PECULIARITIES OF ANIMALS.
The salamander, an animal like a lizard in shape, and with a body
starred all over, never comes out except during heavy showers, and
disappears the moment it becomes fine. This animal is so intensely cold
as to extinguish fire by its contact, in the same way as ice does. It
spits forth a milky matter from its mouth; and from whatever part of the
human body is touched with this, all the hair falls off, and the part
assumes the appearance of leprosy.
[Illustration: GIGANTIC SALAMANDER--_Sieboldia Maxima._]
Man excels most in his sense of touch, and next in that sense of taste.
In other respects, he is surpassed by many of the animals. Eagles can
see more clearly than any other animals, while vultures have the better
smell; moles hear more distinctly than others, although buried in the
earth, so dense and sluggish an element as it is; and though every sound
has a tendency upwards, they can hear the words that are spoken; and, it
is said, that if you talk about them, they will take to flight
immediately. Among men, a person who has not enjoyed the sense of
hearing in his infancy, is deprived of the powers of speech as well.
Among the marine animals, it is not probable that oysters enjoy the
sense of hearing, but it is said that the instant a noise is made the
solen will sink to the bottom; for this reason silence is observed by
persons while fishing at sea.
Fish have neither organs of hearing, nor the exterior orifice. And yet,
it is quite certain that they do hear; for it is a well-known fact, that
in some fish-ponds they are in the habit of being assembled to be fed by
the clapping of the hands. In the fish-ponds, too, that belong to the
Emperor, the fish are in the habit of coming, each kind as it hears its
name. So the mullet, the wolf-fish, the salpa, and the chromis, have a
very exquisite sense of hearing, and for this reason they frequent
shallow water.
[Illustration: HEMIGALE--_Hemigale Hardwickii._]
It is quite manifest that fish have also the sense of smell; for they
are not all to be taken with the same bait, and are seen to smell at it
before they seize it. Some, too, that are concealed in the bottom of
holes, are driven out by the fisherman, by the aid of the smell of
salted fish; with this he rubs the entrance of their retreat in the
rock, immediately upon which they take to flight from the spot, as
though they had recognized the dead carcasses of those of their kind.
Then they will rise to the surface at the smell of certain odors, such,
for instance, as roasted sæpia and polypus; these baits are placed in
the osier kipes used for taking fish. They immediately take to flight
upon smelling the bilge water in a ship's hold, and especially upon
scenting the blood of fish.
The polypus cannot possibly be torn away from the rock to which it
clings; but, apply the herb cunila, and the instant it smells it the
fish quits its hold. Purples also are taken by means of fetid
substances. As to the other kinds of animals, who is there that can feel
any doubt that they possess the sense of smell? Serpents are driven away
by the smell of harts' horns, and ants are killed by the odors of
origanum, lime, or sulphur. Gnats are attracted by acids, but not by
anything sweet.
All animals have the sense of touch, even those which have no other
sense; in the oyster and the worm, this sense is found.
I am strongly inclined to believe, too, that the sense of taste exists
in all animals; for why else should one seek one kind of food, and
another another? In this is to be seen the wondrous power of Nature, the
framer of all things. Some animals seize their prey with their teeth,
others with their claws; some tear it to pieces with their hooked beak;
others, that have a broad bill, wabble in their food; others, with a
sharp nib, work holes into it; others suck at their food, lick it, sup
it in, chew it, or bolt it whole. And no less a diversity is there in
the uses they make of their feet, for the purpose of carrying, tearing
asunder, holding, squeezing, suspending their bodies, or incessantly
scratching the ground.
Serpents will feed on eggs, and the address displayed by the dragon is
quite remarkable. For it will either swallow the egg whole, if its jaws
will allow of it, and roll over and over so as to break it within, and
then by coughing eject the shells: or else, if it is too young to be
able to do so, it will gradually encircle the egg with its coils, and
hold it so tight as to break it at the end, just, in fact, as though a
piece had been cut out with a knife; then holding the remaining part in
its folds, it will suck the contents.
Scorpions live on earth. Serpents, when an opportunity presents itself,
show an especial liking for wine, although in other respects they need
but very little drink. These animals, when kept shut up, require but
little aliment, hardly any at all, in fact. The same is the case also
with spiders, which at other times live by suction. No venomous animal
will die of hunger or thirst. The sphingium and the satyr stow away food
in the pouches of their cheeks, after which they will take it out piece
by piece with their hands and eat it; thus they do for a day or an hour
what the ant usually does for the whole year.
[Illustration: GROUP OF RODENT ANIMALS.]
The only animal with toes upon the feet that feeds upon grass is the
hare, and he will eat corn as well; while the solid-hoofed animals, and
the swine among the cloven-footed ones, will eat all kinds of food, as
well as roots. To roll over and over is a peculiarity of the animals
with a solid hoof. All those which have serrated teeth are carnivorous.
Bears live also upon corn, leaves, grapes, fruit, bees, crabs and ants;
wolves will eat earth even when they are famishing. Cattle grow fat by
drinking; hence salt agrees with them well. All animals ruminate lying
in preference to standing, and more in winter than in summer. The Pontic
mouse also ruminates in a similar manner.
[Illustration: THE CAT--_Felis Doméstica._]
In drinking, those animals which have serrated or canine teeth, lap; and
common mice do the same, although they belong to another class. Those
which have the teeth continuous, horses and oxen, for instance, sup;
bears do neither the one nor the other, but seem to bite at the water,
and so devour it. In Africa, the greater part of the wild beasts do not
drink in summer, through the want of rain; the mice of Libya, when
caught, will die if they drink. The ever-thirsting plains of Africa
produce the oryx, an animal which, in consequence of the nature of its
native locality, never drinks, and which, in a remarkable manner,
affords a remedy against drought: for the Gætulian bandits by its aid
fortify themselves against thirst, by finding in its body certain
vesicles filled with a most wholesome liquid. In this same Africa, also,
the pards conceal themselves in the thick foliage of the trees, and then
spring down from the branches on any creature that may happen to be
passing by, thus occupying what are ordinarily the haunts of the birds.
With what silent stealthiness, with what light steps do the cats creep
towards a bird! How slily they will sit and watch, and then dart out
upon a mouse!
Book VIII.
THE VARIOUS KINDS OF INSECTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE EXTREME SMALLNESS OF INSECTS.
We shall now proceed to a description of insects, a subject replete with
endless difficulties. Insects are numerous, and form many species, and
their mode of life is like that of the terrestrial animals and the
birds. Some, like bees, are furnished with wings; others are divided
into those kinds which have wings, and those which are without them,
such as ants; while others, again, are destitute of both wings and feet.
All these animals have been very properly called "insects," from the
incisures or divisions which separate the body, sometimes at the neck,
and sometimes at the corselet, and so divide it into members or
segments, only united to each other by a slender tube. In some insects,
however, this division is not complete, as it is surrounded by wrinkled
folds; and the flexible vertebrae of the creature, whether situate at
the abdomen, or whether only at the upper part of the body, are
protected by layers, overlapping each other; indeed, in no one of her
works has Nature more fully displayed her exhaustless ingenuity.
In large animals, on the other hand, or, at all events, in the very
largest among them, she found her task easy and her materials ready and
pliable; but in these minute creatures, so nearly akin as they are to
nonentity, how surpassing the intelligence, how vast the resources, and
how ineffable the perfection which she has displayed. Where is it that
she has united so many senses as in the gnat?--not to speak of creatures
that might be mentioned of still smaller size--Where, I say, has she
found room to place in it the organs of sight? Where has she centred the
sense of taste? Where has she inserted the power of smell? And where,
too, has she implanted that sharp shrill voice of the creature, so
utterly disproportioned to the smallness of its body? With what
astonishing subtlety has she united the wings to the trunk, elongated
the joints of the legs, framed that long craving concavity for a belly,
and then inflamed the animal with an insatiate thirst for blood, that of
man especially! What ingenuity has she displayed in providing it with a
sting,[187] so well adapted for piercing the skin! And then too, just as
though she had had the most extensive field for the exercise of her
skill, although the weapon is so minute that it can hardly be seen, she
has formed it with a twofold mechanism, providing it with a point for
the purpose of piercing, and at the same moment making it hollow, to
adapt it for suction.
What teeth, too, has she inserted in the teredo, to adapt it for
piercing even oak with a sound which fully attests their destructive
power! while at the same time she has made wood its principal nutriment.
We willingly yield our admiration to the shoulders of the elephant as
they support the turret, to the stalwart neck of the bull, and the might
with which it hurls aloft whatever comes in its way, to the onslaught of
the tiger, or to the mane of the lion; while at the same time, Nature is
nowhere to be seen to greater perfection than in the very smallest of
her works. For this reason then, I must beg of my readers,
notwithstanding the contempt they feel for many of these objects, not to
feel a similar disdain for the information I am about to give relative
thereto, seeing that, in the study of Nature, there are none of her
works that are unworthy of our consideration.
CHAPTER II.
WHETHER INSECTS BREATHE, AND WHETHER THEY HAVE BLOOD.
Many authors deny that insects breathe, upon the ground that in their
viscera there is no respiratory organ[188] to be found. They assert that
insects have the same kind of life as plants and trees, there being a
very great difference between respiring and merely having life. On
similar grounds also, they assert that insects have no blood, a thing
which cannot exist, they say, in any animal that is destitute of heart
and liver; just as, according to them, those creatures cannot breathe
which have no lungs. Upon these points, however, a vast number of
questions will naturally arise; for the same writers do not hesitate to
deny that these creatures are destitute also of voice,[189] and this,
notwithstanding the humming of bees, the chirping of grasshoppers, and
the sounds emitted by numerous other insects which will be considered in
their respective places. For my part, whenever I have considered the
subject, I have ever felt persuaded that there is nothing impossible to
Nature, nor do I see why creatures should be less able to live and yet
not inhale, than to respire without being possessed of viscera, a
doctrine which I have already maintained, when speaking of the marine
animals; and that, notwithstanding the density and the vast depth of the
water which would appear to impede all breathing. But what person could
very easily believe that there can be any creatures that fly to and fro,
and live in the very midst of the element of respiration, while, at the
same time, they themselves are devoid of that respiration; that they can
be possessed of the requisite instincts for nourishment, working, and
making provision even for time to come, in the enjoyment too of the
powers of hearing, smelling, and tasting, as well as those other
precious gifts of Nature, address, courage, and skilfulness? That these
creatures have no blood I am ready to admit, just as all the terrestrial
animals are not possessed of it; but they have something similar, by way
of equivalent.[190]
Insects, so far as I find myself able to ascertain, seem to have neither
sinews,[191] bones, spines, cartilages, fat, nor flesh; nor yet so much
as a frail shell, like some of the marine animals, nor even anything
that can with any propriety be termed skin; but they have a body which
is of a kind of intermediate nature between all these, of an arid
substance, softer than muscle, and in other respects of a nature that
may, in strictness, be rather pronounced yielding, than hard. Such,
then, is all that they are, and nothing more: in the inside of their
bodies there is nothing, except in a few, which have an intestine
arranged in folds. Hence, even when cut asunder, they are remarkable for
their tenacity of life, and the palpitations which are to be seen in
each of their parts. For every portion of them is possessed of its own
vital principle, which is centred in no limb in particular, but in every
part of the body; least of all, however, in the head, which alone is
subject to no movements unless torn off together with the corselet. No
kind of animal has more feet than the insects have, and those which have
the most, live the longest when cut asunder, as we see in the case of
the scolopendra. They have eyes, as well the senses of touch and taste;
some of them have also the sense of smelling, and a few that of hearing.
CHAPTER III.
BEES.
But among them all, the first rank, and our special admiration, ought,
in justice, to be accorded to bees, which alone, of all the insects,
appear to have been created for the benefit of man. They extract honey
and collect it, a juicy substance remarkable for its extreme sweetness,
lightness, and wholesomeness. They form their combs and collect wax, an
article that is useful for a thousand purposes of life; they are patient
of fatigue, toil at their labors, form themselves into political
communities, hold councils together in private, elect chiefs in common,
and, a thing that is the most remarkable of all, have their own code of
morals. In addition to this, being as they are neither tame nor wild, so
all-powerful is Nature, that, from a creature so minute as to be nothing
more hardly than the shadow of an animal, she has created a marvel
beyond all comparison. What muscular power, what exertion of strength
are we to put in comparison with such vast energy and industry as
theirs? What display of human genius, in a word, shall we compare with
the reasoning powers manifested by them? In this they have, at all
events, the advantage of us--they know of nothing but what is for the
common benefit of all. Away, then, with all questions whether they
breathe or no, and let us be ready to agree on the question of their
blood.--And now let us form some idea of the instinct they display.
