letter Δ, in the constellation of the triangle; but except in this
one case, the constellations have no visible resemblance to the
objects of which they bear the name.

[13]
Iliad, iii. 277, and Od. xii. 323.

[14]
The author here alludes to the figures of the Egyptian deities that
were engraved on rings.

[15]
His specific office was to execute vengeance on the impious.

[16]
According to the most approved modern chronology, the middle
of the 109th olympiad corresponds to the 211th year of the City,
or 542 B.C.

[17]
Nothing is known respecting the nature of these instruments.

[18]
This is said by Livy to have occurred to Servius Tullius while he
was a child; lib. i. cap. 39; and by Virgil to Ascanius, Æn. ii. 632-
5.

[19]
By adding its deified emperors to the number of its divinities.

[20]
Probably these mountains were a western branch of the Ural
chain.

[21]
From the Greek πτεροφορὸς, “wing-bearing” or “feather-bearing.”
[22]
This legendary race was said to dwell in the regions beyond
Boreas, or the northern wind, which issued from the Riphæn
mountains, the name of which was derived from ριπαὶ or
“hurricanes” issuing from a cavern, and which these heights
warded off from the Hyperboreans and sent to more southern
nations. Hence they never felt the northern blasts, and enjoyed a
life of supreme happiness and undisturbed repose. “Here,” says
Humboldt, “are the first views of a natural science which explains
the distribution of heat and the difference of climates by local
causes—by the direction of the winds—the proximity of the sun,
and the action of a moist or saline principle.”

[23]
Pindar says, in the “Pythia,” x. 56, “The Muse is no stranger to
their manners. The dances of girls and the sweet melody of the
lyre and pipe resound on every side, and wreathing their locks
with the glistening bay, they feast joyously. For this sacred race
there is no doom of sickness or of disease; but they live apart
from toil and battles, undisturbed by the exacting Nemesis.”

[24]
Pomponius Mela, who asserts that the sun rises here at the
vernal and sets at the autumnal equinox, is right in his position,
and Pliny is incorrect.

[25]
Britain was spoken of by some of the Greek writers as superior to
all other islands in the world. Dionysius, in his Periegesis, says,
“that no other islands whatsoever can claim equality with those
of Britain.”

[26]
Said to have been so called from the whiteness of its cliffs
opposite the coast of Gaul.
[27]
The distance here given by Pliny is far too great, the shortest
distance, from Dover to Calais, being 21 miles.

[28]
Probably the Grampian range is here referred to.

[29]
The people of South Wales.

[30]
The Orkney Islands.

[31]
Probably the islands now known as the Shetlands.

[32]
The opinions as to the identity of ancient Thule have been
numerous in the extreme. The common, and apparently the best
founded opinion, is that Thule is the island of Iceland.

[33]
Like others of the ancient writers, Pliny falls into the error of
considering Atlas, not as an extensive chain of mountains, but as
an isolated mountain, surrounded by sands. With reference to its
height, the whole range declines considerably from west to east;
the highest summits in Morocco reaching to nearly 13,000 feet,
in Tunis not 5000.

[34]
It is now universally agreed among the learned that the island of
Taprobana is the modern Ceylon.

[35]
A general term, probably, for the great peninsula of India, below
the Ganges.
[36]
It is probable that the passage here referred to is from Cape
Comorin to Ceylon, and not from Cape Ramanan Cor, the nearest
part of the continent.

[37]
Possibly the word “Radijah,” or “Rajah,” denoting the rank which
he held, may have been here taken by Pliny for his name.

[38]
Probably Cape Ramanan Cor, which is in reality the nearest point
to the coast of Ceylon.

[39]
He alludes to coral reefs, no doubt.

[40]
The Romans evidently misunderstood their language, for, as
Gosselin remarks, it is quite impossible that the Pleiades should
be a constellation unknown at that time to the people of Ceylon;
but, on the other hand, it would be equally true that the Great
Bear was concealed from them.

[41]
This also originated in misapprehension of their language on the
part of the Romans.

[42]
In Ceylon seven months in the year the shadows fell to the north,
and during the remaining five to the south.

[43]
The Seræ here spoken of must not be taken for the Seres or
supposed Chinese.

