The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 6 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny

[797] “Brasse bullion, or in masse.”—_Holland._ [798] “Money weighed out,” _i.e._ “expenses.” [799] “Money weighed out for the payment of interest.” [800] “To weigh out money for payment,” _i.e._ “to pay.” [801] “A weight of money.” [802] “Weighers-out;” meaning “keepers of accounts,” or “paymasters.” [803] “Weighers-out” of the soldiers’ wages; _i.e._ “paymasters.” [804] From “pecus,” a sheep. See B. xviii. c. 3. [805] “Pounds” or “asses.” [806] The third of an “as.” [807] The fourth of an “as.” [808] Or ounces; being one-fourth of the “as,” of one “libra” in weight. See Introduction to Vol. III. [809] A.U.C. 663. [810] The same as the quinarius, one-half of the denarius. In B. xx. c. 100, it is mentioned as a weight. See also the Introduction to Vol. III. [811] As, originally, there were 288 “scripula,” or scruples, to the “libra” or pound, this would appear to give 5760 sestertii to the pound of gold, and not 900 merely. Though this apparent discrepancy has generally puzzled the commentators, the solution, as suggested by M. Parisot, in the Notes to Ajasson’s Translation, appears equally simple and satisfactory. He suggests that in the “as,” or “libra,” of _two ounces_, there were 288 scruples. Now, the scruple remaining the same, when the as or libra was reduced to one ounce, it would contain but 144 of these scruples. Then, on making the as the sixteenth part of a denarius instead of the tenth, it would lose three-eighths of its value in scruples, or in other words, 54 scruples, thus making it worth but 90 scruples. Then again, as above stated, by the Papirian Law, the weight or value of the libra or as was reduced one-half, making its value in scruples only 45; or, in other words, five thirty-seconds of its original value, when worth two unciæ or ounces. This number of scruples to the libra would give, at the rate of twenty sesterces to the scruple of gold, exactly 900 sesterces to the libra of gold. [812] Or “aurei.” [813] “Fames auri.” Similar to the words of Virgil, “Auri sacra fames.” “The curst greed for gold.” See Note 666 to Chapter 3 of this Book. [814] Another version of this story was, that he extracted the brain, and inserted lead in its place. [815] See B. xiv. c. 16. [816] In B.C. 88, M. Aquilius proceeded to Asia Minor as one of the consular legati to prosecute the war against Mithridates. On being defeated near Protomachium, he was delivered up to Mithridates by the inhabitants of Mytilene, and after being treated in the most barbarous manner, was put to death by pouring molten gold down his throat. [817] “Insperso.” Sillig is of opinion that Pliny is here speaking of the work now known by Italian artists as _tausia_ or _lavoro all’ agemina_. [818] Hardouin thinks that Pliny is here making allusion to the Greek word “chrysendeta,” vessels “encircled with gold.” It is frequently used in Martial’s works. [819] See B. xv. c. 38. [820] It is against such practices as these that Martial inveighs, B. i. Ep. 28, and B. ix. Ep. 12. [821] A slave only; and not by any of his brother patricians. Antony was rendered infamous by his proscriptions. [822] Appian and Livy mention the fine as consisting of ten thousand talents _in all_, or in other words, eight hundred thousand pounds of silver (at eighty pounds to the talent). Sillig is therefore of opinion that Pliny is in error here in inserting the word “annua.” The payment of the ten thousand talents, we learn from the same authorities, was spread over fifty years. [823] Asia Minor. [824] “Folia.” Hardouin prefers the reading “solia,” meaning “thrones,” or “chairs of state,” probably. [825] Ajasson refuses to place credit in this statement. [826] This vase of Semiramis was her drinking bowl, in much the same sense that the great cannon at Dover was Queen Elizabeth’s “pocket pistol.” [827] The country to which, in previous times, the Argonauts had sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece, or in other words in search of gold, in which those regions were probably very prolific. [828] See B. vi. c. 4. [829] This story of the defeat of the great Ramses-Sesostris by a petty king of Colchis, would almost appear apocryphal. It is not improbable, however, that Sesostris, when on his Thracian expedition, may have received a repulse on penetrating further north, accustomed as his troops must have been, to a warmer climate. [830] Of the amphitheatre. [831] Covered, probably, with plates of silver. [832] “Pegma.” A scaffold with storeys, which were raised or depressed, to all appearance, spontaneously. Caligula is the emperor meant. [833] Another reading is “seven” pounds in weight, and “nine” pounds; which would appear to be more probable than seven _thousand_, and nine _thousand_, as given by the Bamberg MS. It is just possible, however, that the latter may have been the united weights of _all_ the coronets contributed by Spain and Gaul respectively, the word “inter” being an interpolation. [834] See B. iv. c. 31, B. xi. c. 47, and B. xviii. c. 20. [835] Hence known as the “Golden Day,” according to Dion Cassius, B. lxiii. [836] For further particulars as to the Golden Palace, see B. xxxvi. c. 24. [837] A.U.C. 597. [838] Or