THE NATURAL HISTORY OF STONES.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—LUXURY DISPLAYED IN THE USE OF VARIOUS KINDS OF MARBLE.
It now remains for us to speak of stones, or, in other words, the
leading folly of the day; to say nothing at all of our taste for gems
and amber, crystal and murrhine vases.[2352] For everything of which
we have previously treated, down to the present Book, may, by some
possibility or other, have the appearance of having been created for
the sake of man: but as to the mountains, Nature has made those for
herself, as a kind of bulwark for keeping together the bowels of the
earth; as also for the purpose of curbing the violence of the rivers,
of breaking the waves of the sea, and so, by opposing to them the very
hardest of her materials, putting a check upon those elements which
are never at rest. And yet we must hew down these mountains, forsooth,
and carry them off; and this, for no other reason than to gratify our
luxurious inclinations: heights which in former days it was reckoned a
miracle even to have crossed!
Our forefathers regarded as a prodigy the passage of the Alps, first by
Hannibal,[2353] and, more recently, by the Cimbri: but at the present
day, these very mountains are cut asunder to yield us a thousand
different marbles, promontories are thrown open to the sea, and the
face of Nature is being everywhere reduced to a level. We now carry
away the barriers that were destined for the separation of one nation
from another; we construct ships for the transport of our marbles;
and, amid the waves, the most boisterous element of Nature, we convey
the summits of the mountains to and fro: a thing, however, that is
even less unpardonable than to go on the search amid the regions of
the clouds for vessels[2354] with which to cool our draughts, and to
excavate rocks, towering to the very heavens, in order that we may
have the satisfaction of drinking from ice! Let each reflect, when he
hears of the high prices set upon these things, when he sees these
ponderous masses carted and carried away, how many there are whose life
is passed far more happily without them. For what utility or for what
so-called pleasure do mortals make themselves the agents, or, more
truly speaking, the victims of such undertakings, except in order that
others may take their repose in the midst of variegated stones? Just as
though too, the shades of night, which occupy one half of each man’s
existence, would forbear to curtail these imaginary delights.
CHAP. 2.—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO EMPLOY MARBLE IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
Indeed, while making these reflections, one cannot but feel ashamed
of the men of ancient times even. There are still in existence
censorial[2355] laws, which forbid the kernels[2356] in the neck of
swine to be served at table, dormice too, and other things too trifling
to mention: and yet there has been no law passed, forbidding marble to
be imported, or the seas to be traversed in search of it!
(2.) It may possibly be observed, that this was, because marble was not
then introduced. Such, however, is not the fact; for in the ædileship
of M. Scaurus,[2357] three hundred and sixty columns were to be seen
imported; for the decorations of a temporary theatre, too, one that was
destined to be in use for barely a single month. And yet the laws were
silent thereon; in a spirit of indulgence for the amusements of the
public, no doubt. But then, why such indulgence or how do vices more
insidiously steal upon us than under the plea of serving the public? By
what other way, in fact, did ivory, gold, and precious stones, first
come into use with private individuals?
Can we say that there is now anything that we have reserved for the
exclusive use of the gods? However, be it so, let us admit of this
indulgence for the amusements of the public; but still, why did the
laws maintain their silence when the largest of these columns, pillars
of Lucullan[2358] marble, as much as eight-and-thirty feet in height,
were erected in the atrium of Scaurus? a thing, too, that was not
done privately or in secret; for the contractor for the public sewers
compelled him to give security for the possible damage that might be
done in the carriage of them to the Palatium.[2359] When so bad an
example as this was set, would it not have been advisable to take some
precautions for the preservation of the public morals? And yet the laws
still preserved their silence, when such enormous masses as these were
being carried past the earthenware[2360] pediments of the temples of
the gods, to the house of a private individual!
CHAP. 3. (3.)—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO ERECT COLUMNS OF FOREIGN MARBLE AT
ROME.
And yet it cannot be said that Scaurus, by way of a first essay in
vice, took the City by surprise, in a state of ignorance and totally
unguarded against such evils as these. Already had L. Crassus,[2361]
the orator, he who was the first to possess pillars of foreign marble,
and in this same Palatium too, received from M. Brutus, on the occasion
of a dispute, the nickname of the “Palatine Venus,” for his indulgence
in this kind of luxury. The material, I should remark, was Hymettian
marble, and the pillars were but six in number, and not exceeding some
twelve feet in height. Our forefathers were guilty of this omission,
no doubt, because morals were universally contaminated; and, seeing
that things which had been interdicted had been forbidden in vain, they
preferred the absence of laws to laws that were no better than a dead
letter. These particulars and others in the sequel will show that we
are so far improved; for who is there at the present day that has, in
his atrium, any such massive columns as these of Scaurus?
But before proceeding to treat of the several varieties of this
material, it will be as well to mention the various artists, and the
degrees of estimation in which they are held, who have worked in
marble. We will, therefore, proceed to review the sculptors who have
flourished at different periods.