[44]
Or “Bacchus.” This means that he wears a long robe with a train;
much like the dress, in fact, which was worn on the stage by
 tragic actors.

[45]
We may hence conclude, that the practice of swathing young
infants in tight bandages prevailed at Rome, in the time of Pliny,
as it still does in France.

[46]
This reminds us of the terms of the riddle proposed to Œdipus by
the Sphinx: “What being is that, which, with four feet, has two
feet and three feet, and only one voice; but its feet vary, and
when it has most it is weakest?” to which he answered, That it is
man, who is a quadruped in childhood, two-footed in manhood,
and moving with the aid of a staff in old age.

[47]
This is contrary to facts now well known.

[48]
It was this feeling that prompted the common saying among the
ancients, “Homo homini lupus”—“Man to man is a wolf;” and
most true it is, that

“Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.”

[49]
The figures of the Gryphons or Griffins are found not
uncommonly on the friezes and walls at Pompeii. In the East,
where there were no safe places of deposit for money, it was the
custom to bury it in the earth; hence, for the purpose of scaring
depredators, the story was carefully circulated that hidden
treasures were guarded by serpents and dragons. There can be
little doubt that these stories, on arriving in the western world,
combined with the knowledge of the existence of gold in the
Uralian chain and other mountains of the East, gave rise to the
stories of the Griffins and the Arimaspi. It has been suggested
that the Arimaspi were no other than the modern Tsheremis, who
 dwelt on the left bank of the Middle Volga, not far from the gold
districts of the Uralian range. It has been conjectured, that the
fabulous tales of the combats of the Arimaspi with the Griffins,
were invented by the neighboring tribes of the Essedones, who
were anxious to throw a mystery over the origin of the gold, that
they might preserve the traffic in their own hands. The Altai
Mountains, in the north of Asia, contain many gold mines, which
are still worked, as well as traces of former workings.

[50]
We have an account of the Arimaspi, and of Aristeas, in
Herodotus, B. iv.

[51]
One of the pleasures promised to the Gothic warriors, in the
paradise of Odin, was to drink out of the skulls of their enemies.

[52]
It is well known that nothing of this kind was ever observed in
any human eye.

[53]
In all ages, it has been a prevalent superstition, that those
endowed with magical qualities will not sink in water,
encouraged, no doubt, by the cunning of those who might wish
to make the charge a means of wreaking their vengeance. If they
sank, they were to be deemed innocent, but if they floated, they
were deemed guilty, and handed over to the strong arm of the
law.

[54]
This remark is not contained in any of the works of Cicero now
extant.

[55]
Cuvier observes, that these people probably exercise some
deception, analogous to that practised by a Spaniard, who
 exhibited himself in Paris, and professed to be incombustible, but
who, eventually, was the dupe of his own quackery, and paid the
penalty with his life.

[56]
Plutarch relates these supposed facts in his life of Pyrrhus; they
remind us of the supposed efficacy of the royal touch in curing
the disease termed the “King’s evil.”

[57]
Popularly known as the “banyan tree.”

[58]
The bambos arundinacea, or bamboo cane, is a reed or plant of
the grass kind, which frequently grows to the height of the tallest
trees. The stem is hollow, and the parts of it between the joints
are used by the natives to form their canoes. We have an
account of them in Herodotus, B. iii.

[59]
It does not appear that the stature of the Indians exceeds that of
the inhabitants of the temperate zones.

[60]
This account probably originated in a species of monkey generally
considered to be the baboon, with a projecting muzzle, called,
from this circumstance, “cynocephalus,” or the “Dog’s head.” This
account of the cynocephali is repeated by Aulus Gellius. It is a
pity that Pliny should have adopted so many ridiculous fables, on
the doubtful authority of Ctesias.

[61]
These are the great apes, which are found in some of the
Oriental islands. We may suppose that this description is taken
from some incorrect account of a large kind of ape; but it seems
impossible to refer it to any particular species.
[62]
Can these be the Chinese?

[63]
Either silk or cotton.

[64]
Cuvier remarks, that these accounts are not capable of any
explanation, being mere fables.