Bees keep within the hive during the winter--for whence are they to
derive the strength requisite to withstand frosts and snows, and the
northern blasts? The same, in fact, is done by all insects, but not to
so late a period; as those which conceal themselves in the walls of our
houses are much sooner sensible of the returning warmth. With reference
to bees, either seasons and climates have considerably changed, or else
former writers have been greatly mistaken. They retire for the winter at
the setting of the Vergiliæ, and remain shut up till after the rising of
that constellation, well past the beginning of spring. They do not come
forth to ply their labors until the bean blossoms; but then not a day do
they lose in inactivity, while the weather is favorable for their
pursuits.
First of all, they set about constructing their combs, and forming the
wax, or, in other words, making their dwellings and cells; after this
they produce their eggs and then make honey and wax from flowers, and
extract bee-glue from the tears of those trees which distil glutinous
substances, the juices, gums, and resins, namely, of the willow, the
elm, and the reed. With these substances, as well as others of a more
bitter nature, they first line the whole inside of the hive, as a sort
of protection against the greedy propensities of other small insects, as
they are well aware that they are about to form that which will prove an
object of attraction to them. Having done this, they employ similar
substances in narrowing the entrance to the hive, if otherwise too wide.
The bees also form collections of "bee-bread" to serve as the food of
the bees while they are at work, and is often found stowed away in the
cavities of the cells, being of a bitter flavor. It is produced from the
spring dews and the gummy juices of trees, being less abundant while the
south-west wind is blowing, and blackened by the prevalence of a south
wind. Sometimes it is of a reddish color and becomes improved by the
north-east wind; it is found in the greatest abundance upon the nut
trees in Greece.
Bees form wax from the blossoms of almost all trees and plants. Where
olives are in the greatest abundance, the swarms of bees are the most
numerous. Bees are not injurious to fruit of any kind; they will never
settle on a dead flower, much less a dead carcass. They pursue their
labors within three-score paces of their hives; and when the flowers in
their vicinity are exhausted, they send out scouts from time to time, to
discover places for forage at a greater distance. When overtaken by
night in their expeditions, they watch till the morning, lying on their
backs, in order to protect their wings from the action of the dew.
It is not surprising that there have been persons who have made bees
their exclusive study; Aristomachus of Soli, for instance, who for a
period of fifty-eight years did nothing else; Philiscus of Thasos, also,
surnamed Agrius, who passed his life in desert spots, tending swarms of
bees. Both of these have written works on this subject.
CHAPTER IV.
THE MODE IN WHICH BEES WORK.
The manner in which bees carry on their work is as follows. In the day
time a guard is stationed at the entrance of the hive, like the sentries
in a camp. At night they take their rest until one of them awakes the
others in the morning with a humming noise, repeated twice or thrice,
just as though it were sounding a trumpet. They then take their flight
in a body, if the day is likely to turn out fine; for they have the gift
of foreknowing wind and rain, and in such case will keep close within
their dwellings. On the other hand, in fine weather the swarm issues
forth, and at once applies itself to its work, some loading their legs
from the flowers, while others fill their mouths with water, and charge
the downy surface of their bodies with drops of liquid. Those among them
that are young go forth to their labors, and collect the materials
already mentioned, while those that are more aged stay within the hives
and work. The bees whose business it is to carry the flowers use their
fore feet to load their thighs, which Nature has made rough for the
purpose, and with their trunks load their fore feet: bending beneath
their load, they then return to the hive, where there are three or four
bees ready to receive them and aid in discharging their burdens. For,
within the hive as well, they have their allotted duties to perform:
some are engaged in building, others in smoothing the combs, while
others again are occupied in passing on the materials, and others in
preparing food from the provision which has been brought; that there may
be no unequal division, either in their labor, their food, or the
distribution of their time, they do not even feed separately.
Commencing at the vaulted roof of the hive, they begin the construction
of their cells, and, just as we do in the manufacture of a web, they
construct their cells from top to bottom, taking care to leave two
passages around each compartment, for the entrance of some and the exit
of others. The combs, which are fastened to the hive in the upper part,
and in a slight degree also at the sides, adhere to each other, and are
thus suspended altogether. They do not touch the floor of the hive, and
are either angular or round, according to its shape; sometimes, in fact,
they are both angular and round at once, when two swarms are living in
unison, but have dissimilar modes of operation. They prop up the combs
that are likely to fall, by means of arched pillars, at intervals
springing from the floor, so as to leave them a passage for the purpose
of effecting repairs. The first three ranks of their cells are generally
left empty when constructed; and the last ones, especially, are filled
with honey: hence the combs are always taken out at the back of the
hive.
The bees that are employed in carrying look out for a favorable breeze,
and if a gale should happen to spring up, they poise themselves in the
air with little stones, by way of ballast; some writers say that they
place them upon their shoulders. When the wind is contrary, they fly
close to the ground, taking care, however, to keep clear of the
brambles. It is wonderful what strict watch is kept upon their work: all
instances of idleness are carefully remarked, the offenders are
chastised, and on a repetition of the fault, punished with death. Their
sense of cleanliness, too, is quite extraordinary; everything is removed
that might be in the way, and the rubbish and waste bits made by those
that are at work within, is all collected into one spot, and on stormy
days, when they are obliged to cease their ordinary labors, they employ
themselves in carrying it out. Towards evening, the buzzing in the hive
becomes gradually less and less, until at last one of their number is to
be seen flying about the hive with the same loud humming noise with
which they were aroused in the morning, thereby giving the signal, as it
were, to retire to rest: in this, too, they imitate the usage of the
camp. The moment the signal is heard, all is silent.
They first construct the dwellings of the commonalty, then those of the
king-bee. If they have reason to expect an abundant[192] season, they
add abodes also for the drones: these are cells of a smaller size,
though the drones themselves are larger than the bees.
The drones have no sting, and would seem to be a kind of imperfect bee,
formed the very last of all; a late and tardy offspring, and doomed, in
a measure, to be the slaves of the genuine bees. The others exercise
over them a rigorous authority, compel them to take the foremost rank in
their labors, and if they show any sluggishness, punish them[193]
without mercy. When the honey is beginning to come to maturity, the bees
drive away the drones, and setting upon each in great numbers, put them
all to death. It is only in the spring that the drones are ever to be
seen. If you deprive a drone of its wings, and then replace it in the
hive, it will pull off the wings of the other drones.
In the lower part of the hive they construct for their future sovereign
a palatial abode, spacious and grand, separated from the rest, and
surmounted by a sort of dome: if this prominence should happen to be
flattened, all hopes of progeny are lost. All the cells are hexagonal.
No part of this work is done at any stated time, as the bees seize every
opportunity for the performance of their task when the days are fine; in
one or two days, at most, they fill their cells with honey.
The honey is always best in those countries where it is to be found
deposited in the calix of the most exquisite flowers, such, for
instance, as the districts of Hymettus in Attica, and Hybla in Sicily,
and after them the island of Calydna. At first, honey is thin, like
water, after which it effervesces for some days, and purifies itself
like must. On the twentieth day it begins to thicken, and soon after
becomes covered with a thin membrane, which gradually increases through
the scum which is thrown up by the heat. The honey of the very finest
flavor, and the least tainted by the leaves of trees, is that gathered
from the foliage of the oak and the linden, and from reeds.
In some countries we find the honey-comb remarkable for the goodness of
the wax, as in Sicily and the country of the Peligni; in other places
the honey itself is found in greater abundance, as in Crete, Cyprus, and
Africa; and in others, again, the comb is remarkable for its size; in
Germany a comb has been known to be as much as eight feet in length.
In taking the combs the greatest care is always requisite, for the bees
become desperate when stinted for food, and either pine to death, or
wing their flight to other places: on the other hand, over-abundance
will entail idleness, and they will feed upon the honey, and not the bee
bread. The most careful breeders take care to leave the bees a fifteenth
part of this gathering.
The crop of honey is most abundant if gathered at full moon, and is
richest when the weather is fine. The summer honey is the most esteemed
of all, from the fact of its being made when the weather is dryest: it
is best when made from thyme; it is then of a golden color, and of a
most delicious flavor. Thyme honey does not coagulate, and on being
touched will draw out into thin viscous threads, the proof of its
heaviness. When honey shows no tenacity, and the drops immediately part
from one another, it is looked upon as a sign of its worthlessness.
CHAPTER V.
THE MODE OF GOVERNMENT OF THE BEES.
Let a man employ himself, forsooth, in the enquiry whether there has
been only one Hercules, how many Bacchuses there have been, and all the
other questions which are buried deep in the mould of antiquity! Here
behold a tiny object, one to be met with at most of our country
retreats, and numbers of which are always at hand, and yet, after all,
it is not agreed among authors whether or not the king[194] is the only
one among them that is provided with no sting, and is possessed of no
other arms than those afforded him by his majestic office, or whether
Nature has granted him a sting, and has only denied him the power of
making use of it; it being a well-known fact, that the ruling bee never
does use a sting. The obedience which his subjects manifest in his
presence is quite surprising. When he goes forth, the whole swarm
attends him, throngs about him, surrounds him, protects him, and will
not allow him to be seen. At other times, when the swarm is at work
within, the king is seen to visit the works, and appears to be giving
his encouragement, being himself the only one that is exempt from work:
around him are certain other bees which act as body-guards and lictors,
the careful guardians of his authority. The king never quits the hive
except when the swarm is about to depart; a thing which may be known a
long time beforehand, as for some days a peculiar buzzing noise is to be
heard within, which denotes that the bees are waiting for a favorable
day, and making all due preparations for their departure. On such an
occasion, if care is taken to deprive the king of one of his wings, the
swarm will not fly away. When they are on the wing, every one is anxious
to be near him, and takes a pleasure in being seen in the performance of
its duty. When he is weary, they support him on their shoulders; and
when he is quite tired, they carry him outright. If one of them falls in
the rear from weariness, or happens to go astray, it is able to follow
the others by the aid of its acuteness of smell. Wherever the king bee
happens to settle, that becomes the encampment of all.
Happy omens are sometimes afforded by the swarming of bees, clustering,
as they do, like a bunch of grapes, upon houses or temples; presages
often of great events. Bees settled upon the lips of Plato when still an
infant, announcing thereby the sweetness of that persuasive eloquence
for which he was so noted. Bees settled in the camp of the chieftain
Drusus when he gained the brilliant victory at Arbalo; a proof that the
conjectures of soothsayers are not by any means infallible, for they
consider this always of evil augury. When their leader is withheld from
them, the swarm can always be detained; when lost, it will disperse and
take its departure to find other kings. Without a king, they cannot
exist.
If food fail the inhabitants of any particular hive, the swarm makes a
concerted attack upon a neighboring one, with the view of plundering it.
The swarm attacked at once ranges itself in battle array, and if the
bee-keeper should happen to be present, that side which perceives itself
favored by him will refrain from attacking him. They often fight, for
other reasons, and the two generals are to be seen drawing up their
ranks in battle array against their opponents. The battle is immediately
ended by throwing dust among them, or raising a smoke; and if milk or
honey mixed with water is placed before them, they speedily become
reconciled.
CHAPTER VI.
WASPS AND HORNETS.
Wasps build their nests of mud in lofty places, and make wax: hornets,
on the other hand, build in holes or in the hollows of trees. With these
two kinds the cells are also hexagonal, but, in other respects, though
made of the bark of trees, they strongly resemble the substance of a
spider's web. Their young are found at irregular intervals, and are of
unshapely appearance; while one is able to fly, another is still a mere
pupa, and a third only in the maggot state. The wasp which is known as
the ichneumon, a smaller kind than the others, kills one kind of spider
in particular, known as the phalangium; after which it carries the body
to its nest, covers it over with a sort of gluey substance, and then
sits and hatches from it its young.[195] In addition to this, they are
all of them carnivorous, while bees will touch no animal substance
whatever. Wasps particularly pursue the larger flies, and after catching
them cut off the head and carry away the remaining portion of the body.