CHAP. 4. (4.)—THE FIRST ARTISTS WHO EXCELLED IN THE SCULPTURE OF
MARBLE, AND THE VARIOUS PERIODS AT WHICH THEY FLOURISHED. THE MAUSOLEUM
IN CARIA. THE MOST CELEBRATED SCULPTORS AND WORKS IN MARBLE, TWO
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE IN NUMBER.
The first artists who distinguished themselves in the sculpture of
marble, were Dipœnus[2362] and Scyllis, natives of the Isle of Crete.
At this period the Medians were still in power, and Cyrus had not begun
to reign in Persia; their date being about the fiftieth Olympiad.
They afterwards repaired to Sicyon, a state which for a length of
time[2363] was the adopted country of all such pursuits as these.
The people of Sicyon had made a contract with them for the execution
of certain statues of the gods; but, before completing the work, the
artists complained of some injustice being done them, and retired to
Ætolia. Immediately upon this, the state was afflicted with sterility
and famine, and dreadful consternation was the result. Upon enquiry
being made as to a remedy for these evils, the Pythian Apollo made
answer, that Dipœnus and Scyllis must complete the statues of the gods;
an object which was attained at the cost of great concessions and
considerable sums of money. The statues were those of Apollo,[2364]
Diana, Hercules, and Minerva; the last of which was afterwards struck
by lightning.
(5.) Before these artists were in existence, there had already appeared
Melas, a sculptor of the Isle of Chios; and, in succession to him, his
son Micciades, and his grandson Archermus;[2365] whose sons, Bupalus
and Athenis, afterwards attained the highest eminence in the art.
These last were contemporaries of the poet Hipponax, who, it is well
known, lived in the sixtieth Olympiad. Now, if a person only reckons,
going upwards from their time to that of their great-grandfather, he
will find that the art of sculpture must have necessarily originated
about the commencement of the era of the Olympiads. Hipponax being a
man notorious for his ugliness, the two artists, by way of joke,[2366]
exhibited a statue of him for the ridicule of the public. Indignant at
this, the poet emptied upon them all the bitterness of his verses; to
such an extent indeed, that, as some believe, they were driven to hang
themselves in despair. This, however, is not the fact; for, at a later
period, these artists executed a number of statues in the neighbouring
islands; at Delos for example, with an inscription subjoined to the
effect, that Chios was rendered famous not only by its vines[2367]
but by the works of the sons of Archermus as well. The people of
Lasos[2368] still show a Diana that was made by them; and we find
mention also made of a Diana at Chios, the work of their hands: it is
erected on an elevated spot, and the features appear stern to a person
as he enters, and joyous as he departs. At Rome, there are some statues
by these artists on the summit of the Temple[2369] of the Palatine
Apollo, and, indeed, in most of the buildings that were erected by the
late Emperor Augustus. At Delos and in the Isle of Lesbos there were
formerly some sculptures by their father to be seen. Ambracia too,
Argos, and Cleonæ, were filled with productions of the sculptor Dipœnus.
All these artists, however, used nothing but the white marble
of the Isle of Paros, a stone which was known as “lychnites” at
first, because, according to Varro, it was cut in the quarries by
lamplight.[2370] Since their time, many other whiter marbles have been
discovered, and very recently that of the quarries of Luna.[2371]
With reference to the marble of Paros, there is one very marvellous
circumstance related; in a single block that was split with wedges, a
figure[2372] of Silenus made its appearance.
We must not omit to remark, that the art of sculpture is of much more
ancient[2373] date than those of painting and of statuary in bronze;
both of which commenced with Phidias, in the eighty-third Olympiad,
or in other words, about three hundred and thirty-two years later.
Indeed, it is said, that Phidias himself worked in marble, and that
there is a Venus of his at Rome, a work of extraordinary beauty, in
the buildings of Octavia.[2374] A thing, however, that is universally
admitted, is the fact that he was the instructor of Alcamenes,[2375]
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 ἐν κήποις,[2376] work to which Phidias himself,
it is said, put the finishing hand. Another disciple also of Phidias
was Agoracritus[2377] of Paros, a great favourite 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
favour 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.[2378] It was accordingly erected at Rhamnus,[2379] a borough
of Attica, and M. Varro has considered it superior to every other
statue. There is also to be seen in the Temple of the Great Mother, in
the same city, another work[2380] by Agoracritus.