[65]
Iliad, B. iii. l. 3-6. Their story is also referred to by Ovid and
Juvenal.

[66]
Pliny, elsewhere, speaks of the use of vipers’ flesh as an article of
diet, and gives some minute directions for its preparation. It was
supposed to be peculiarly nutritive and restorative, and it has
been prescribed for the same purpose by modern physicians.
There is a medal in existence, probably struck by the Emperor
Commodus, in order to commemorate the benefit which he was
supposed to have derived from the use of the flesh of vipers.

[67]
Cuvier remarks that this story must have been originally told with
reference to the race of large apes.

[68]
The dog-faced ape—the baboon.

[69]
The gladiators called Samnites, were armed with the peculiar
“scutum,” or oblong shield, used by the Samnites, a greave on
the left leg, a sponger on the breast, and a helmet with a crest.

[70]
Philippides must have gone one hundred and forty-two miles in
two days, and the other one hundred and fifty miles in one day.
[71]
This statement must have been in some of his lost works.

[72]
His works in ivory were said to have been so small, that they
could scarcely be seen without placing them on a black surface.

[73]
Or Bacchus.—“Father Liber” is the name always given to him by
Pliny.

[74]
“Magnus.” Plutarch states, that, on his return from Africa, Sylla
saluted him with the name of “Magnus,” which surname he ever
afterwards retained. He also says that the law did not allow a
triumph to be granted to any one who was not either consul or
prætor.

[75]
When a Roman overcame an enemy with whom he had been
personally engaged, he took possession of some part of his
armor and dress, which might bear testimony to the victory; this
was termed the “spolium.” The words “hasta pura,” or victor’s
spear, signify a lance without an iron head. We are told that it
was given to him who gained the first victory in a battle; it was
also regarded as an emblem of supreme power, and as a mark of
the authority which one nation claimed over another.

[76]
Among the Jews and other nations of antiquity, it was considered
an essential point for the priests to be without blemish, perfect
and free from disease.

[77]
Some of these are given by Valerius Maximus. It is very doubtful,
however, if Greece did not greatly excel Rome in this respect.
[78]
This remark is not found in any of Cæsar’s works now extant.

[79]
Cuvier remarks, that this account of the elephant’s superior
intelligence is exaggerated, it being no greater than that of the
dog, if, indeed, equal to it. The opinion may perhaps have arisen
from the dexterity with which the animal uses its trunk; but this
is to be ascribed not to its own intelligence, but to the
mechanical construction of the part. The Indians, from whom we
presume that Pliny derived his account, have always regarded
the elephant with a kind of superstitious veneration.

[80]
Plutarch informs us, that Pompey had resolved to have his chariot
drawn by four elephants, but, finding the gate too narrow, he
was obliged to use horses.

[81]
However ill adapted the elephant may appear, from its size and
form, for this feat, we have the testimony of Seneca, Suetonius,
Dion Cassius, and Ælian, to the truth of the fact. Suetonius tells
us that a horseman ascended a tight rope on an elephant’s back.

[82]
Plutarch, in his treatise on the Shrewdness of Animals, tells us
that this wonderful circumstance happened at Rome. But it would
be curious to know in what way the elephant showed that he was
“conning” over his lesson.

[83]
Ælian informs us, that he had seen an elephant write Latin
characters. Hardouin remarks, that the Greek would be Αὐτὸς
ἐγὼ τάδ ἐγραψα, λαφυρά τε Κελτὰ ἀνὲθηκα.
[84]
Probably the great quantity of fossil ivory which has been found
may have given rise to this tale.

[85]
Tables and bedsteads were not only covered or veneered with
ivory among the Romans, but, in the later times, made of the
solid material, as we learn from Ælian and Athenæus.

[86]
It is scarcely necessary to remark, that these statements
respecting the sagacity of the elephant in connection with their
teeth, are without foundation.

[87]
There are coins extant struck to commemorate this victory, in
which there is the figure of an elephant.

[88]
This remark is incorrect; when the water is sufficiently deep, they
swim with ease; and if the end of the trunk remains exposed to
the atmosphere, they can dive below the surface, or swim with
the body immersed.