Wild hornets live in the holes of trees, and in winter, like other
insects, keep themselves concealed; their life does not exceed two years
in length. Not unfrequently, their sting is productive of an attack of
fever, and there are authors who say that thrice nine stings will
suffice to kill a man. In spring they build their nests, generally with
four entrances, and here the working hornets are produced: after these
have been hatched they form other nests of larger size. These races,
too, have their drones. Neither hornets nor wasps have a king, nor do
they ever congregate in swarms.
CHAPTER VII.
THE SILK-WORM.
Another class of insects spring from a grub of larger size, with two
horns of very peculiar appearance. The larva becomes a caterpillar,
after which it assumes the state in which it is known as _bombylis_,
then that called _necydalus_, and in six months it becomes a silk-worm.
These insects weave webs similar to those of the spider, the material of
which is used for making the more costly and luxurious garments of
ladies, known as "bombycina." Pamphile, a woman of Cos, the daughter of
Platea, was the first person who discovered the art of unravelling these
webs and spinning a tissue therefrom.
The silk-worm is said to be a native of the isle of Cos, where the
vapors of the earth give new life to the flowers of the cypress, the
terebinth, the ash, and the oak which have been beaten down by the
showers. At first they assume the appearance of small butterflies with
naked bodies, but soon after, being unable to endure the cold, they
throw out bristly hairs, and assume quite a thick coat against the
winter, rubbing off the down that covers the leaves, by the aid of the
roughness of their feet. This they compress into balls by carding it
with their claws, and then draw it out and hang it between the branches
of the trees, making it fine by combing it out: last of all, they take
and roll it round their body, thus forming a nest in which they are
enveloped. In this state they are taken; after which they are placed in
earthen vessels in a warm place, and fed upon bran. A peculiar sort of
down soon shoots forth upon the body, on being clothed with which they
are set to work upon another task. The cocoons which they have begun to
form are rendered soft and pliable by the aid of water, and are then
drawn out into threads by means of a spindle made of a reed. Even men
have not felt ashamed to make use of garments formed of this material,
in consequence of their extreme lightness in summer: for, so greatly
have manners degenerated in our day, that, so far from wearing a
cuirass, a thin garment is found to be too heavy.
CHAPTER VIII.
SPIDERS.
It is by no means an absurdity to append to the silk-worm an account of
the spider--a creature worthy of our special admiration. The
_phalangium_ is of small size, with body spotted and running to a point;
their bite is venomous, and they leap as they move from place to place.
Another kind is black, with fore legs remarkable for their length. They
have all of them three joints in the legs. The smaller kind of
wolf-spider does not make a web, but the larger ones make holes in the
earth, and spread their nets at the narrow entrance. A third kind is
remarkable for the skill which it displays in its operations. These spin
a large web, the creature having in itself a certain faculty of
secreting a peculiar sort of woolly substance. How steadily does it work
with its claws, how beautifully rounded and how equal are the threads as
it forms its web, while it employs the weight of its body as an
equipoise! It begins at the middle to weave its web, and then extends it
by adding the threads in rings around, like a warp upon the woof:
forming the meshes at equal intervals, but continually enlarging them as
the web increases in breadth, it finally unites them all by an
indissoluble knot. With what wondrous art does it conceal the snares
that lie in wait for its prey in its checkered nettings! How loose is
the body of the web as it yields to the blasts, and how readily does it
catch all objects which come in its way! You would fancy that it had
left, quite exhausted, the thrums of the upper portion of its net
unfinished where they are spread across; for with the greatest
difficulty can they be perceived, and yet the moment that an object
touches them, like the lines of the hunter's net, they throw it into the
body of the web. With what architectural skill, too, is its hole arched
over, and how well defended by a nap of extra thickness against the
cold! How carefully it retires into a corner, and appears intent upon
something else, all the while keeping so carefully shut up from view,
that it is impossible to perceive whether there is anything within or
not! And then, how extraordinary the strength of the web! When is the
wind ever known to break it, or what accumulation of dust is able to
weigh it down?
The spider often spreads its web right across between two trees, the
thread extending from the very top of the tree to the ground, while the
insect springs up again in an instant from the earth, and travels aloft
by the self-same thread, thus mounting at the same moment and spinning
its threads. When its prey falls into its net, how on the alert it is,
and with what readiness it runs to seize it! Even though it should be
adhering to the very edge of its web, the insect always runs instantly
to the middle, where it can most effectually shake the web, and so
successfully entangle its prey. When the web is torn, the spider
immediately sets about repairing it, and that so neatly, that nothing
like patching can ever be seen. The spider lies in wait even for the
young of the lizard, and after enveloping the head of the animal, bites
its lips; a sight by no means unworthy of the amphitheatre itself, when
it is one's good fortune to witness it. Presages also are drawn from the
spider; for when a river is about to swell, it will suspend its web
higher than usual. As these insects spin not in calm weather, but when
it is cloudy, a great number of cobwebs is a sure sign of showery
weather. It is generally supposed that the female spider spins while the
male lies in wait for prey, thus making an equal division of their
duties.
CHAPTER IX.
LOCUSTS.
Locusts lay their eggs in large masses, in the autumn, in holes which
they form in the ground. These eggs remain underground throughout the
winter, and in the ensuing year, at the close of spring, small locusts
issue from them, of a black color. A wet spring destroys their eggs,
while, if it is dry, they multiply in great abundance.
Locusts are produced only in champaign places, that are full of chinks
and crannies. In India, it is said that they attain the length of
three[196] feet, and that the people dry the legs and thighs, and use
them for saws. Sometimes the winds carry off these creatures in vast
swarms, upon which they fall into the sea or standing waters, and
perish. Some authors have stated, that they are unable to fly during the
night, in consequence of the cold, being ignorant of the fact that they
travel over lengthened tracts of sea for many days together, a thing the
more to be wondered at, as they have to endure hunger all the time as
well, for this it is which causes them to be thus seeking pastures in
other lands. Such a visitation is looked upon as a plague inflicted by
the anger of the gods; for as they fly they appear to be larger than
they really are, while they make such a loud noise with their wings,
that they might be readily supposed to be winged creatures of quite
another species. Their numbers, too, are so vast, that they quite darken
the sun; while the people below are anxiously following them with the
eye, to see if they are about to make a descent, and so cover their
lands. After all, they have the requisite energies for their flight;
and, as though it had been but a trifling matter to pass over the seas,
they cross immense tracts of country, and cover them in clouds which
bode destruction to the harvests. Scorching numerous objects by their
very contact, they eat away everything with their teeth, even the very
doors of the houses.
Those from Africa are the ones which chiefly devastate Italy; and more
than once the Roman people have been obliged to have recourse to the
Sibylline Books, to learn what remedies to employ under their existing
apprehensions of impending famine. In the territory of Cyrenaica[197]
there is a law, which even compels the people to make war, three times a
year, against the locusts, first, by crushing their eggs, next by
killing the young, and last of all by killing those of full growth; and
he who fails to do so, incurs the penalty of being treated as a
deserter. In the island of Lemnos also, there is a certain measure fixed
by law, which each individual is bound to fill with locusts which he has
killed, and then bring it to the magistrates. They pay great respect to
the jack-daw, which flies to meet the locusts, and kills them in great
numbers. In Syria, the people are placed under martial law, and
compelled to kill them: in so many countries does this dreadful pest
prevail. The Parthians look upon them as a choice food, and the
grasshopper as well. The voice of the locust appears to proceed from the
back part of the head. It is generally believed that in this place,
where the shoulders join on to the body, they have, as it were, a kind
of teeth, and by grinding these against each other they produce the
harsh noise which they make. About the two equinoxes they are to be
heard in the same way that we hear the chirrup of the grasshopper about
the summer solstice. In all these kinds of insects the male is of
smaller size than the female.
CHAPTER X.
ANTS.
Ants work in common, like bees; but while the latter make their food,
the former only store it away. If a person compares the burdens which
the ants carry with the size of their bodies, he must confess that there
is no animal which, in proportion, is possessed of a greater degree of
strength. They carry these burdens with the mouth, or, when it is too
large to admit of that, they turn their backs to it, and push it onwards
with their feet, while they use their utmost energies with their
shoulders. These insects have a political community among themselves,
and are possessed of both memory and foresight. They gnaw each grain
before they lay it by, for fear lest it should shoot while under ground;
they divide those grains which are too large for admission, at the
entrance of their holes; and those which have become soaked by the rain,
they bring out and dry.[198] They work, too, by night, during the full
moon. What ardor they display in their labors, what wondrous
carefulness! Because they collect their stores from different quarters,
in ignorance of the proceedings of one another, they have certain days
set apart for holding a kind of market, on which they meet together and
take stock. What vast throngs are then to be seen hurrying together,
what anxious enquiries appear to be made, and what earnest parleys are
going on among them as they meet! We see even the very stones worn away
by their footsteps, and roads beaten down by being the scene of their
labors. Let no one fail to see how much can be effected by assiduity and
application, even in the very humblest of objects! Ants are the only
living beings, besides man, that bestow burial on the dead.
[Illustration: MERIAN'S OPOSSUM.--_Philander Dorsigerus._]
The horns of an Indian ant, suspended in the temple of Hercules, at
Erythræ, have been looked upon as quite miraculous for their size. This
ant excavates gold from holes, in a country in the north of India, the
inhabitants of which are known as the Dardæ. It has the color of a cat,
and is in size as large as an Egyptian wolf.[199] This gold, which it
extracts in the winter, is taken by the Indians during the heats of
summer, while the ants are compelled, by the excessive warmth, to hide
themselves in their holes. Still, however, aroused by the scent of the
Indians, they will sally forth, and frequently tear them to pieces,
though the Indians may be provided with the swiftest camels for the
purpose of flight; so great is their fleetness, combined with their
ferocity and their passion for gold!
Book IX.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF METALS.
CHAPTER I.
GOLD.
We are now about to speak of metals, of actual wealth, the standard of
comparative value, objects for which we diligently search, within the
earth, in numerous ways. In one place, for instance, we undermine it for
the purpose of obtaining riches, to supply the exigencies of life,
searching for either gold or silver, electrum or copper. In another
place, to satisfy the requirements of luxury, our researches extend to
gems and pigments, with which to adorn our fingers and the walls of our
houses: while in a third place, we gratify our rash propensities by a
search for iron, which, amid wars and carnage, is deemed more acceptable
even than gold. We trace out all the veins of the earth, and yet, living
upon it, undermined as it is beneath our feet, are astonished that it
should occasionally cleave asunder or tremble: as though, forsooth,
these signs could be any other than expressions of the indignation felt
by our sacred parent! We penetrate into her entrails, and seek for
treasures in the abodes even of the Manes as though each spot we tread
upon were not sufficiently bounteous and fertile for us!
And yet, amid all this, we are far from making remedies the object of
our researches: and how few in thus delving into the earth have in view
the promotion of medicinal knowledge! For upon her surface she has
presented us with these substances, equally with the cereals, bounteous
and ever ready, as she is, in supplying us with all things for our
benefit! It is what is concealed from our view, what is sunk far beneath
her surface, objects, in fact, of no rapid formation, that urge us to
our ruin, that send us to the very depths of hell. As the mind ranges in
vague speculation, let us only consider, proceeding through all ages, as
these operations are, when will be the end of thus exhausting the earth,
and to what point will avarice finally penetrate! How innocent, how
happy, how truly delightful would life be, if we were to desire nothing
but what is to be found upon the face of the earth; in a word, nothing
but what is provided ready to our hands!
Gold is dug out of the earth, and, in close proximity to it,
chrysocolla, a substance which, that it may appear all the more
precious, still retains the name which it has borrowed from gold. It was
not enough for us to have discovered one bane for the human race, but we
must set a value too upon the very humors of gold.
Alas for the prodigal inventions of man! in how many ways have we
augmented the value of things! In addition to the standard value of
these metals, the art of painting lends its aid, and we have rendered
gold and silver still more costly by the art of chasing them. Man has
learned how to challenge both Nature and art to become the incitements
to vice! But in lapse of time, the metals passed out of fashion, and men
began to make no account of them; gold and silver, in fact, became too
common. From this same earth we have extracted vessels and vases of
crystal, objects the very fragility of which is considered to enhance
their value. In fact, it has come to be looked upon as a proof of
opulence, and as quite the glory of luxury, to possess that which may be
irremediably destroyed in an instant. Nor was even this enough;--we now
drink from a mass of gems, and we set our goblets with smaragdi; we take
delight in possessing the wealth of India, as the promoter of
intoxication, and gold is now nothing more than a mere accessory.