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 Athenian Minerva, six and twenty cubits in
height, and composed of ivory and gold; but it is to the shield of this
last statue that 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”[2381]
has been given; and the figures of new-born[2382] 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 thus 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[2383] 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[2384] 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,[2385] and for this reason was
preferred[2386] 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,[2387] and immensely superior
has it always been held in general estimation. At 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[2388] of the statue
admit of being seen from every point of view; an arrangement which
was favoured by the goddess herself, it is generally believed. Indeed,
from whatever point it is viewed, its execution is equally worthy of
admiration. A certain individual, it is said, became enamoured of
this statue, and, concealing himself in the temple during the night,
gratified his lustful passion upon it, traces of which are to be seen
in a stain left upon the marble.[2389]
There are also at Cnidos some other statues in marble, the productions
of illustrious artists; a Father Liber[2390] by Bryaxis,[2391] another
by Scopas,[2392] and a Minerva by the same hand: indeed, there is no
greater proof of the supreme excellence of the Venus of Praxiteles
than the fact that, amid such productions as these, it is the only one
that we generally find noticed. By Praxiteles, too, there is a Cupid,
a statue which occasioned[2393] one of the charges brought by Cicero
against Verres, and for the sake of seeing which persons used to visit
Thespiæ: at the present day, it is to be seen in the Schools[2394]
of Octavia. By the same artist there is also another Cupid, without
drapery, at Parium, a colony of the Propontis; equal to the Cnidian
Venus in the fineness of its execution, and said to have been the
object of a similar outrage. For one Alcetas, a Rhodian, becoming
deeply enamoured of it, left upon the marble similar traces of the
violence of his passion.
At Rome there are, by Praxiteles, a Flora, a Triptolemus, and a Ceres,
in the Gardens of Servilius; statues of Good Success[2395] and Good
Fortune, in the Capitol; as also some Mænades,[2396] and figures known
as Thyiades[2397] and Caryatides;[2398] some Sileni,[2399] to be seen
in the memorial buildings of Asinius Pollio, and statues of Apollo and
Neptune.
Cephisodotus,[2400] the son of Praxiteles, inherited his father’s
talent. There is, by him, at Pergamus, a splendid Group[2401] 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. At Rome there are by him, a Latona, in the
Temple of the Palatium; a Venus, in the buildings that are memorials of
Asinius Pollio; and an Æsculapius, and a Diana, in the Temple of Juno
situate within the Porticos of Octavia.
Scopas[2402] rivals these artists in fame: there are by him, a
Venus[2403] and a Pothos,[2404] statues which are venerated at
Samothrace with the most august ceremonials. He was also the sculptor
of the Palatine Apollo; a Vesta seated, in the Gardens of Servilius,
and represented with two Bends[2405] around her, a work that has been
highly praised; two similar Bends, to be seen upon the buildings of
Asinius Pollio; and some figures of Canephori[2406] in the same place.
But the most highly esteemed of all his works, are those in the Temple
erected by Cneius Domitius,[2407] in the Flaminian Circus; a figure of
Neptune himself, a Thetis and Achilles, Nereids seated upon dolphins,
cetaceous fishes, and[2408] sea-horses,[2409] Tritons, the train of
Phorcus,[2410] whales,[2411] and numerous other sea-monsters, all by
the same hand; an admirable 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,[2412] 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 it
is, that 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[2413]
Apollo, there is an equal degree of uncertainty, whether it is the
work[2414] of Scopas or of Praxiteles. So, too, as to the Father Janus,
a work that was brought from Egypt and dedicated in his Temple[2415]
by Augustus, it is a question by which of these two artists[2416] it
was made: at the present day, however, it is quite hidden from us by
the quantity of gold that covers it. The same question, too, arises
with reference to the Cupid brandishing a Thunderbolt, now to be seen
in the Curia of Octavia: the only thing, in fact, that is affirmed
with any degree of certainty respecting it, is, that it is a likeness
of Alcibiades, who was the handsomest man of his day. There are, too,
in the Schools[2417] of Octavia, many other highly attractive works,
the authors of which are now unknown: four Satyrs, for example, one of
which carries in his arms a Father Liber, robed in the palla;[2418]
another similarly supports the Goddess Libera;[2419] a third is
pacifying a child who is crying; and a fourth is giving a child some
water to drink, from a cup; two Zephyrs also, who agitate their flowing
drapery with their breath. No less is the uncertainty that prevails as
to the authors of the statues now to be seen in the Septa;[2420] an
Olympus[2421] and Pan, and a Charon and Achilles;[2422] and yet their
high reputation has caused them to be deemed valuable enough for their
keepers to be made answerable for their safety at the cost of their
lives.
