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

Beckmann has the following remarks: “This conjecture appears, at any rate, to be ingenious; but when I read the passage again, without prejudice, I can hardly believe that Pliny alludes to a plate of glass in a place where he speaks only of metallic mirrors; and the overlaying with amalgam requires too much art to allow me to ascribe it to such a period without sufficient proof. I consider it more probable, that some person had tried, by means of a polished plate of gold, to collect the rays of light, and to throw them either on the mirror or the object, in order to render the image brighter.”—Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 72. [1055] The dog-headed divinity. The seat of his worship was at Cynopolis, mentioned in B. v. c. 11. Under the Empire his worship became widely spread both in Greece and at Rome. [1056] Under the word “pingit,” he probably includes the art of enamelling silver. [1057] “Fulgoris excæcati.” [1058] “Chaplet” copper. [1059] He either alludes to the practice of clipping the coin, or else to the issue of forged silver denarii, short of weight. [1060] During the prætorship of Marius Gratidianus. He was on terms of great intimacy with Cicero, and was murdered by Catiline in a most barbarous manner during the proscriptions of Sylla. [1061] By public enactment probably; samples of the false denarius being sold for the purpose of showing the difference between it and the genuine coin. [1062] Twenty times one hundred thousand, &c. [1063] As signifying a “debt owing to another.” [1064] “The Rich.” [1065] This seems the best translation for “decoxisse creditoribus suis,” which literally means that he “boiled” or “melted away” his fortune from his creditors. In this remark Pliny is more witty than usual. [1066] The Triumvir. The first person mentioned in Roman history as having the cognomen “Dives,” is P. Licinius Crassus, the personage mentioned in B. xxi. c. 4. As he attained the highest honours of the state, and died universally respected, he cannot be the person so opprobriously spoken of by Pliny. [1067] The meaning appears to be doubtful here, as it is not clear whether “sesterces,” or “sestertia,” “thousands of sesterces,” is meant. [1068] Who cut off his head after his death, and poured molten gold down his throat. [1069] Originally the slave of Antonia, the mother of Claudius. Agrippina, the wife of Claudius, admitted him to her embraces, and in conjunction with her he for some time ruled the destinies of the Roman Empire. He was poisoned by order of Nero, A.D. 63. [1070] C. Julius Callistus, the freedman of Caligula, in whose assassination he was an accomplice. The physician Scribonius Largus dedicated his work to Callistus. [1071] A freedman of the Emperor Claudius, whose epistolary correspondence he superintended. He was put to death on the accession of Nero, A.D. 54. [1072] In which case it would be dangerous to speak of them. [1073] A.U.C. 746. [1074] According to some authorities, he was a Lydian. He derived his wealth from his gold mines in the neighbourhood of Celænæ in Phrygia, and would appear, in spite of Pliny’s reservation, to have been little less than a king. His five sons accompanied Xerxes; but Pythius, alarmed by an eclipse of the sun, begged that the eldest might be left behind. Upon this, Xerxes had the youth put to death, and his body cut in two, the army being ordered to march between the portions, which were placed on either side of the road. His other sons were all slain in battle, and Pythius passed the rest of his life in solitude. [1075] “Stipem spargere.” [1076] A.U.C. 568. [1077] In performance of a vow made in the war with King Antiochus. See Livy, B. xxxix. [1078] So called from the silversmiths who respectively introduced them. The Gratian plate is mentioned by Martial, B. iv. Epigr. 39. [1079] “Etenim tabernas mensis adoptamus.” [1080] “Anaglypta.” Plate chased in relief. It is mentioned in the Epigram of Martial above referred to. [1081] “Asperitatemque exciso circa liniarum picturas,”—a passage, the obscurity of which, as Littré remarks, seems to set translation at defiance. [1082] He alludes, probably to tiers of shelves on the beaufets or sideboards—“repositoria”—similar to those used for the display of plate in the middle ages. Petronius Arbiter speaks of a round “repositorium,” which seems to have borne a considerable resemblance to our “dumb waiters.” The “repositoria” here alluded to by Pliny were probably made of silver. [1083] “Interradimus.” [1084] “Carrucæ.” The “carruca” was a carriage, the name of which only occurs under the emperors, the present being the first mention of it. It had four wheels and was used in travelling, like the “carpentum.” Martial, B. iii. Epig. 47, uses the word as synonymous with “rheda.” Alexander Severus allowed the senators to have them plated with silver. The name is of Celtic origin, and is the basis of the mediæval word “carucate,” and the French _carrosse_. [1085] So called from his victory over the Allobroges. [1086] In allusion to the case of P. Cornelius Rufinus, the consul, who was denounced in the senate by the censors C. Fabricius Luscinus and Q. Æmilius Rufus, for being in possession of a certain quantity of silver plate. This story is also referred to in B. xviii. c. 8, where _ten_ pounds is the quantity mentioned. [1087] This is said ironically. [1088] Sextus Ælius Pœtus Catus, Consul B.C. 198. [1089] “Prandentem.” [1090] L. Paulus Æmilius. [1091] It being lent from house to house. This, no doubt, was said ironically, and as a sneer at their poverty. [1092] Now Arles. It was made a military colony in the time of Augustus. See B. iii. c. 5, and B. x. c. 57. [1093] “Pellitum.” There has been considerable doubt as to the meaning of this, but it is most probable that the “privilege of the fur,” or in other words, a license to be clad in certain kinds of fur, was conferred on certain men of rank in the provinces. Holland considers it to be the old participle of “pello,” and translates the passage “banished out of the country and nation where his father was born.” [1094] “Triclinia.” The couches on which they reclined when at table. [1095] See B. ix. c. 13. [1096] This pattern, whatever it may have been, is also spoken of by Cicero, pro Murenâ, and by Valerius Maximus, B. vii. c. 1. [1097] “Lances.” [1098] “Dispensator.” [1099] “Conservi”—said in keen irony. [1100] Giants, at least, one would think. [1101] Over the party of Marius. [1102] See B. ix. c. 13. [1103] “Compacta;” probably meaning inlaid like Mosaic. [1104] See B. xiii. c. 29, B. xv. c. 7, and B. xvi. cc. 26, 27, 84. [1105] Meaning, “drum sideboards,” or “tambour sideboards,” their shape, probably, being like that of our dumb waiters. [1106] The name given to which was “lanx,” plural “lances.” [1107] His age and country are uncertain. We learn, however, from