[89]
Although these stories of the generosity and clemency of the lion
are in a great measure fabulous, still the accounts of those who
have had the best opportunity of becoming acquainted with the
character of different animals, agree in ascribing to the lion less
ferocity and brutality, in proportion to its size and strength, than
to other animals of the same family.

[90]
The description of the giraffe, here given, is sufficiently correct,
but we have a more minute account of it by Dion Cassius, B. xliii.
In the time of the Emperor Gordian, ten of these animals were
exhibited at Rome at once; a remarkable fact, when we bear in
 mind that so few have ever been imported into Europe or
America. The Giraffe is figured in the mosaic at Præneste and,
under it, is inscribed its name—nabi. It has been found that the
giraffe is unable to bear the winters of Europe and the United
States.

[91]
It seems impossible to identify Pliny’s description with any known
animal, and it is not unlikely that he has confused the accounts
of authors who were speaking of different animals. Some of the
characteristics of the leucrocotta agree with those of the Indian
antelope, while others seem to resemble those of the hyæna.

[92]
It has been conjectured, that Ctesias took his description from
the hieroglyphic figures in his time, probably common in the
East, and still found in the ruins of Nineveh and Persepolis.

[93]
This account of the basilisk’s eye, like that of the catoblepas, is
entirely devoid of foundation.

[94]
Hence the proverbial expression applied to a person who is
suddenly silent upon the entrance of another; “Lupus est tibi
visus.”—“You have seen a wolf.”

[95]
This literally means “changing the skin;” it was applied by some
ancient medical writers to a peculiar form of insanity, where the
patient conceives himself changed into a wolf.

[96]
It is rather curious to find Pliny censuring others for credulity; the
fact is he loses no opportunity of a hit at the Greeks, to whom,
after all, he is greatly indebted.
[97]
Lucan mentions the jaculus, B. ix. l. 720, and l. 822. In the last
passage he says: “Behold! afar, around the trunk of a barren
tree, a fierce serpent—Africa calls it the jaculus—wreathes itself,
and then darts forth, and through the head and pierced temples
of Paulus it takes its flight: nothing does venom there affect,
death seizes him through the wound. It was then understood
how slowly fly the stones which the sling hurls, how sluggishly
whizzes the flight of the Scythian arrow.”

[98]
The tongue of the crocodile is flat, and adheres to the lower jaw,
so as to be incapable of motion.

[99]
The water of the Nile abounds with small leeches, which attach to
the throat of the crocodile, and, as it has no means of removing
them, it allows the trochilus to enter its mouth for this purpose
also.

[100]
Although this account is sanctioned by all the ancient naturalists,
it is called in question by Cuvier and other modern writers.

[101]
The animal here referred to was not the dolphin but the Squalus
centrina, or spinax of Linnæus.

[102]
Cuvier says that no antlers are added after the eighth year.

[103]
This is mentioned by Aristotle, but it is quite unfounded. Without
doubt the story arose from the fact that the stag in September
rubs the velvet off his horns against the trees, until it hangs in
strings from the antlers. These are at first greenish in color, then
brown as they grow dry and fall off.
[104]
Buffon remarks, such tales are without foundation, the life of the
stag being not more than thirty or forty years.

[105]
One of those popular errors which have descended from the
ancients to our times; the chameleon feeds on insects, which it
seizes by means of its long flexible tongue; the quantity of food
which it requires appears, however, to be small in proportion to
its bulk.

[106]
This is another of the erroneous opinions respecting the
chameleon, which has been very generally adopted. It forms the
basis of Merrick’s poem of the Chameleon. The animal assumes
various shades or tints, but the changes depend upon internal or
constitutional causes, not upon any external object.

[107]
This is, of course, without foundation, the honey being the sole
object sought.