Would that gold could have been banished forever from the earth,
accursed by universal report, as some of the most celebrated writers
have expressed themselves, reviled by the reproaches of the best of men,
and looked upon as discovered only for the ruin of mankind. How much
more happy the age when things themselves were bartered for one another;
as was the case in the times of the Trojan war, if we are to believe
what Homer says. For, in this way, in my opinion, was commerce then
carried on for the supply of the necessaries of life. Some, he tells us,
would make their purchases by bartering ox-hides, and others by
bartering iron or the spoil which they had taken from the enemy: and yet
he himself, already an admirer of gold, was so far aware of the relative
value of things, that Glaucus, he informs us, exchanged his arms of
gold, valued at one hundred oxen, for those of Diomedes, which were
worth but nine.
CHAPTER II.
THE ORIGIN OF GOLD RINGS.
The worst crime against mankind was committed by him who was the first
to put a ring upon his fingers. All the stories told about Prometheus, I
look upon as utterly fabulous, although I am aware that the ancients
used to represent him with a ring of iron: it was their intention,
however, to signify a chain thereby, and not an ornament. As to the ring
of Midas, which, upon the collet being turned inwards, conferred
invisibility upon the wearer, who is there that must not admit,
perforce, that this story is even still more fabulous? It was the hand,
and a sinister hand, too, in every sense, that first brought gold into
such high repute: not a Roman hand, however, for upon that it was the
practice to wear a ring of iron only, solely as an indication of warlike
prowess.
As to the usage followed by the Roman kings, it is not easy to pronounce
an opinion: the statue of Romulus in the Capitol wears no ring, nor does
any other statue--not that of L. Brutus even--with the sole exception of
those of Numa and Servius Tullius. I am surprised at this absence of the
ring, in the case of the Tarquinii more particularly, seeing that they
were originally from Greece, a country from which the use of gold rings
was first introduced; though even at the present day the people of
Lacedæmon are in the habit of wearing rings made of iron. Tarquinius
Priscus was the first who presented his son with the golden bulla, on
the occasion of his slaying an enemy before he had laid aside the
prætexta; from which period the custom of wearing the bulla has been
continued, a distinction confined to the children of those who have
served in the cavalry, those of other persons simply wearing a leather
thong. Such being the case, I am the more surprised that the statue of
this Tarquinius should be without a ring.
Rings were given, at the public expense, to those who were about to
proceed on an embassy to foreign nations, the reason being, I suppose,
because men of highest rank among foreign nations were perceived to be
thus distinguished. Nor was it the practice for any person to wear these
rings, except those who for this reason had received them at the public
expense; and in most instances the Roman generals celebrated their
public triumphs without this distinction. Those, too, who had received
golden rings on the occasion of an embassy, wore them only when in
public, resuming the ring of iron when in their houses. At the present
day only an iron ring is sent by way of present to a woman when
betrothed, and that, too, without any stone in it.
For my own part, I do not find that any rings were used in the days of
the Trojan War; at all events, Homer nowhere mentions them; for although
he speaks of the practice of sending tablets by way of letters, of
clothes and gold and silver plate being kept laid up in chests, still he
gives us to understand that they were kept secure by the aid of a knot
tied fast, and not under a seal impressed by a ring.
It was the custom at first to wear rings on a single finger, the one
next to the little finger; and this we see the case in the statues of
Numa and Servius Tullius. In later times, it became the practice to put
rings on the finger next to the thumb, even in the case of the statues
of the gods; and more recently, again, it has been the fashion to wear
them upon the little finger as well. Among the peoples of Gallia and
Britannia, the middle finger, it is said, is used for this purpose. At
the present day, however, among us, this is the only finger that is
excepted, all the others being loaded with rings, smaller rings even
being separately adapted for the smaller joints of the fingers. Some
there are who heap several rings upon the little finger alone; while
others, again, wear but one ring upon this finger, the ring that sets a
seal upon the signet-ring itself, this last being kept carefully shut up
as an object of rarity, too precious to be worn in common use, and only
to be taken from the cabinet as from a sanctuary. And thus is the
wearing of a single ring upon the little finger no more than an
ostentatious advertisement that the owner has property of a more
precious nature under seal at home!
CHAPTER III.
COINS OF GOLD.
The next crime committed against the welfare of mankind was on the part
of him who was the first to coin a denarius of gold, a crime the author
of which is equally unknown. The Roman people made no use of impressed
silver even before the period of the defeat of King Pyrrhus.
King Servius was the first to make an impress upon copper. Before his
time, according to Timæus, at Rome, the raw metal only was used. The
form of a sheep was the first figure impressed upon money, and to this
fact it owes its name, "pecunia," from "pecus," a sheep.
Silver was not impressed with a mark until the year of the City 485, the
year of the consulship of Ogulnius and Fabius, five years before the
First Punic War; at which time it was ordained that the value of the
denarius should be ten asses of copper. The weight, however, of the
libra of copper was diminished during the First Punic War, the republic
not having means to meet its expenditure: in consequence of which, an
ordinance was made that the as should in future be struck of two ounces
weight. By this contrivance a saving of five-sixths was effected, and
the public debt was liquidated. The impression upon these copper coins
was a two-faced Janus on one side, and the beak of a ship of war on the
other. At a later period, when Hannibal was pressing hard upon Rome, in
the dictatorship of Q. Fabius Maximus, asses of one ounce weight were
struck, and it was ordained that the value of the denarius should be
sixteen asses, by which last reduction of the weight of the as the
republic made a clear gain of one half. Still, however, so far as the
pay of the soldiers is concerned, one denarius has always been given for
every ten asses. The impressions upon the coins of silver were two-horse
and four-horse chariots, and hence it is that they received the names of
"bigati" and "quadrigati."
The first golden coin was struck sixty-two years after that of silver.
But the invention of money opened a new field to human avarice, by
giving rise to the practice of lending money at interest, while the
owner passes a life of idleness: and it was with no slow advances that,
not merely avarice, but a perfect hunger for gold became inflamed with a
sort of rage for acquiring. Septimuleius, the familiar friend of Caius
Gracchus, not only cut off the latter's head, upon which a price had
been set of its weight in gold, but, before bringing it to Opimius,
poured molten lead into the mouth, and so not only was guilty of the
crime of parricide, but added to his criminality by cheating the state.
And the Roman name was rendered infamous by avarice, when King
Mithridates caused molten gold to be poured into the mouth of Aquilius,
the Roman general, whom he had taken prisoner.
One cannot but feel ashamed, on looking at those new-fangled names which
are invented every now and then, from the Greek language, by which to
designate vessels of silver, filagreed or inlaid with gold, and the
various other practices by which such articles of luxury, when only
gilded, are made to sell at a higher price than they would have done if
made of solid gold. Spartacus forbade any one of his followers to
introduce either gold or silver into the camp--so much more nobleness of
mind was there in those days, even in runaway slaves.
I am much surprised that the Roman people has always imposed upon
conquered nations a tribute in silver, and not in gold. From Carthage,
after its conquest under Hannibal, a ransom was exacted in the shape of
a yearly payment, for fifty years, of silver, eight hundred thousand
pounds' weight in all, but no gold. And yet it does not appear that this
could have arisen from there being so little gold then in use throughout
the world. Midas and Croesus, before this, had possessed gold to an
endless amount: Cyrus, on his conquest of Asia, had found a booty
consisting of twenty-four thousand pounds' weight of gold, in addition
to vessels and other articles of wrought gold, as well as leaves of
trees, a plane-tree, and a vine, all made of that metal. In this
conquest, he carried off five hundred thousand talents of silver, as
well as the vase[200] of Semiramis, the weight of which alone amounted
to fifteen talents.
Saulaces, king of Colchis, the land of the Golden Fleece, had golden
arches to his palace, and silver supports, columns, and pilasters, all
of which he had come into possession of on the conquest of Sesostris,
king of Egypt; a monarch so haughty, that every year, it is said, it was
his practice to select one of his vassal kings by lot, and yoking him to
his car, celebrate his triumph afresh.
At the games celebrated by Caius Antonius the stage was made of silver.
The Emperor Caius had a scaffold introduced into the Circus, upon which
there were one hundred and twenty-four thousand pounds' weight of
silver. His successor, Claudius, on the occasion of his triumph over
Britain, announced by the inscriptions that among the coronets of gold,
there was one weighing seven thousand pounds, contributed by Nearer
Spain, and another of nine thousand pounds, presented by Gallia Comata.
Nero, who succeeded him, covered the Theatre of Pompey with gold for one
day, the occasion on which he displayed it to Tiridates, king of
Armenia. And yet how small was this theatre in comparison with that
Golden Palace of his, with which he environed our city.
The first statue of solid gold was erected in the Temple of the goddess
Anaïtis, a divinity held in the highest veneration. This statue was
carried off during the wars of Antonius with the people of Parthia; and
a witty saying is told, with reference to it, of one of the veterans of
the Roman army, a native of Bononia. Entertaining on one occasion the
late Emperor Augustus at dinner, he was asked by that prince whether he
was aware that the person who committed the violence of carrying off the
statue, had been struck with blindness and paralysis, and then expired.
To this he made answer, that at that very moment Augustus was making his
dinner off of one of her legs, for he himself was the very man, and to
that bit of plunder he had been indebted for all his fortune.
CHAPTER IV.
SILVER.
We come next to speak of silver ore, another egregious folly of mankind.
Silver is never found but in shafts sunk deep in the ground, there being
no indications on the surface to raise hopes of its existence, no
shining sparkles, as in the case of gold. The earth in which it is found
is sometimes red, sometimes of an ashy hue. It is impossible, too, to
melt it, except in combination with lead or galena, the latter being the
name given to the vein of lead that is mostly found running near the
veins of the silver ore. When submitted to the action of fire, part of
the ore precipitates itself in the form of lead, while the silver is
left floating on the surface, like oil[201] on water.
Silver is found in nearly all our provinces, but the finest of all is
that of Spain; where it is found, like gold, in uncultivated soils, and
in the mountains. Wherever one vein of silver has been met with, another
is sure to be found not far off: a fact that has been remarked in the
case of nearly all the metals, which have thus derived their Greek name
of "metalla."[202] It is a remarkable fact, that the shafts opened by
Hannibal in the Spanish provinces are still worked, their names being
derived from the persons who were the first to discover them. One of
these mines, still called Bæbelo at the present day, furnished Hannibal
with three hundred pounds' weight of silver per day. The mountain is
excavated for a distance of fifteen hundred paces; and throughout the
whole of this distance water-bearers stand night and day, baling out the
water in turns, by the dim light of torches.
The vein of silver that is found nearest the surface is known by the
name of "crudaria," raw silver. In ancient times, the excavations used
to be abandoned the moment alum was met with, and no further search was
made. Of late, however, the discovery of a vein of copper beneath alum,
has withdrawn any such limits to man's hopes. The exhalations from
silver-mines are dangerous to all animals, particularly to dogs. The
softer they are, the more beautiful gold and silver are considered.
There are two kinds of silver. On placing a piece upon an iron-shovel at
a white heat, if the metal remains perfectly white, it is of the best
quality: if it turns a reddish color, it is inferior; but if it becomes
black, it is worthless. Fraud, however, has devised means of stultifying
this test even; for by keeping the shovel immersed in ammonia, the piece
of silver absorbs it as it burns, and so displays a fictitious
whiteness.
CHAPTER V.
MIRRORS.
It is generally supposed among us that only the very finest silver
admits of being laminated, and so converted into mirrors. Pure silver
was formerly used for the purpose, but, at the present day, this has
been corrupted by the devices of fraud. But, really, it is a very
marvellous property that this metal has, of reflecting objects. If a
thick plate of this metal is highly polished, and is rendered slightly
concave, the image or object reflected is enlarged to an immense extent.
Even more than this--drinking-cups are now made in such a manner, as to
be filled inside with numerous concave facets, like so many mirrors; so
that if but one person looks into the interior, he sees reflected a
whole multitude of persons.
Mirrors invented to reflect monstrous forms have been consecrated in the
Temple at Smyrna. It makes all the difference whether the surface has a
concave form like the section of a drinking cup, or whether it is convex
like a Thracian buckler; the peculiar configuration of the surface which
receives the shadows, causing them to undergo corresponding distortions:
for, in fact, the image is nothing else but the shadow of the object
collected upon the bright surface of the metal.