Scopas had for rivals and contemporaries, Bryaxis,[2423]
Timotheus,[2424] and Leochares,[2425] artists whom we are bound to
mention together, from the fact that they worked together at the
Mausoleum; such being the name of the tomb that was erected by his
wife Artemisia in honour of Mausolus, a petty king of Caria, who
died in the second year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad. It was
through the exertions of these artists more particularly, that this
work came to be reckoned one of the Seven Wonders of the World.[2426]
The circumference[2427] of this building is, in all, four hundred and
forty feet, and the breadth from north to south sixty-three, the two
fronts[2428] being not so wide in extent. It is twenty-five cubits
in height, and is surrounded with six-and-thirty columns, the outer
circumference being known as the “Pteron.”[2429] 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.[2430] 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, to this day even, it is undecided
which of them has excelled. A fifth artist also took part in the work;
for above the Pteron there is a pyramid erected, 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.[2431]
There is at Rome, by Timotheus, a Diana, in the Temple of Apollo
in the Palatium, the head of which has been replaced by Avianius
Evander.[2432] A Hercules, too, by Menestratus,[2433] is greatly
admired; and there is a Hecate of his at Ephesus, in the Temple of
Diana there, behind the sanctuary. The keepers of the temple recommend
persons, when viewing it, to be careful of their eyes, so remarkably
radiant is the marble. No less esteemed, too, are the statues of the
Graces,[2434] in the Propylæum[2435] at Athens; the workmanship of
Socrates the sculptor, a different person from the painter[2436] of
that name, though identical with him in the opinion of some. As to
Myron,[2437] who is so highly praised for his works in bronze, there is
by him at Smyrna, An Old Woman Intoxicated, a work that is held in high
estimation.
Asinius Pollio, a man of a warm and ardent temperament, was
determined that the buildings which he erected as memorials of
himself should be made as attractive as possible; for here we see
groups representing, Nymphs carried off by Centaurs, a work of
Arcesilas:[2438] the Thespiades,[2439] by Cleomenes:[2440] Oceanus and
Jupiter, by Heniochus:[2441] the Appiades,[2442] by Stephanus:[2443]
Hermerotes,[2444] by Tauriscus, not the chaser in silver, already[2445]
mentioned, but a native of Tralles:[2446] a Jupiter Hospitalis[2447]
by Papylus, a pupil of Praxiteles: Zethus and Amphion, with Dirce,
the Bull,[2448] and the halter, all sculptured from a single block
of marble, the work of Apollonius and Tauriscus, and brought to Rome
from Rhodes. These two artists made it a sort of rivalry as to their
parentage, for they declared that, although Apollodorus was their
natural progenitor, Menecrates[2449] would appear to have been their
father. In the same place, too, there is a Father Liber,[2450] by
Eutychides,[2451] highly praised. Near the Portico of Octavia, there
is an Apollo, by Philiscus[2452] of Rhodes, placed in the Temple of
that God; a Latona and Diana also; the Nine Muses; and another Apollo,
without drapery. The Apollo holding the Lyre, in the same temple,
was executed by Timarchides.[2453] In the Temple of Juno, within the
Porticos of Octavia, there is a figure of that goddess, executed
by Dionysius,[2454] and another by Polycles,[2455] as also other
statues by Praxiteles.[2456] This Polycles, too, in conjunction with
Dionysius,[2457] the son of Timarchides, made the statue of Jupiter,
which is to be seen in the adjoining temple.[2458] The figures of Pan
and Olympus Wrestling, in the same place, are by Heliodorus;[2459] and
they are considered to be the next finest group[2460] of this nature in
all the world. The same artist also executed a Venus at the Bath, and
Polycharmus another Venus, in an erect[2461] posture.
By the honourable place which the work of Lysias occupies, we may see
in what high esteem it was held by the late Emperor Augustus, who
consecrated it in honour of his father Octavius, in the Palatium,
placing it on an arch within a small temple, adorned with columns:
it is the figure of a four-horse chariot, with an Apollo and Diana,
all sculptured from a single block. I find it stated, also, that the
Apollo by Calamis, the chaser already[2462] mentioned, the Pugilists
by Dercylides, and the statue of Callisthenes the historian, by
Amphistratus,[2463] all of them now in the Gardens of Servilius, are
works highly esteemed.
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. 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 group was made in concert by three
most eminent artists,[2464] Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus,
natives of Rhodes. In similar manner also, the palaces of the Cæsars,
in the Palatium, have been filled with most splendid statuary, the
work of Craterus, in conjunction with Pythodorus, of Polydeuces with
Hermoläus, and of another Pythodorus with Artemon; some of the statues,
also, are by Aphrodisius of Tralles, who worked alone. The Pantheon of
Agrippa has been decorated by Diogenes of Athens, and the Caryatides,
by him, which form the columns of that temple, are looked upon as
master-pieces of excellence: the same, too, with the statues that are
placed upon the roof, though, in consequence of the height, they have
not had an opportunity of being so well appreciated.
Without glory, and excluded from every temple, is the statue of
Hercules,[2465] in honour of whom the Carthaginians were accustomed to
sacrifice human victims every year: it stands upon the ground before
the entrance of the Portico of the Nations.[2466] There were erected,
too, near the Temple of Felicity, the statues of the Thespian[2467]
Muses; of one of which, according to Varro, Junius Pisciculus, a Roman
of equestrian rank, became enamoured. Pasiteles,[2468] too, speaks
in terms of high admiration of them, the artist who wrote five Books
on the most celebrated works throughout the world. Born upon the
Grecian[2469] shores of Italy, and presented with the Roman citizenship
granted to the cities of those parts, Pasiteles constructed the ivory
statue of Jupiter which is now in the Temple of Metellus,[2470] on the
road to the Campus Martius. It so happened, that being one day at the
Docks,[2471] where there were some wild beasts from Africa, while he
was viewing through the bars of a cage a lion which he was engaged in
drawing, a panther made its escape from another cage, to the no small
danger of this most careful artist. He executed many other works, it is
said, but we do not find the names of them specifically mentioned.