[108]
We learn from Strabo, Ind. Hist. B. xv., that, in catching the
monkey, the hunters took advantage of the propensity of these
animals to imitate any action they see performed. “Two modes,”
he says, “are employed in taking this animal, as by nature it is
taught to imitate every action, and to take to flight by climbing
up trees. When the hunters see an ape sitting on a tree, they
place within sight of it a dish full of water, with which they rub
their eyes; and then slyly substituting another in its place, full of
bird-lime, retire and keep upon the watch. The animal comes
down from the tree, and rubs its eyes with the bird-lime, in
consequence of which the eyelids stick together, and it is unable
to escape.” Ælian also says, Hist. Anim. B. xvii. c. 25, that the
hunters pretend to put on their shoes, and then substitute, in
their place, shoes of lead; the animal attempts to imitate them,
 and, the shoes being so contrived, when it has once got them
on, it finds itself unable to take them off, or to move, and is
consequently taken.

[109]
It is said that the Emperor Charles V. had a monkey that played
chess with him.

[110]
This account is given by Suetonius, Life of Julius Cæsar, c. 61.
Cuvier suggests that the hoofs may have been notched, and that
the sculptor probably exaggerated the peculiarity, so as to
produce the resemblance to a human foot.

[111]
We here find Pliny tripping, for he has previously said, that man
is the only animated being that sheds tears. In this Book, also,
he represents the lion as shedding tears.

[112]
There were four parties or factions of the charioteers who were
named from the color of their dress.

[113]
The famous Bologna sausages are made, it is said, of asses’
flesh.

[114]
This peculiarity in their mode of taking their food is mentioned
by Herodotus, who ascribed it to the extraordinary length of the
horns.

[115]

Καὶ ῥήγεα καλα[**diacrit?]

Πορφύρ’ ἐμβαλέειν, στορέσαι δ’ ἐφύπερθε τάπητας.
 Odyssey, B. iv. l. 427. “And to throw on fair coverlets of
purple, and to lay carpets upon them.”

[116]
“I have macerated unbleached flax in vinegar saturated with
salt, and after compression have obtained a felt, with a power of
resistance quite comparable with that of the famous armor of
Conrad of Montferrat; for neither the point of a sword, nor even
balls discharged from fire-arms, were able to penetrate it.”
Memoir on the substance called Pilina, by Papadopoulo-Vretos.

[117]
The “gausapa,” or “gausapum,” was a kind of thick cloth, very
woolly on one side, and used especially for covering tables and
beds, and making cloaks to keep out the wet and cold. The
wealthier Romans had it made of the finest wool, and usually of
a purple color. It seems also to have been sometimes made of
linen, but still with a rough surface.

[118]
From ἀμφίμαλλα, “napped on both sides.” They probably
resemble our baizes or druggets, or perhaps the modern blanket.

[119]
About the time of Augustus, the Romans began to exchange the
“toga,” which had previously been their ordinary garment, for the
more convenient “lacerna” and “pænula,” which were less
encumbered with folds, and better adapted for the usual
occupations of life.

[120]
According to the commonly received account, Tanaquil was the
wife of Tarquinius Priscus, and a native of Etruria; when she
removed to Rome, and her husband became king, her name was
changed to Caia Cæcilia.
[121]
The prætexta is described by Varro as a white toga, with a
purple band or border; it was worn by boys until their
seventeenth year, and by young women until their marriage.

[122]
The trabea differed from the prætexta, in being ornamented
with stripes (trabes) of purple, whence its name.

[123]
Helen is introduced, Iliad, B. iii. l. 125, weaving an embroidered
garment, in which were figured the battles of the Greeks and
Trojans. It was probably somewhat of the nature of modern
tapestry.

[124]
The first sum amounts to about $23,000, the latter to $115,000.

[125]
These are all, of course, excessive exaggerations.

[126]
Hardouin remarks, that the Basques of his day were in the habit
of fencing their gardens with the ribs of the whale, which
sometimes exceeded twenty feet in length; and Cuvier says, that
at the present time, the jaw-bone of the whale is used in Norway
for the purpose of making beams or posts for buildings.

[127]
Hardouin, with excessive credulity, says that it is no fable, that
the nereids and tritons had a human face; and says that no less
than fifteen instances, ancient and modern, had been adduced,
in proof that such was the fact. He says that this was the belief
of Scaliger, and quotes the book of Aldrovandus on Monsters.
But, as Cuvier remarks, it is impossible to explain these stories of
nereids and tritons, on any other grounds than the fraudulent
pretences of those who have exhibited them, or asserted that
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