However, to finish our description of mirrors on the present
occasion--the best, in the times of our ancestors, were those of
Brundisium, composed of a mixture of stannum and copper: at a later
period those made of silver were preferred, Pasiteles being the first
Roman who made them, in the time of Pompey the Great.
The people of Egypt stain their silver vessels, that they may see
represented in them their god Anubis; and it is the custom with them to
paint, and not to chase, their silver. This usage has now passed to our
own triumphal statues; and, a truly marvellous fact, the value of silver
has been enhanced by deadening its brilliancy. The following is the
method adopted: with the silver are mixed two-thirds of the very finest
Cyprian copper, that known as "coronarium," and a proportion of live
sulphur equal to that of the silver. The whole of these are then melted
in an earthen vessel well luted with potter's clay, the operation being
completed when the cover becomes detached from the vessel. Silver admits
also of being blackened with the yolk of a hard-boiled egg; a tint,
however, which is removed by the application of vinegar and chalk.
The Triumvir Antonius alloyed the silver denarius with iron: and in
spurious coin there is an alloy of copper employed. It is truly
marvellous, that in this art, and in this only, the various methods of
falsification should be made a study:[203] for the sample of the false
denarius is now an object of careful examination, and people absolutely
buy the counterfeit coin at the price of many genuine ones!
CHAPTER VI.
INSTANCES OF IMMENSE WEALTH.
The ancients had no number whereby to express a larger sum than one
hundred thousand; and at the present day, we reckon by multiples of that
number, as, for instance, ten times one hundred thousand, and so on. For
these multiplications we are indebted to usury and the use of coined
money; hence the expressions "æs alienum," or "another man's money,"
which we still use to signify debt, and in later times the surname
"Dives," rich: only be it known to all, that the man who first received
this surname became a bankrupt and bubbled his creditors.[204] Marcus
Crassus, a member of the same family, used to say that no man was rich
who could not maintain a legion upon his yearly income. He possessed in
land two hundred millions of sesterces, being the richest Roman citizen
next to Sylla. Nor was even this enough for him, but he must want to
possess all the gold of the Parthians too![205] And yet, although he was
the first to become memorable for his opulence--so pleasant is the task
of stigmatizing this insatiate cupidity--we have known of many
manumitted slaves, since his time, much more wealthy than he ever was;
three for example, all at the same time, in the reign of the Emperor
Claudius: Pallas, Callistus, and Narcissus.
But to omit further mention of these men, let us turn to Caius Cæcilius
Claudius Isidorus, who, in the consulship of Gallus and Censorinus, upon
the sixth day before the calends of February, declared by his will, that
though he had suffered great losses through the civil wars, he was still
able to leave behind him four thousand one hundred and sixteen slaves,
three thousand six hundred pairs of oxen, and two hundred and
fifty-seven thousand heads of other kind of cattle, besides, in ready
money, sixty millions of sesterces. Upon his funeral, also, he ordered
eleven hundred thousand sesterces to be expended.
And yet, supposing all these enormous riches to be added together, how
small a proportion will they bear to the wealth of Ptolemæus; the person
who, according to Varro, when Pompey was on his expedition in the
countries adjoining Judæa, entertained eight thousand horsemen at his
own expense, and gave a repast to one thousand guests, setting before
every one of them a drinking-cup of gold, and changing these vessels at
every course! And then, again, how insignificant would his wealth have
been by the side of that of Pythius the Bithynian[206]--for I here make
no mention of kings. He it was who gave the celebrated plane-tree and
vine of gold to King Darius, and who entertained at a banquet the troops
of Xerxes, seven hundred and eighty-eight thousand men in all; with a
promise of pay and corn for the whole of them during the next five
months, on condition that one at least of his five children, who had
been drawn for service, should be left to him as the solace of his old
age. And yet, let any one compare the wealth of Pythius to that
possessed by King Croesus!
In the name of all that is unfortunate, what madness it is for human
nature to centre its desires upon a thing that has either fallen to the
lot of slaves, or else has reached no known limit in the aspirations
even of kings!
CHAPTER VII.
INSTANCES OF LUXURY IN SILVER PLATE.
The caprice of the human mind is marvellously exemplified in the varying
fashions of silver plate; the work of no individual manufactory being
for any long time in vogue. At one period, the Furnian[207] plate, at
another the Clodian, and at another the Gratian, is all the rage--for we
borrow the shop even at our tables. Now again, it is embossed plate that
we are in search of, and silver deeply chiselled around the marginal
lines of the figures painted upon it; and now we are building up on our
sideboards fresh tiers of shelves for supporting the various dishes.
We find the orator Calvus complaining that the saucepans are made of
silver; but it has been left for us to invent a plan of covering our
very carriages with chased silver, and in our own age Poppæa, the wife
of the Emperor Nero, ordered her favorite mules to be shod with gold!
The younger Scipio Africanus left to his heir thirty-two pounds' weight
of silver: the same person who, on his triumph over the Carthaginians,
displayed four thousand three hundred and seventy pounds' weight of that
metal. Such was the sum total of the silver possessed by the whole of
the inhabitants of Carthage, that rival of Rome for the empire of the
world! How many a Roman since then has surpassed her in his display of
plate for a single table! After the destruction of Numantia, the same
Africanus gave to his soldiers, on the day of his triumph, a largess of
seven denarii each--and right worthy were they of such a general, when
satisfied with such a sum! His brother, Scipio Allobrogicus, was the
very first who possessed one thousand pounds' weight of silver, but
Drusus Livius, when he was tribune of the people, possessed ten
thousand. That an ancient warrior, Rufinus the consul, a man, too, who
had enjoyed a triumph, should have incurred the notice of the censor for
being in possession of five pounds' weight of silver, is a thing that
would appear quite fabulous at the present day.
For a long time past it has been the fashion to plate the couches of our
women, as well as some of our banqueting-couches, entirely with silver.
Two centuries ago these couches were invented, as well as chargers of
silver, one hundred pounds in weight: it is a well-known fact, that
there were then upwards of one hundred and fifty of these in Rome, and
that many persons were proscribed through the devices of others who were
desirous to gain possession thereof. Well may our Annals be put to the
blush for having to impute those civil wars to the existence of such
vices as these!
Our own age, however, has waxed even stronger in this respect. In the
reign of Claudius, his slave Drusillanus, surnamed Rotundus, who acted
as his steward in Nearer Spain, possessed a silver charger weighing five
hundred pounds, for the manufacture of which a workshop had to be
expressly built. This charger was accompanied also by eight other
dishes, each two hundred and fifty pounds in weight. How many of his
fellow-slaves, pray, would it have taken to introduce these dishes, or
who were to be the guests served therefrom? Compare this extravagance
with the simplicity of the times of Fabricius, who would allow no
general of an army to have any other plate of silver than a patera and a
salt-cellar.--Oh that he could see how that the rewards of valor in our
day are either composed of these objects of luxury, or are broken up to
make them! Alas for the morals of our age! Fabricius puts us to the
blush.
It is a remarkable fact that the art of chasing gold should have
conferred no celebrity upon any person, while that of embossing silver
has rendered many illustrious. The greatest renown, however, has been
acquired by Mentor. Aside from single pieces only four pairs of vases
were ever made by him, and at the present day not one of these, it is
said, is any longer in existence, owing to the conflagrations of the
Temple of Diana at Ephesus and of that in the Capitol. Varro informs us
in his writings that he also was in possession of a bronze statue, the
work of this artist. Zopyrus represented the court of the Areopagus and
the trial of Orestes for the murder of his mother Clytæmnestra upon two
cups valued at twelve thousand sesterces. There was Pytheas also, a work
of whose sold at the rate of ten thousand denarii for two ounces: it was
a drinking-bowl, the figures on which represented Ulysses and Diomedes
stealing the Palladium from Troy. The same artist engraved also, upon
some small drinking-vessels, kitchen scenes of such remarkably fine
workmanship and so liable to injury, that it was quite impossible to
take copies of them by moulding. Teucer, too, the inlayer, enjoyed a
great reputation.
All at once, however, this art became so lost in point of excellence,
that at the present day ancient specimens are the only ones at all
valued; and only those pieces of plate are held in esteem the designs on
which are so much worn that the figures cannot be distinguished.
CHAPTER VIII.
BRONZE.[208]
We must, in the next place, give an account of the ores of bronze, an
alloy which, in respect of utility, is next in value; indeed the
Corinthian bronze comes before silver, not to say almost before gold
itself. It is also the standard of monetary value; I have already
mentioned that for a great length of time the Roman people employed no
coin except bronze, and there is another ancient fact which proves that
the esteem in which it was held was of equal antiquity with that of the
City itself, the circumstance that the third associated body which Numa
established, was that of the braziers.[209]
The most highly esteemed copper is procured beyond the seas; it was
formerly obtained in Campania, and at present is found in the country of
the Bergomates, at the extremity of Italy. It is said to have been
lately discovered also in the province of Germany.
Formerly a mixture was made of copper fused with gold and silver, and
the workmanship in this metal was considered even more valuable than the
material itself; but, at the present day, it is difficult to say whether
the workmanship in it, or the material, is the worse. But in this, as in
everything else, what was formerly done for the sake of reputation, is
now undertaken for the mere purpose of gain. This art was ascribed to
the gods themselves, and men of rank in all countries endeavored to
acquire fame by the practice of it, but we have now so entirely lost the
method of making this valuable compound by fusion, that, for a long time
past, not even chance itself has assumed the privilege which formerly
belonged to art.
Next to this compound, so celebrated in antiquity, the Corinthian metal
has been the most highly esteemed. This was a compound produced by
accident, when Corinth was burnt at the time of its capture. There has
been a wonderful mania with many for gaining possession of this metal.
Verres, whom Cicero caused to be condemned, was proscribed by Antonius,
along with Cicero, for no other reason than his refusal to give up some
specimens of Corinthian bronze which were in his possession.
Corinth was captured in the third year of the 158th Olympiad, being the
year of the City, 608,[210] some ages after the period when those
artists flourished, who produced all the specimens of what these persons
now call Corinthian metal. The only genuine Corinthian vessels are those
which these men of taste metamorphose, sometimes into table dishes,
sometimes into lamps, or even into wash-basins, without any regard to
decency. They are of three kinds; the white variety, approaching very
nearly to the splendor of silver, and in which that metal forms a large
proportion of the compound; a second kind, in which the yellow color of
gold predominates; and a third, in which all the metals are mixed in
equal proportions. Besides these, there is another mixture, the
composition of which it is impossible to describe, for although it has
been formed into images and statues by the hand of man, it is chance
that rules in the formation of the compound. The last is highly prized
for its color, which approaches to that of liver, but is far inferior to
the Corinthian metal, though much superior to the Æginetan and Delian,
which long held the first rank.
The Delian bronze was the first that became famous, all the world coming
to Delos to purchase it; and hence the attention paid to the manufacture
of it. It was in this island that bronze first obtained celebrity for
the manufacture of the feet and supports of dining-couches. After some
time it came to be employed for the statues of the gods and the effigies
of men and other animated beings.
The next most esteemed bronze was the Æginetan; the island being famous
not for the metal produced there, but because the annealing of the
Æginetan manufactories was so excellent. A bronze Ox, which was taken
from this island, now stands in the cattle market at Rome. This is a
typical specimen of the Æginetan metal, as the Jupiter in the Temple of
Jupiter Tonans, in the Capitol, is of the Delian. Myron used the former
metal and Polycletus the latter; they were contemporaries and
fellow-pupils, and there was great rivalry between them.
Ægina was particularly famous for the manufacture of sockets for
lamp-stands, as Tarentum was for that of the branches; the most complete
articles were, therefore, produced by the union of the two. There are
persons who are not ashamed to give for one a sum equal to the salary of
a military tribune, although, as its name indicates, its only use is to
hold a lighted candle. On the sale of one of these lamp-stands, Theon
the public crier announced, that the purchaser must also take, as part
of the lot, one Clesippus, a fuller, who was hump-backed, and in other
respects of a hideous aspect. The purchase was made by a lady named
Gegania, for fifty thousand sesterces.