Arcesilaüs,[2472] also, is an artist highly extolled by Varro; who
states that he had in his possession a Lioness in marble of his,
and Winged Cupids playing with it, some holding it with cords, and
others making it drink from a horn, the whole sculptured from a single
block: he says, also, that the fourteen figures around the Theatre
of Pompeius,[2473] representing different Nations, are the work of
Coponius.
I find it stated that Canachus,[2474] an artist highly praised
among the statuaries in bronze, executed some works also in marble.
Saurus,[2475] too, and Batrachus must not be forgotten, Lacedæmonians
by birth, who built the temples[2476] enclosed by the Porticos of
Octavia. Some are of opinion that these artists were very wealthy
men, and that they erected these buildings at their own expense,
expecting to be allowed to inscribe their names thereon; but that, this
indulgence being refused them, they adopted another method of attaining
their object. At all events, there are still to be seen, at the present
day, on the spirals[2477] of the columns, the figures of a lizard and
a frog,[2478] emblematical of their names. In the Temple of Jupiter by
the same artists, the paintings, as well as all the other ornaments,
bear reference to the worship of a goddess. The[2479] fact is, that
when the temple of Juno was completed, the porters, as it is said,
who were entrusted with the carriage of the statues, made an exchange
of them; and, on religious grounds, the mistake was left uncorrected,
from an impression that it had been by the intervention of the
divinities themselves, that this seat of worship had been thus shared
between them. Hence it is that we see in the Temple of Juno, also, the
ornaments which properly pertain to the worship of Jupiter.
Some minute works in marble have also gained reputation for their
artists: by Myrmecides,[2480] there was a four-horse chariot, so small
that it could be covered, driver and all, by the wings of a fly; and by
Callicrates,[2481] some ants, in marble, the feet and other limbs of
which were so fine as to escape the sight.
CHAP. 5. (6.)—AT WHAT PERIOD MARBLE WAS FIRST USED IN BUILDINGS.
This must suffice for the sculptors in marble, and the works that have
gained the highest repute; with reference to which subject it occurs to
me to remark, that spotted marbles were not then in fashion. In making
their statues, these artists used the marble of Thasos also,[2482] one
of the Cyclades, and of Lesbos, this last being rather more livid than
the other. The poet Menander, in fact, who was a very careful enquirer
into all matters of luxury, is the first who has spoken, and that but
rarely, of variegated marbles, and, indeed, of the employment of marble
in general. Columns of this material were at first employed in temples,
not on grounds of superior elegance, (for that was not thought of, as
yet), but because no material could be found of a more substantial
nature. It was under these circumstances, that the Temple[2483] of the
Olympian Jupiter was commenced at Athens, the columns of which were
brought by Sylla to Rome, for the buildings in the Capitol.
Still, however, there had been a distinction drawn between ordinary
stone and marble, in the days of Homer even. The poet speaks in one
passage of a person[2484] being struck down with a huge mass of marble;
but that is all; and when he describes the abodes of royalty adorned
with every elegance, besides brass, gold, electrum,[2485] and silver,
he only mentions ivory. Variegated marbles, in my opinion, were first
discovered in the quarries of Chios, when the inhabitants were building
the walls of their city; a circumstance which gave rise to a facetious
repartee on the part of M. Cicero. It being the practice with them to
show these walls to everybody, as something magnificent; “I should
admire them much more,” said he, “if you had built them of the stone
used at Tibur.”[2486] And, by Hercules! the art of painting[2487] never
would have been held in such esteem, or, indeed, in any esteem at all,
if variegated marbles had been held in admiration.
CHAP. 6.—WHO WERE THE FIRST TO CUT MARBLE INTO SLABS, AND AT WHAT
PERIOD.
I am not sure whether the art of cutting marble into slabs, is not an
invention for which we are indebted to the people of Caria. The most
ancient instance of this practice, so far as I know of, is found in the
palace of Mausolus, at Halicarnassus, the walls of which, in brick, are
covered with marble of Proconnesus. Mausolus died in the second year of
the hundred and seventh[2488] Olympiad, being the year of Rome, 403.
CHAP. 7.—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO ENCRUST THE WALLS OF HOUSES AT ROME WITH
MARBLE.