Marsic War. See B. ii. c. 85. [839] There is an error in this statement, probably, unless we understand by it the small libra or pound of two ounces, mentioned in c. 13 of this Book. [840] This remark is confirmatory of the incorrectness of the preceding statement. [841] The reading here is doubtful. [842] A.U.C. 612. [843] See B. xix. c. 6. [844] Chapter 57. [845] In fact, no colour at all. [846] In _this_ climate, the light of most of the stars has the complexion, not of gold, but of silver. [847] The topaz, for instance. [848] For ductility and malleability, both which terms may perhaps be included in the “facilitas” of Pliny, gold is unrivalled among the metals. As to weight, it is heavier than lead, the specific gravity of gold being 19.258, and that of lead 11.352. Pliny is therefore wrong in both of these assertions. [849] He forgets asbestus here, a substance which he has mentioned in B. xix. c. 4. [850] Chlorine, however, and nitro-muriatic acid corrode and dissolve gold, forming a chloride of gold, which is soluble in water. Ajasson remarks, that gold becomes volatilized by the heat of a burning-glass of three or four feet in diameter; and that when it acts as the conductor of a strong current of electricity, it becomes reduced to dust instantaneously, presenting a bright greenish light. [851] The gold thus tested was called “obrussum,” “obryzum,” or “obrizum,” from the Greek ὄβρυζον, meaning “pure gold.” [852] See B. xviii. c. 23, where he calls the chaff used for this purpose by the name of “acus.” [853] The present mode of assaying the precious metals, is by fusing them upon a cupel with lead. [854] For which purpose, lead was used, no doubt, in drawing the lines in the MSS. of the ancients. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 339. _Bohn’s Ed._ [855] This is far surpassed at the present day, its malleability being such that it may be beaten into leaves not more than one two hundred and eighty thousandth of an inch in thickness, and its ductility admitting of one grain being drawn out into five hundred feet of wire. For further particulars as to the gold leaf of the ancients, and the art of gilding, as practised by them, see Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 391, _et seq._ _Bohn’s Edition._ [856] See B. xxxvi. c. 64. [857] He alludes to what are now known as _pepitas_, oval grains of river-gold. “Striges” is the reading in the Bamberg MS., “strigiles” in the former editions. [858] “Massa.” As we should say at the present day, “nuggets.” [859] “Ramentum.” [860] The contrary is now known to be the case; gold is sometimes, though rarely, found in an oxidized state. [861] As to the solvents of gold, see Note 850 above. Stahl says that three parts of sub-carbonate of potash, dissolved in water, and heated with three parts of sulphur and one part of gold, will yield a complete solution of the metal. [862] Aldrovandus relates, in his “Museum Metallicum,” that the grave of the Emperor Honorius was discovered at Rome about the year 1544, and that thirty-six pounds’ weight of gold were procured from the mouldering dress that covered the body. See, on the subject of gold threads, Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 415. _Bohn’s Edition._ [863] The “cloth of gold” of the present day, is made of threads of silk or hair, wound round with silver wire flattened and gilded. [864] “Paludamento.” [865] See B. viii. c. 74. Beckmann is of opinion, from a passage of Silius Italicus, B. xiv. l. 661, that the cloth of Attalus was embroidered with the needle. See this subject fully discussed in his Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 415. See also Dr. Yates’s “Textrinum Antiquorum,” pp. 371, 464. [866] “Without entering into any research respecting the minerals employed for this cement, called ‘leucophoron,’ one may readily conceive that it must have been a ferruginous ochre, or kind of bole, which is still used as a ground. Gilding of this kind must have suffered from dampness, though many specimens of it are still preserved.”—Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 294. _Bohn’s Edition._ [867] B. xxxv. c. 17. [868] Literally, “fluid silver.” “The first name here seems to signify native quicksilver, and the second that separated from the ore by an artificial process.” Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 72. [869] In Chapters 32 and 41 of this Book. [870] As to the identity of the “alumen” of Pliny, see B. xxxv. c. 52. [871] In the preceding Chapter. [872] See B. xi. c. 36. [873] See B. vii. c. 2. [874] See B. iv. c. 17. [875] Ajasson remarks, that the Castilians still call the surface earth of auriferous deposits by the name of _segullo_. He also doubts the correctness of Pliny’s assertion as to the produce of the mines of Dalmatia. [876] See B. xxxiv. c. 47. [877] We learn from Ajasson that numerous pits or shafts are still to be seen in Spain, from which the Romans extracted gold. At Riotento, he says, there are several of them. [878] Both meaning “channel gold.” [879] “Marmoris glareæ.” Under this name, he no doubt means quartz and schist. [880] See B. xxxvii. c. 39. [881] See B. xxxvi. c. 13. [882] “Channel-gold” or “trench-gold.” [883] Becoming volatilized, and attaching itself in crystals to the side