The ancients were in the habit of making the door-sills and even the
doors of the temples of bronze. Cneius Manlius was the first who
introduced bronze banqueting-couches, buffets, and tables with single
feet, when he entered the City in triumph, in the year of Rome 567,
after his conquests in Asia. We also learn from Antias, that the heirs
of Lucius Crassus, the orator, sold a number of banqueting-couches
adorned with bronze. The tripods, which were called Delphian, because
they were devoted more particularly to receiving the offerings that were
presented to the Delphian Apollo, were usually made of bronze: also the
pendant lamps, so much admired, which were placed in the temples, or
gave their light in the form of trees loaded with fruit.
CHAPTER IX.
STATUES OF BRONZE.
But after some time the artists everywhere applied themselves to
representations of the gods. I find that the first bronze image, which
was made at Rome, was that of Ceres; and that the expenses were defrayed
out of the property that belonged to Spurius Cassius, who was put to
death by his own father, for aspiring to the regal office. The practice,
however, soon passed from the gods to the statues and representations of
men, and this in various forms. The ancients stained their statues with
bitumen, which makes it the more remarkable that they were afterwards
fond of covering them with gold. I do not know whether this was a Roman
invention; but it certainly has the repute of being an ancient practice
at Rome.
It was not the custom in former times to give the likeness of
individuals, except of such as deserved to be held in lasting
remembrance on account of some illustrious deed; in the first instance,
for a victory at the sacred games, and more particularly the Olympic
Games, where it was the usage for the victors always to have their
statues consecrated. And if any one was so fortunate as to obtain the
prize there three times, his statue was made with the exact resemblance
of every individual limb; from which circumstance they were called
"iconicæ," or "portrait statues." I do not know whether the public
statues were not erected by the Athenians, and in honor of Harmodius and
Aristogiton, who slew the tyrant,[211] an event which took place in the
same year in which the kings were expelled from Rome. This custom, from
a most praiseworthy emulation, was afterwards adopted by all other
nations; so that statues were erected as ornaments in the public places
of municipal towns, and the memory of individuals was thus preserved,
their various honors being inscribed on the pedestals, to be read there
by posterity, and not on their tombs alone. After some time, a kind of
forum or public place came to be made in private houses and in our
halls, the clients adopting this method of doing honor to their patrons.
In former times the statues that were thus dedicated were clad in the
toga. Naked statues also, brandishing a spear, after the manner of the
youths at their gymnastic exercises, were much admired; these were
called "Achillean." The Greek practice is, not to cover any part of the
body; while, on the contrary, the Roman and the military statues have
the addition of a cuirass. Cæsar, the Dictator, permitted a statue with
a cuirass to be erected in honor of him in his Forum. As to the statues
which are made in the garb of the Luperci,[212] they are of no older
date than those which have been lately erected, covered with a cloak.
Mancinus gave directions, that he should be represented in the dress
which he wore when he was surrendered to the enemy. It has been remarked
by some authors, that Lucius Attius, the poet, had a statue of himself
erected in the Temple of the Muses, which was extremely large, although
he himself was very short.
Equestrian statues are also held in esteem in Rome; but they are of
Greek origin, no doubt. Among the Greeks, those persons only were
honored with equestrian statues who were victors on horseback in the
sacred games; though afterwards the same distinction was bestowed on
those who were successful in the races with chariots with two or four
horses: hence the use of chariots with us in the statues of those who
have triumphed. But this did not take place until a late period; and it
was not until the time of the late Emperor Augustus that we had chariots
represented with six horses,[213] and also with elephants.
The custom of erecting chariots with two horses in honor of those who
had discharged the office of prætor, and had passed round the Circus in
a chariot, is not of ancient date. That of placing statues on pillars is
older, as it was done in honor of Caius Mænius, who conquered the
ancient Latins, to whom the Romans by treaty gave one-third of the spoil
which they had obtained. It was in the same consulship also, that the
"rostra" or beaks of the ships, which had been taken from the Antiates
when vanquished, were affixed to the tribunal; in the year of the City,
416.
For a very different, and more important reason, was the statue of
Horatius Cocles erected, he having singly prevented the enemy from
passing the Sublician bridge: a statue which remains to this day.
Then we have the statues of Romulus and Tatius without the tunic; and
the equestrian statue of Marcius Tremulus, clad in the toga, before the
Temple of the Castors, who twice subdued the Samnites, and by the
capture of Anagnia delivered the people from their tribute.
Nor must I forget to mention Cneius Octavius, on account of the language
used by the senate. When King Antiochus said, "I will give you an answer
at another time," Octavius drew a line round him with a stick, which he
happened to have in his hand, and compelled him to give an answer before
he allowed him to step beyond the circle. Octavius was unfortunately
slain[214] while on this embassy, and the senate ordered his statue to
be placed in the most conspicuous spot, which of course was the Rostra.
A statue appears also to have been decreed to Taracia Caia, or Furetia,
a Vestal Virgin, the same, too, to be placed wherever she might think
fit; an additional honor, no less remarkable, it is thought, than the
grant itself of a statue to a woman. I will state her merits in the
words of the Annals: "Because she had gratuitously presented to the
public the field bordering on the Tiber."
I find also, that statues were erected in honor of Pythagoras and of
Alcibiades, in the corners of the Comitium; in obedience to the command
of the Pythian Apollo, who, in the Samnite War, had directed that
statues of the bravest and the wisest of the Greeks should be erected in
some conspicuous spot: and here they remained until Sylla, the Dictator,
built the senate-house on the site. It is wonderful that the senate
should then have preferred Pythagoras to Socrates, who, in consequence
of his wisdom, had been preferred to all other men by the god himself;
as, also, that they should have preferred Alcibiades for valor to so
many other heroes; or, indeed, any one to Themistocles, who so greatly
excelled in both qualities. The reason of the statues being raised on
columns, was, that the persons represented might be elevated above other
mortals; the same thing being signified by the use of arches, a new
invention which had its origin among the Greeks. I am of opinion that
there is no one to whom more statues were erected than to Demetrius
Phalereus at Athens: for there were three hundred and sixty erected in
his honor, no more days being reckoned at that period in the year:
these, however, were soon broken to pieces.
Pedestrian statues have been, undoubtedly, for a long time in estimation
at Rome: equestrian statues are, however, of considerable antiquity, and
women even have participated in this honor; for the statue of Clælia is
equestrian, as if it had not been thought sufficient to have her clad in
the toga.
There are still extant some declamations by Cato, during his censorship,
against the practice of erecting statues of women in the Roman
provinces. However, he could not prevent a statue being erected at Rome
to Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and daughter of the elder Scipio
Africanus. She is represented in a sitting posture, and the statue is
remarkable for having no straps to the shoes.
Various circumstances prove, that the art of making statues was commonly
practised in Italy at an early period. The statue in the Cattle Market
is said to have been consecrated to Hercules by Evander; it is called
the triumphal Hercules, and, on the occasion of triumphal processions,
is arrayed in triumphal vestments. King Numa dedicated the statue of the
two-faced Janus; a deity who is worshipped as presiding over both peace
and war. The fingers are so formed as to indicate three hundred and
sixty-five days,[215] or in other words, the year; thus denoting that he
is the god of time and duration.
There are also Etruscan statues dispersed in various parts of the world,
which beyond a doubt were originally made in Etruria. I should have
supposed that these had been the statues only of divinities, had not
Metrodorus of Scepsis, who had his surname "Misoromæus," from his hatred
to the Roman name, reproached us with having pillaged the city of
Volsinii for the sake of the two thousand statues which it contained. It
appears to me a singular fact, that although the origin of statues was
of such great antiquity in Italy, the images of the gods, which were
consecrated to them in their temples, should have been formed either of
wood or of earthenware, until the conquest of Asia, which introduced
luxury among us. It will be the best plan to enlarge upon the origin of
the art of expressing likenesses, when we come to speak of what the
Greeks call "the plastic art," for the art of modelling was prior to
that of statuary. This last, however, has flourished to such an
extraordinary degree that a full account of it would fill many volumes.
[Illustration: PANDA, OR WAH.--_Ailúrus Fulgens._]
We learn from Mucianus, who was thrice consul, that there are still
three thousand statues in Rhodes, and it is supposed that there are no
fewer in existence at Athens, at Olympia, and at Delphi. What living
mortal could enumerate them all? or of what utility would be such
information? Still, I may, perhaps, afford entertainment by giving some
slight account of such of those works of art as are in any way
remarkable, and stating the names of the more celebrated artists. Of
each of these it would be impossible to enumerate all the productions,
for Lysippus alone is said to have executed no less than fifteen hundred
works of art, all of which were of such excellence that any one of them
might have immortalized him. The number was ascertained by his heir,
upon opening his coffers after his death, as it was his practice to lay
up one golden denarius out of the sum which he had received as the price
of each statue.
This art has arrived at incredible perfection, both in successfulness
and in boldness of design. As a proof of successfulness, I will adduce
one example, and that of a figure which represented neither god nor man.
We have seen in our own time, in the Capitol, before it was last burnt
by the party of Vitellius, in the shrine of Juno, a bronze figure of a
dog licking its wounds. Its miraculous excellence and its perfect
truthfulness were not only proved by the circumstance of its having been
consecrated there, but also by the novel kind of security that was taken
for its safety; for since no sum appeared equal to its value, it was
publicly enacted that the keepers of it should be answerable for its
safety with their lives.
CHAPTER X.
THE MOST CELEBRATED COLOSSAL STATUES IN THE CITY.
As to boldness of design, the examples are innumerable; for we had
statues of colossal bulk, equal to towers in size. Such, for instance,
is the Apollo in the Capitol, which was brought by Lucullus from
Apollonia, a city of Pontus, thirty cubits in height, and which cost
five hundred talents: also the statue of Jupiter, in the Campus Martius,
dedicated by the late Emperor Claudius, but which appears dwarfed from
its vicinity to the Theatre of Pompey: and the Jupiter at Tarentum,
forty cubits in height, the work of Lysippus. It is a remarkable
circumstance that although this statue is so nicely balanced as to be
movable by the hand, it has never been thrown down by a tempest. This,
the artist guarded against, by a column erected at a short distance from
it, upon the side on which the violence of the wind required to be
broken. On account of its magnitude, and the great difficulty of moving
it, Fabius Maximus did not touch it, when he transferred the Hercules
from that place to the Capitol, where it now stands.
But far the most worthy of our admiration is the colossal statue of the
Sun, which stood formerly at Rhodes, and was the work of Chares the
Lindian, a pupil of Lysippus;[216] no less than seventy cubits in
height. This statue, fifty-six years after it was erected, was thrown
down by an earthquake; but even as it lies, it excites our wonder and
admiration. Few men can clasp the thumb in their arms, and its fingers
are larger than most statues. Where the limbs are broken asunder, vast
caverns are seen yawning in the interior. Within it, too, are to be seen
large masses of rock, by the weight of which the artist steadied it
while erecting it. It was twelve years before this statue was completed,
and three hundred talents were expended upon it; a sum raised from the
engines of warfare which had been abandoned by King Demetrius when tired
of the long-protracted siege of Rhodes. In the same city are other
colossal statues, one hundred in number; which though smaller than the
one already mentioned, would, any one of them, wherever erected, have
ennobled the place. In addition to these, there are five colossal
statues of the gods, which were made by Bryaxis.
In Italy the Tuscan Apollo, in the library of the Temple of Augustus, is
fifty feet in height from the toe; and it is a question whether it is
more remarkable for the quality of the metal, or for the beauty of the
workmanship. Spurius Carvilius erected the statue of Jupiter.
Capitolinus, after he had conquered the Samnites, who fought in
obedience to a most solemn oath; it was formed out of their
breast-plates, greaves, and helmets, and is of such large dimensions
that it may be seen from the statue of Jupiter Latiaris on the Alban
Mount, twelve miles from Rome. He made his own statue, which is at the
feet of the other one, out of the filings of the metal. There are also,
in the Capitol, two heads which are very much admired, and which were
dedicated by the Consul Lentulus, one of them executed by the
above-mentioned Chares, the other by Decius; but the latter is so
greatly excelled by the former, as to have all the appearance of being
the work of one of the poorest of artists.
[Illustration: COLOSSUS AT RHODES.]
But all these gigantic statues have been surpassed in our own age by the
Mercury, made by Zenodotus for the city of the Arverni in Gaul, which
was ten years in completing, and cost four hundred thousand sesterces.