The first person at Rome who covered the whole of the walls of
his house with marble, according to Cornelius Nepos,[2489] was
Mamurra,[2490] who dwelt upon the Cælian Hill, a member of the
equestrian order, and a native of Formiæ, who had been præfect of
the engineers under C. Cæsar in Gaul. Such was the individual, that
nothing may be wanting to the indignity of the example, who first
adopted this practice; the same Mamurra, in fact, who has been so torn
to pieces in the verses of Catullus of Verona. Indeed, his own house
proclaimed more loudly than Catullus could proclaim it, that he had
come into possession of all that Gallia Comata had had to possess. For
Nepos adds, as well, that he was the first to have all the columns of
his house made of nothing but solid marble, and that, too, marble of
Carystus[2491] or of Luna.[2492]
CHAP. 8.—AT WHAT PERIOD THE VARIOUS KINDS OF MARBLE CAME INTO USE AT
ROME.
M. Lepidus, who was consul with Q. Catulus, was the first to have the
lintels of his house made of Numidian marble, a thing for which he
was greatly censured: he was consul in the year of Rome, 676. This is
the earliest instance that I can find of the introduction of Numidian
marble; not in the form of pillars, however, or of slabs, as was the
case with the marble of Carystus, above-mentioned, but in blocks,
and that too, for the comparatively ignoble purpose of making the
thresholds of doors. Four-years after this Lepidus, L. Lucullus was
consul; the same person who gave its name, it is very evident, to the
Lucullan marble; for, taking a great fancy to it, he introduced it at
Rome. While other kinds of marble are valued for their spots or their
colours, this marble is entirely black.[2493] It is found in the island
of Melos,[2494] and is pretty nearly the only marble that has taken its
name from the person who first introduced it. Among these personages,
Scaurus, in my opinion, was the first to build a theatre with walls of
marble: but whether they were only coated with slabs of marble or were
made of solid blocks highly polished, such as we now see in the Temple
of Jupiter Tonans,[2495] in the Capitol, I cannot exactly say: for, up
to this period, I cannot find any vestiges of the use of marble slabs
in Italy.
CHAP. 9.—THE METHOD OF CUTTING MARBLE INTO SLABS. THE SAND USED IN
CUTTING MARBLE.
But whoever it was that first invented the art of thus cutting marble,
and so multiplying the appliances of luxury, he displayed considerable
ingenuity, though to little purpose. This division, though apparently
effected by the aid of iron, is in reality effected by sand; the saw
acting only by pressing upon the sand within a very fine cleft in the
stone, as it is moved to and fro.
The[2496] sand of Æthiopia is the most highly esteemed for this
purpose; for, to add to the trouble that is entailed, we have to send
to Æthiopia for the purpose of preparing our marble—aye, and as far as
India even; whereas in former times, the severity of the Roman manners
thought it beneath them to repair thither in search of such costly
things even as pearls! This Indian sand is held in the next highest
degree of estimation, the Æthiopian being of a softer nature, and
better adapted for dividing the stone without leaving any roughness
on the surface; whereas the sand from India does not leave so smooth
a face upon it. Still, however, for polishing marble, we find it
recommended[2497] to rub it with Indian sand calcined. The sand of
Naxos has the same defect; as also that from Coptos, generally known as
“Egyptian” sand.
The above were the several varieties of sand used by the ancients
in dividing marble. More recently, a sand has been discovered that
is equally approved of for this purpose; in a certain creek of the
Adriatic Sea, which is left dry at low water only; a thing that
renders it not very easy to be found. At the present day, however, the
fraudulent tendencies of our workers in marble have emboldened them to
use any kind of river-sand for the purpose; a mischief which very few
employers rightly appreciate. For, the coarser the sand, the wider is
the division made in the stone, the greater the quantity of material
consumed, and the more extensive the labour required for polishing the
rough surface that is left; a result of which is that the slabs lose
so much more in thickness. For giving the last polish to marble,[2498]
Thebaic stone[2499] is considered well adapted, as also porous stone,
or pumice, powdered fine.
CHAP. 10. (7.)—STONE OF NAXOS. STONE OF ARMENIA.
For polishing marble statues, as also for cutting and giving a polish
to precious stones, the preference was long given to the stone of
Naxos,[2500] such being the name of a kind of touchstone[2501] that
is found in the Isle of Cyprus. More recently, however, the stones
imported from Armenia for this purpose have displaced those of Naxos.
CHAP. 11.—THE MARBLES OF ALEXANDRIA.
The marbles are too well known to make it necessary for me to enumerate
their several colours and varieties; and, indeed, so numerous are they,
that it would be no easy task to do so. For what place is there, in
fact, that has not a marble of its own? In addition to which, in our
description of the earth and its various peoples,[2502] we have already
made it our care to mention the more celebrated kinds of marble. Still,
however, they are not all of them produced from quarries, but in many
instances lie scattered just beneath the surface of the earth; some
of them the most precious even, the green Lacedæmonian marble, for
example, more brilliant in colour than any other; the Augustan also;
and, more recently, the Tiberian; which were first discovered, in the
reigns respectively of Augustus and Tiberius, in Egypt. These two
marbles differ from ophites[2503] in the circumstance that the latter
is marked with streaks which resemble serpents[2504] in appearance,
whence its name. There is also this difference between the two marbles
themselves, in the arrangement of their spots: the Augustan marble has
them undulated and curling to a point; whereas in the Tiberian the
streaks are white,[2505] not involved, but lying wide asunder.