of the chimney. [884] Or “sweat.” This “sweat” or “silver” would in reality be a general name for all the minerals that were volatilized by the heat of the furnace; while under the name of “scoria ” would be comprised pyrites, quartz, petrosilex, and other similar substances. [885] The cupel or crucible is still known in Spain by the name of _tasco_. [886] Who were said to have heaped one mountain on another in their war with the gods. [887] Deep mines in Spain are still called _arrugia_, a term also used to signify gold beneath the surface. According to Grimm, _arruzi_ was the ancient High German name for iron. [888] See B. xxiii. c. 27. [889] The breaking-machines, used for crushing the silex. [890] “Cædunt” is certainly a preferable reading to “cadunt,” though the latter is given by the Bamberg MS. [891] A similar method of washing auriferous earth or sand in the mines, is still employed in some cases. [892] “The bringing of water into one channel.” [893] Or as Holland quaintly renders it, “Some flying spirit or winged devill of the air.” [894] Magnesian carbonate of lime, or dolomite, Ajasson thinks. [895] From the Greek, ἀγωγὴ. [896] It does not appear to have been identified; and it can hardly be the same as the Ulex Europæus of modern Natural History, our Furze or Gorse. [897] That of sinking shafts, described already in this Chapter. [898] All these names, no doubt, are of Spanish origin, although Salmasius would assign them a Greek one. [899] In B. iii. c. 24. [900] See B. iii. c. 21. [901] “Auripigmentum.” Yellow sulphuret of arsenic. See B. xxxiv. c. 56. [902] “Lapis specularis.” See B. xxxvi. c. 45. [903] Caligula. [904] It was accidently mixed with the ore of arsenic, no doubt, unless, indeed, the emperor was imposed upon. [905] This is almost, but not quite, universally the case. [906] In Spain. See B. iii. c. 4, B. iv. c. 34, and B. ix. c. 2. The locality alluded to is now unknown. [907] A name also given by the ancients to amber. Artificial “electrum,” or gold alloyed with silver, was known in the most ancient times. [908] The gold found by sinking shafts. See Chapter 21. [909] See B. ix. c. 65. [910] Od. B. iv. l. 71. [911] Pliny no doubt has been imposed upon in this instance. [912] “Solid hammer-work,” in opposition to works in metal, cast and hollow within. [913] In B. v. c. 20, most probably. See also B. xvi. c. 64. [914] The worship of Anaïtis was probably a branch of the Indian worship of Nature. The Greek writers sometimes identify this goddess with their Artemis and their Aphrodite. [915] Holland has strangely mistaken the meaning of the veteran’s reply; “Yea, sir, that it is; and that methinks you should know best, for even now a leg of his you have at supper, and all _your_ wealth besides is come unto _you_ by that saccage.” He then adds, by way of Note, “For Augustus Cæsar defeited Antonie, and was mightily enriched by the spoile of him.” [916] In Sicily. According to Valerius Maximus and other writers, a statue of solid gold was erected by the whole of Greece, in the temple at Delphi, in honour of Gorgias, who was distinguished for his eloquence and literary attainments. The leading opinion of Gorgias was, that nothing had any real existence. [917] The ninetieth Olympiad, about the year 420 B.C., is much more probably the correct reading; as it was about the seventieth Olympiad, or somewhat later, that Gorgias was born. [918] See B. xxxiv. c. 29. [919] See B. xxix. c. 38. and B. xxxvi. cc. 37, 38. [920] Or gith. See B. xx. c. 71. [921] Similar to the notion still prevalent, that the application of pure gold will remove styes on the eyelids. [922] It has been supposed by some, that the “Chrysocolla” of the ancients, as well as the “Cæruleum,” mentioned in c. 57 of this Book, were the produce of cobalt; but the more generally received opinion is that “chrysocolla” (gold-solder) was green verditer, or mountain-green, carbonate and hydrocarbonate of copper, green and blue, substances which are sometimes found in gold mines, but in copper mines more particularly. It must not be confounded with the modern chrysocolla or Borax. [923] In Chapter 21 of this Book. [924] The “Reseda luteola,” Dyer’s weed, or Wild woad. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 478-481, where the identity of the Chrysocolla of the ancients is discussed at considerable length. [925] As to the identity of this substance, see B. xxxv. c. 52. [926] These drugs have not been identified. [927] “Elutam.” Though this is the reading given by the Bamberg MS., “luteam” seems preferable; a name owing, probably, to its being coloured with the plant “lutum,” as mentioned at the end of this Chapter. [928] So called, probably, from being made up into little balls resembling the “orobus” or vetch. [929] A powder, probably, prepared from “cæruleum.” See the end of the present Chapter, and Chapter 57 of this Book. Littré renders the words “in lomentum,” kept “in the form of powder,” without reference to the peculiar pigment known as “lomentum.” [930] “Sudore resolutis.” [931] A strong proof that chrysocolla was a preparation from copper, and not cobalt. Copper owes its name to the Isle of Cyprus, in which it was found in great abundance. See Beckmann’s Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p.