Having given sufficient proof there of his artistic skill, he was sent
for by Nero to Rome, where he made a colossal statue intended to
represent that prince, one hundred and ten feet in height. In
consequence, however, of the public detestation of Nero's crimes, this
statue was consecrated to the Sun.[217] We used to admire in his studio
the accurate likeness not only in the model of clay, but in the small
sketches which served as the first foundation of the work. This statue
proves that the art of fusing precious bronze was then lost, for Nero
was prepared to furnish the requisite gold and silver, and Zenodotus was
inferior to none of the ancients, either as a designer or as an
engraver. At the time that he was working at the statue for the Arverni,
he copied for Dubius Avitus, the governor of the province, two
drinking-cups, chased by the hand of Calamis, which had been highly
prized by Germanicus Cæsar, and had been given by him to his preceptor
Cassius Silanus, the uncle of Avitus; and this with such exactness, that
they could scarcely be distinguished from the originals.
CHAPTER XI.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WORKS IN BRONZE, AND OF THE ARTISTS
WHO EXECUTED THEM.
An almost innumerable multitude of artists have been rendered famous by
their statues and figures of smaller size. Before all others is Phidias,
the Athenian,[218] who executed the Jupiter at Olympia, in ivory and
gold, but who also made figures in bronze as well. He flourished in the
eighty-third Olympiad, about the year of our City, 300. In the ninetieth
Olympiad there were Polycletus, Phradmon, Myron, Pythagoras, Scopas, and
Perellus. In the hundred and fourth Olympiad, flourished Praxiteles[219]
and Euphranor; in the hundred and thirteenth, Lysippus of Sicyon, who
was the contemporary of Alexander the Great, his brother Lysistratus,
and Silanion, who was remarkable for having acquired great celebrity
without any instructor: Zeuxis was his pupil.
The most celebrated of these artists, though born at different epochs,
have joined in a trial of skill in the Amazons which they have
respectively made. When these statues were dedicated in the Temple of
Diana at Ephesus, it was agreed, in order to ascertain which was the
best, that it should be left to the judgment of the artists themselves
who were then present: upon which, it was evident that that was the
best, which all the artists agreed in considering as the next best to
his own. Accordingly, the first rank was assigned to Polycletus, the
second to Phidias, the third to Cresilas, the fourth to Cydon, and the
fifth to Phradmon.
Besides the Olympian Jupiter, which no one has ever equalled, Phidias
also executed in ivory the erect statue of Minerva, which is in the
Parthenon at Athens. He also made in bronze, beside the Amazon above
mentioned, a Minerva, of such exquisite beauty, that it received its
name from its fine proportions. He also made the Cliduchus, and another
Minerva, which Paulus Æmilius dedicated at Rome in the Temple of Fortune
of the present day. Also the two statues, draped with the pallium, which
Catulus erected in the same temple; and a nude colossal statue.
Polycletus of Sicyon,[220] the pupil of Agelades, executed the
Diadumenos, the statue of an effeminate youth, and remarkable for having
cost one hundred talents; also the statue of a youth full of manly
vigor, and called the spear-bearer. In this he made what the artists
have called the Model statue, from which, as from a sort of standard,
they study the lineaments: so that he, of all men, is thought in one
work of art to have exhausted all the resources of art. He also made
statues of a man using the body-scraper, and of a naked man challenging
to play at dice; as also of two naked boys playing at dice, and known as
the Astragalizontes; they are now in the atrium of the Emperor Titus,
and it is generally considered, that there can be no work more perfect
than this. He also executed a Mercury, which was formerly at Lysimachia;
a Hercules seizing his arms, which is now at Rome. Polycletus is
generally considered as having attained the highest excellence in
statuary, and as having perfected the art, which Phidias invented. A
discovery which was entirely his own, was the art of placing statues on
one leg. It is remarked, however, by Varro, that his statues are all
square-built, and made very much after the same model.
Myron of Eleutheræ,[221] who was also the pupil of Agelades, was
rendered more particularly famous by his statue of a heifer, celebrated
in many well-known lines. He also made the figure of a dog, a
Discobolus, a Perseus, the wood-sawyers, a Satyr admiring a flute, and a
Minerva, the Delphic Pentathletes,[222] the Pancratiastæ,[223] and a
Hercules, which is at the Circus Maximus, in the house of Pompey. Erinna
of Teios makes allusion in her poems to a monument which he erected to a
cricket and a locust. He also executed the Apollo, which, after being
taken from the Ephesians by the Triumvir Antonius, was restored by the
Emperor Augustus, from a warning received in a dream. Myron appears to
have been the first to give a varied development to his art, having made
a greater number of designs than Polycletus, and shown more attention to
symmetry. And yet, though he was very accurate in the proportions of his
figures, he has neglected to give much expression.
Pythagoras of Rhegium, in Italy, excelled him in the figure of the
Pancratiast which is now at Delphi. Pythagoras also executed the statue
of Astylos, the runner, which is exhibited at Olympia; that of a Libyan
boy holding a tablet, also in the same place; and a nude male figure
holding fruit. There is at Syracuse a figure of a lame man by him:
persons, when looking at it, seem to feel the very pain of his wound. He
was the first artist who gave expression to the sinews and the veins,
and paid more attention to the hair.
There was also another Pythagoras, a Samian, who was originally a
painter, seven of whose nude figures, in the Temple of Fortune, and one
of an aged man, are very much admired. He is said to have resembled the
last-mentioned artist so much in his features, that they could not be
distinguished.
Lysippus was most prolific in his works, and made more statues than any
other artist. Among these, is the Man using the Body-scraper, which
Marcus Agrippa had erected in front of his Warm Baths, and which
wonderfully pleased the Emperor Tiberius. This prince, although in the
beginning of his reign he imposed some restraint upon himself, could not
resist the temptation, and had this statue removed to his bed-chamber,
having substituted another for it at the baths: the people, however,
were so resolutely opposed to this, that at the theatre they clamorously
demanded the Apoxyomenos to be replaced; and the prince, notwithstanding
his attachment to it, was obliged to restore it.
Lysippus is also celebrated for his statue of the intoxicated Female
Flute-player, his dogs and huntsmen, and, more particularly, for his
Chariot with the Sun, as represented by the Rhodians. He also executed a
numerous series of statues of Alexander the Great, commencing from his
childhood.[224] The Emperor Nero was so delighted with his statue of the
infant Alexander, that he had it gilt: this addition, however, to its
value, so detracted from its artistic beauty that the gold was removed,
and in this state it was looked upon as still more precious, though
disfigured by the scratches and seams which remained upon it, and in
which the gold was still to be seen. He also made the statue of
Hephæstion, the friend of Alexander the Great, which some persons
attribute to Polycletus, whereas that artist lived nearly a century
before his time. Also the statue of Alexander at the chase, now
consecrated at Delphi, the figure of a Satyr, now at Athens, and the
Squadron of Alexander, all of whom he represented with the greatest
accuracy. This last work of art, after his conquest of Macedonia,
Metellus conveyed to Rome. Lysippus also executed chariots of various
kinds. He is considered to have contributed very greatly to the art of
statuary by expressing the details of the hair, and by making the head
smaller than had been done by the ancients, and the body more graceful
less bulky, a method by which his statues were made to appear taller.
The Latin language has no appropriate name for that "symmetry," which he
so attentively observed in his new and hitherto untried method of
modifying the squareness observable in the ancient statues. Indeed, it
was a common saying of his, that other artists made men as they actually
were, while he made them as they appeared to be. One peculiar
characteristic of his work, is the finish and minuteness which are
observed in even the smallest details. Lysippus left three sons, who
were also his pupils, and became celebrated as artists, Laippus, Boedas,
and, more particularly, Euthycrates; though this last-named artist
rivalled his father in precision rather than in elegance, and preferred
scrupulous correctness to gracefulness. Nothing can be more expressive
than his Hercules at Delphi, his Alexander, his Hunter at Thespiæ, and
his Equestrian Combat. Equally good, too, are his statue of Trophonius,
erected in the oracular cave of that divinity, his numerous chariots,
his Horse with the Panniers, and his hounds.
Praxiteles, who excelled more particularly in marble, and thence
acquired his chief celebrity, also executed some very beautiful works in
bronze, the Rape of Proserpine, a Father Liber, a figure of Drunkenness,
and the celebrated Satyr. He also made the youthful Apollo, known as the
"Sauroctonos" (Lizard-killer), because he is aiming an arrow at a lizard
which is stealing towards him.
His kindness of heart, too, is witnessed by another figure; for in a
chariot and horses which had been executed by Calamis, he himself made
the charioteer, in order that the artist, who excelled in the
representation of horses, might not be considered deficient in the human
figure. This last mentioned artist has executed other chariots also,
some with four horses, and some with two; and in his horses he is always
unrivalled. But that it may not be supposed that he was so greatly
inferior in his human figures, it is as well to remark that his Alcmena
is equal to any that was ever produced.
Lycius was the son and pupil of Myron: he made a figure representing a
boy blowing a nearly extinguished fire, well worthy of his master, as
also figures of the Argonauts. Leochares made a bronze representing the
eagle carrying off Ganymede:[225] the eagle has all the appearance of
being sensible of the importance of his burden, and for whom he is
carrying it, being careful not to injure the youth with his talons, even
through the garments.
Theodorus of Samos,[226] who constructed the Labyrinth at Crete, cast
his own statue in bronze, which was greatly admired not only for its
resemblance, but for the extreme delicacy of the work. In the right hand
he holds a file, and with three fingers of the left, a little model of a
four-horse chariot, which has since been transferred to Præneste: it is
so extremely minute, that the whole piece, both chariot and charioteer,
may be covered by the wings of a fly, which he also made with it.
The most celebrated of all the works, of which I have here spoken, were
dedicated, some time ago, by the Emperor Vespasianus in the Temple of
Peace, and other public buildings of his. They had before been forcibly
carried off by Nero, brought to Rome, and placed by him in the
reception-rooms of his Golden Palace. There is one other famous statue,
the author unknown, which should not be omitted here,--that of Hercules
clothed in the poisoned tunic; it stands near the Rostra, and the
countenance is stern and expressive of his last agonies, caused by that
dress. There are three inscriptions on it; the first of which states
that it had formed part of the spoil obtained by Lucullus the general,
in his war against Mithridates; the second, that his son, while still a
minor, dedicated it in accordance with a decree of the Senate; the
third, that Septimius Sabinus, the curule ædile, had it restored to the
public from the hands of a private individual. So vast has been the
rivalry caused by this statue, and so high the value set upon it.
CHAPTER XII.
IRON.
Next to copper comes the metal known as iron, at the same time the most
useful and the most fatal instrument in the hand of mankind. For by the
aid of iron we lay open the ground, we plant trees, we prepare our
vineyards, and we force our vines each year to resume their youthful
state, by cutting away their decayed branches. It is by the aid of iron
that we construct houses, cleave rocks, and perform so many other useful
offices of life. But it is with iron also that wars, murders, and
robberies are effected, and this, not only hand to hand, but from a
distance even, by the aid of missiles and winged weapons, now launched
from engines, now hurled by the human arm, and now furnished with
feathery wings. The last I regard as the most criminal artifice that has
been devised by the human mind; for, as if to bring death upon man with
still greater rapidity, we have given wings to iron and taught it to
fly.[227] Let us therefore acquit Nature of a charge that here belongs
to man himself.
In the treaty which Porsena granted to the Roman people, after the
expulsion of the kings, we find it expressly stipulated, that iron shall
be only employed for the cultivation of the fields; and our oldest
authors inform us, that in those days it was considered unsafe to write
with an iron pen, or stylus.
Still human industry has not failed to employ iron for perpetuating the
honors of more civilized life. The artist Aristonidas, wishing to
express the fury of Athamas subsiding into repentance, after he had
thrown his son Learchus from the rock, blended copper and iron, in order
that the blush of shame might be more exactly expressed, by the rust of
the iron making its appearance through the shining substance of the
copper; a statue which still exists at Rhodes. There is also, in the
same city, a Hercules of iron, executed by Alcon, the endurance
displayed by the god in his labors having suggested the idea. We see
too, at Rome, cups of iron consecrated in the Temple of Mars the
Avenger. Nature, in conformity with her usual benevolence, has limited
the power of iron, by inflicting upon it the punishment of rust; and has
thus displayed her usual foresight in rendering that substance the most
perishable, which brings the greatest dangers upon perishable mortality.