Of ophites, there are only some very small pillars known to have
been made. There are two varieties of it, one white and soft, the
other inclining to black, and hard. Both kinds, it is said, worn as
an amulet, are a cure for head-ache, and for wounds inflicted by
serpents.[2506] Some, too, recommend the white ophites as an amulet for
phrenitis and lethargy. As a counter-poison to serpents, some persons
speak more particularly in praise of the ophites that is known as
“tephrias,”[2507] from its ashy colour. There is also a marble known as
“memphites,” from the place[2508] where it is found, and of a nature
somewhat analogous to the precious stones. For medicinal purposes, it
is triturated and applied in the form of a liniment, with vinegar, to
such parts of the body as require cauterizing or incision; the flesh
becoming quite benumbed, and thereby rendered insensible to pain.
Porphyrites,[2509] which is another production of Egypt, is of a
red colour: the kind that is mottled with white blotches is known
as “leptospsephos.”[2510] The quarries there are able to furnish
blocks[2511] of any dimensions, however large. Vitrasius Pollio, who
was steward[2512] in Egypt for the Emperor Claudius, brought to Rome
from Egypt some statues made of this stone; a novelty which was not
very highly approved of, as no one has since followed his example.
The Egyptians, too, have discovered in Æthiopia the stone known as
“basanites;”[2513] which in colour and hardness resembles iron,
whence the name[2514] that has been given to it. A larger block of it
has never been known than the one forming the group which has been
dedicated by the Emperor Vespasianus Augustus in the Temple of Peace.
It represents the river Nilus with sixteen children sporting around
it,[2515] symbolical of the sixteen cubits, the extreme height[2516]
to which, in the most favourable seasons, that river should rise. It
is stated, too, that in the Temple of Serapis at Thebes, there is a
block not unlike it, which forms the statue of Memnon[2517] there;
remarkable, it is said, for emitting a sound each morning when first
touched by the rays of the rising sun.
CHAP. 12.—ONYX AND ALABASTRITES; SIX REMEDIES.
Our forefathers imagined that onyx[2518] was only to be found in the
mountains of Arabia, and nowhere else; but Sudines[2519] was aware that
it is also found in Carmania.[2520] Drinking-vessels were made of it at
first, and then the feet of beds and chairs. Cornelius Nepos relates
that great was the astonishment, when P. Lentulus Spinther exhibited
amphoræ made of this material, as large as Chian wine-vessels in size;
“and yet, five years after,” says he, “I saw columns of this material,
no less than two-and-thirty feet in height.” At a more recent period
again, some change took place[2521] with reference to this stone; for
four[2522] small pillars of it were erected by Cornelius Balbus in
his Theatre[2523] as something quite marvellous: and I myself have
seen thirty columns, of larger size, in the banquetting-room which
Callistus[2524] erected, the freedman of Claudius, so well known for
the influence which he possessed.
(8.) This[2525] stone is called “alabastrites”[2526] by some, and
is hollowed out into vessels for holding unguents, it having the
reputation of preserving them from corruption[2527] better than
anything else. In a calcined state, it is a good ingredient for
plaisters.[2528] It is found in the vicinity of Thebes in Egypt and
of Damascus in Syria, that of Damascus being whiter than the others.
The most esteemed kind, however, is that of Carmania, the next being
the produce of India, and then, those of Syria and Asia. The worst in
quality is that of Cappadocia, it being utterly destitute of lustre.
That which is of a honey colour is the most esteemed, covered with
spots curling in whirls,[2529] and not transparent. Alabastrites
is considered defective, when it is of a white or horn colour, or
approaching to glass in appearance.
CHAP. 13.—LYGDINUS; CORALLITIC STONE; STONE OF ALABANDA; STONE OF
THEBAIS; STONE OF SYENE.
Little inferior to it for the preservation of unguents, in the opinion
of many, is the stone, called “lygdinus,”[2530] that is found in Paros,
and never of a larger size than to admit of a dish or goblet being
made of it. In former times, it was only imported from Arabia, being
remarkable for its extreme whiteness.
Great value is placed also upon two other kinds of stone, of quite a
contrary nature; corallitic[2531] stone, found in Asia, in blocks not
more than two cubits in thickness, and of a white somewhat approaching
that of ivory, and in some degree resembling it; and Alabandic
stone, which, on the other hand, is black, and is so called from the
district[2532] which produces it: though it is also to be found at
Miletus, where, however, it verges somewhat more upon the purple. It
admits of being melted by the action of fire, and is fused for the
preparation of glass.
Thebaic stone, which is sprinkled all over with spots like gold, is
found in Africa, on the side of it which lies adjacent to Egypt; the
small hones which it supplies being peculiarly adapted, from their
natural properties, for grinding the ingredients used in preparations
for the eyes. In the neighbourhood of Syene, too, in Thebais, there is
a stone found that is now known as “syenites,”[2533] but was formerly
called “pyrrhopœcilon.”[2534]
CHAP. 14.—OBELISKS.
Monarchs, too, have entered into a sort of rivalry with one another
in forming elongated blocks of this stone, known as “obelisks,”[2535]
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 so
called[2536] in the Egyptian language.
Mesphres,[2537] who reigned in the City of the Sun,[2538] was the first
who erected one of these obelisks, being warned to do so in a dream;
indeed, there is an inscription upon the obelisk to this effect; for
the sculptures and figures which we still see engraved thereon are no
other than Egyptian letters.[2539]
At a later period other kings had these obelisks hewn. Sesosthes[2540]
erected four of them in the above-named city, forty-eight cubits in
height. Rhamsesis,[2541] 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 Mnevis[2542] stood, this monarch
erected another obelisk,[2543] one hundred and twenty cubits in height,
but of prodigious thickness, the sides being no less than eleven cubits
in breadth. (9.) It is said that one hundred and twenty thousand men
were employed upon this work;[2543] 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; he entertaining a respect for this stupendous
erection which he had not entertained for the city itself.
There are also two other obelisks, one of them erected by
Zmarres,[2544] and the other by Phius;[2545] both of them without
inscriptions, and forty-eight cubits in height. Ptolemæus Philadelphus
had one erected at Alexandria, eighty cubits high, which had been
prepared by order of King Necthebis:[2546] 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; but Callixenus[2547] gives the name of Phœnix.
For this purpose, a canal was dug from the river Nilus 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 upon a basis of six square blocks,
quarried from the same mountain, and the artist was rewarded with
the sum of fifty talents.[2548] This obelisk was placed by the king
above-mentioned in the Arsinoœum,[2549] 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, the 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 harbour there, 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. As to the one in
which, by order of the Emperor Caius,[2550] 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, it was brought to Ostia, by order of the late Emperor Claudius;
and towers of Puteolan[2551] earth being first erected upon it, it was
sunk for the construction of the harbour 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 Nilus.
The obelisk that was erected by the late Emperor Augustus in the
Great Circus,[2552] was originally quarried by order of King
Semenpserteus,[2553] in whose reign it was that Pythagoras[2554]
visited Egypt. It is eighty-five feet[2555] and three quarters in
height, exclusive of the base, which is a part of the same stone. The
one that he erected in the Campus Martius, is nine feet less in height,
and was originally made by order of Sesothis. They are both of them
covered with inscriptions, which interpret the operations of Nature
according to the philosophy of the Egyptians.
CHAP. 15. (10.)—THE OBELISK WHICH SERVES AS A DIAL IN THE CAMPUS
MARTIUS.
The one that has been erected in the Campus Martius[2556] has been
applied to a singular purpose by the late Emperor Augustus; that of
marking the shadows projected by the sun, and so measuring the length
of the days and nights. With this object, a stone pavement was laid,
the extreme length of which corresponded exactly with the length of
the shadow thrown by the obelisk at the sixth hour[2557] on the day of
the winter solstice. After this period, the shadow would go on, day
by day, gradually decreasing, and then again[2558] would as gradually
increase, correspondingly with certain lines of brass that were
inserted in the stone; a device well deserving to be known, and due to
the ingenuity of Facundus Novus, the mathematician. Upon the apex of
the obelisk he placed a gilded ball, in order that the shadow of the
summit might be condensed and agglomerated, and so prevent the shadow
of the apex itself from running to a fine point of enormous extent; the
plan being first suggested to him, it is said, by the shadow that is
projected by the human head. For nearly the last thirty years, however,
the observations derived from this dial have been found not to agree:
whether it is that the sun itself has changed its course in consequence
of some derangement of the heavenly system; or whether that the whole
earth has been in some degree displaced from its centre, a thing that,
I have heard say, has been remarked in other places as well; or whether
that some earthquake, confined to this city only, has wrenched the dial
from its original position; or whether it is that in consequence of the
inundations of the Tiber, the foundations of the mass have subsided,
in spite of the general assertion that they are sunk as deep into the
earth as the obelisk erected upon them is high.
(11.) The third[2559] obelisk[2560] at Rome is in the Vaticanian[2561]
Circus, which was constructed by the Emperors Caius[2562] and Nero;
this being the only one of them all that has been broken in the
carriage. Nuncoreus,[2563] the son of Sesoses, made it: and there
remains[2564] another by him, one hundred cubits in height, which, by
order of an oracle, he consecrated to the Sun, after having lost his
sight and recovered it.
CHAP. 16. (12.)—MARVELLOUS WORKS IN EGYPT. THE PYRAMIDS.
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.