Iron ores are to be found almost everywhere. But of all the different
kinds the palm of excellence is awarded to that which is made by the
Seres, who send it to us with their tissues and skins; next to which, in
quality, is the Parthian iron. None of the other kinds of iron are made
of the pure hard metal, a softer alloy being welded with them all. In
our part of the world, a vein of ore is occasionally found to yield a
metal of this high quality, as in Noricum, but in other cases, it
derives its value from the mode of working it.
CHAPTER XIII.
AN ACCOUNT OF PAINTINGS AND COLORS.
I cannot conclude what I have to say about art and artists without some
reference to painting, an art which was formerly illustrious, when it
was held in esteem both by kings and peoples, and ennobled those whom it
deigned to transmit to posterity. But at the present day, it is
completely banished in favor of marble, and gold. For not only are whole
walls now covered with marble, but the marble itself is carved out or
marqueted so as to represent objects and animals of various kinds. No
longer now are we satisfied with formal compartitions of marble, or with
slabs extended like so many mountains in our chambers, but we must begin
to paint the very stone itself! This art was invented in the reign of
Claudius, but it was in the time of Nero that we discovered the method
of inserting in marble spots that do not belong to it, and so varying
its uniformity; representing the marble of Numidia variegated with
ovals, and that of Synnada veined with purple; just as luxury might have
willed that Nature should produce them. Such are our resources when the
quarries fail us, and luxury ceases not to busy itself, in order that as
much as possible may be lost whenever a conflagration happens.
Correct portraits of individuals were formerly transmitted to later ages
by painting; but instead brazen shields are now set up, and silver
faces, with only some obscure traces of the countenance: the very heads,
too, of statues are changed, a thing that has given rise before now to
many a current sarcastic line; so true it is that people prefer showing
off the valuable material, to having a faithful likeness. Yet, at the
same time, we tapestry the walls of our galleries with old pictures, and
we prize the portraits of strangers; while as to those made in honor of
ourselves, we esteem them only for the value of the material, for some
heir to break up and melt, and so forestall the noose and slip-knot of
the thief.
Far different was it in the days of our ancestors. Then there were to be
seen in their halls not statues made by foreign artists, or works in
bronze or marble, but family portraits modelled in wax, each in its
separate niche, always in readiness to accompany the funeral processions
of the family; occasions on which every member of the family was always
present. And the pedigree of the individual was traced in lines upon
each of these colored portraits. Their libraries, too, were filled with
archives and memoirs, stating what each had done when holding the
magistracy. On the outside, again, of their houses, and around the
thresholds of their doors, were placed other statues of those mighty
spirits, in the spoils of the enemy there affixed, memorials which a
purchaser even was not allowed to displace; so that the very house
continued to triumph even after it had changed its master. A powerful
stimulus to emulation this, when the walls each day reproached an
unwarlike owner for having thus intruded upon the triumphs of another!
There is still extant an address by the orator Messala, full of
indignation, in which he forbids that there should be inserted among the
images of his family any of those of the stranger race of the Lævini. It
was the same feeling, too, that extorted from old Messala those
compilations of his "On the Families of Rome;" when, upon passing
through the hall of Scipio Pomponianus, he observed that, in consequence
of a testamentary adoption, the Salvittos--for that had been their
surname--to the disgrace of the Africani, had surreptitiously contrived
to assume the name of the Scipios. But the Messalas must pardon me if I
remark, that to lay a claim, though an untruthful one, to the statues of
illustrious men, shows some love for their virtues, and is much more
honorable than to have such a character that no one should wish to claim
them.
There is a new invention, too, which we must not omit to notice. Not
only do we consecrate in our libraries, in gold or silver, or at all
events, in bronze, those whose immortal spirits hold converse with us in
those places, but we even go so far as to reproduce the ideal of
features all remembrance of which has ceased to exist; and our regrets
give existence to likenesses that have not been transmitted to us, as in
the case of Homer. Nothing can be a greater proof of having achieved
success in life, than a lasting desire on the part of one's fellow-men,
to know what one's features were. This practice of grouping portraits
was first introduced at Rome by Asinius Pollio, who was also the first
to establish a public library, and so make the works of genius the
property of the public. Whether the kings of Alexandria and of Pergamus,
who had so energetically rivalled each other in forming libraries, had
previously introduced this practice, I cannot so easily say.
That a strong passion for portraits formerly existed, is attested both
by Atticus, the friend of Cicero, who wrote a work on this subject, and
by Varro, who conceived the very liberal idea of inserting, by some
means or other, in his numerous volumes, the portraits of seven hundred
individuals; as he could not bear the idea that all traces of their
features should be lost, or that the lapse of centuries should get the
better of mankind. Thus was he the inventor of a benefit to his
fellow-men, that might have been envied by the gods themselves; for not
only did he confer upon them immortality, but he transmitted them to all
parts of the earth; so that it might be possible for them to be present,
everywhere and each occupy his niche. This service Varro conferred upon
persons who were not members of his own family.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EARLIEST PAINTERS.
We have no certain knowledge as to the commencement of the art of
painting. The Egyptians assert that it was invented among themselves,
six thousand years before it passed into Greece; a vain
boast--evidently. As to the Greeks, some say that it was invented at
Sicyon, others at Corinth; but they all agree that it originated in
tracing lines round the human shadow. The first stage of the art was
this, the second the employment of single colors; a process known as
"monochrome-painting." The invention of line-drawing has been assigned
to Philocles, the Egyptian, or to Cleanthes of Corinth. The first who
practised this line-drawing were Aridices, the Corinthian, and
Telephanes, the Sicyonian, artists who, without making use of any
colors, shaded the interior of the outline by drawing lines; hence, it
was the custom with them to add to the picture the name of the person
represented. Ecphantus, the Corinthian, was the first to employ colors
upon these pictures, made, it is said, of broken earthenware, reduced to
powder.
But already had the art of painting been perfectly developed in Italy.
At all events, there are extant in the temples at Ardea, at this day,
paintings of greater antiquity than Rome itself; in which, in my
opinion, nothing is more marvellous, than that they should have remained
so long unprotected by a roof, and yet preserving their freshness. At
Lanuvium we see an Atalanta and a Helena, without drapery, close
together, and painted by the same artist. They are both of the greatest
beauty, the former being evidently the figure of a virgin, and they
still remain uninjured, though the temple is in ruins. The Emperor
Caligula attempted to have them removed to his own palace, but the
nature of the plaster would not admit of it. There are in existence at
Cære, some paintings of a still higher antiquity. Whoever carefully
examines them, will be forced to admit that no art has arrived more
speedily at perfection, seeing that it evidently was not in existence at
the time of the Trojan War.
Among the Romans this art very soon rose into esteem, the Fabii, a most
illustrious family, deriving from it their surname of "Pictor;" the
first of the family who bore it, himself painted the Temple of Health,
in the year of the City, 450; a work which lasted to our own times, but
was destroyed when the temple was burnt, in the reign of Claudius. Next
in celebrity were the paintings of the poet Pacuvius, in the Temple of
Hercules, in the Cattle Market: he was a son of the sister of Ennius,
and the fame of the art was enhanced at Rome by the success of this
artist on the stage. After this period, the art was no longer practised
by men of rank; unless we except Turpilius, in our own times, a native
of Venetia, and of equestrian rank, several of whose beautiful works are
still in existence at Verona. He painted, too, with his left hand, a
thing never known to have been done by any one before.[228]
Titidius Labeo, a person of prætorian rank, who had been formerly
proconsul of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, and who lately died at
a very advanced age, used to pride himself upon the little pictures
which he executed, but it only caused him to be ridiculed and sneered
at. I must not omit to mention a celebrated consultation upon the
subject of painting, which was held by some persons of the highest rank.
Q. Pedius, who had been honored with the consulship and a triumph, and
who had been named by the Dictator Cæsar as co-heir with Augustus, had a
grandson, dumb from his birth, whom the orator Messala, to whose family
his grandmother belonged, recommended to be brought up as a painter. He
died, however, in his youth, after having made great progress in the
art. But the high estimation in which painting came to be held at Rome,
was principally due, in my opinion, to Valerius Maximus Messala, who, in
the year of the City, 490, was the first to exhibit a painting to the
public; a picture, namely, of the battle in which he had defeated the
Carthaginians and Hiero in Sicily, upon one side of the Curia Hostilia.
The same thing was done, too, by Lucius Scipio, who placed in the
Capitol a painting of the victory which he had gained in Asia; but his
brother Africanus was offended at it, for his son had been taken
prisoner in the battle. Lucius Hostilius Mancinus, who had been the
first to enter Carthage at the final attack, gave a similar offence to
Æmilianus, by exposing in the Forum a painting of that city and the
attack upon it, he himself standing near the picture, and describing to
the spectators the various details of the siege; a piece of complaisance
which secured him the consulship at the ensuing Comitia.
The stage which was erected for the games celebrated by Claudius
Pulcher, brought the art of painting into great admiration, for the
ravens were so deceived by the resemblance, as to light upon the
decorations which were painted in imitation of tiles.
The late Emperor Augustus placed in the most conspicuous part of his
forum, two pictures, representing War and Triumph. He also placed in the
Temple of his father, Cæsar, a picture of the Castors, and one of
Victory, in addition to those which we shall mention in our account of
the works of the different artists. He also inserted two pictures in the
wall of the Curia which he consecrated in the Comitium, one of which was
a Nemea seated upon a lion, and bearing a palm in her hand. Close to her
is an old man, standing with a staff, and above his head hangs the
picture of a chariot with two horses. Nicias has written upon this
picture that he "inburned"[229] it.
In the second picture the thing to be chiefly admired is the resemblance
that the youth bears to the old man his father, allowing, of course, for
the difference in age; above them soars an eagle, which grasps a dragon
in its talons. Philochares attests that he is the author of this work,
an instance, if we only consider it, of the mighty power wielded by the
pictorial art; for here, thanks to Philochares, the senate of the Roman
people, age after age, has before its eyes Glaucion and his son
Aristippus, persons who would otherwise have been altogether unknown.
Cimon of Cleonæ first invented foreshortenings, or in other words,
oblique views of the figure, and first learned to vary the features by
representing them in the various attitudes of looking backwards,
upwards, or downwards. It was he, too, who first marked the
articulations of the limbs, indicated the veins, and gave the natural
folds and sinuosities to drapery. Panænus, the brother of Phidias, even
executed a painting of the battle fought by the Athenians with the
Persians at Marathon: and so common had the employment of colors become,
and to such a state of perfection had the art arrived, that he was able
to represent the portraits of the various generals who commanded at that
battle, Miltiades, Callimachus, and Cynægirus, on the side of the
Athenians, and, on that of the barbarians, Datis and Artaphernes.
Polygnotus of Thasos was the first to paint the figures of women in
transparent drapery, and to represent the head covered with a
parti-colored head-dress. He, too, was the first to contribute many
other improvements to the art of painting, opening the mouth, for
example, showing the teeth, and throwing expression into the
countenance, in place of the ancient rigidity of the features.
CHAPTER XV.
ARTISTS WHO PAINTED WITH THE PENCIL.
In the ninetieth Olympiad lived Aglaophon, Cephisodorus, Erillus, and
Evenor, the father of Parrhasius, one of the greatest of painters, and
of whom we shall have to speak when we come to the period at which he
flourished. All these were artists of note, but not sufficiently so to
detain us by any further details, in our haste to arrive at the
luminaries of the art; first among whom shone Apollodorus of Athens, in
the ninety-third Olympiad. He was the first to paint objects as they
really appeared; the first too, we may justly say, to confer glory by
the aid of the pencil.[230] Of this artist there is a Priest in
Adoration, and an Ajax struck by Lightning, a work to be seen at
Pergamus at the present day: before him, there is no painting of any
artist now to be seen which has the power of riveting the eye.
The gates of art being now thrown open by Apollodorus, Zeuxis of
Heraclea entered upon the scene, in the fourth year of the ninety-fifth
Olympiad, destined to lead the pencil, for which there was nothing too
arduous, to a very high pitch of glory. Of him Apollodorus wrote a verse
to the effect, that Zeuxis had stolen the art from others and had taken
it all to himself. Zeuxis also acquired such a vast amount of wealth,
that, in a spirit of ostentation, he went so far as to parade himself at
Olympia with his name embroidered on the checked pattern of his garments
in letters of gold. At a later period, he came to the determination to
give away his works, there being no price high enough to pay for them,
he said. He gave an Alcmena to the people of Agrigentum, and a Pan to
Archelaüs, King of Macedonia. He also painted a Penelope, in which the
peculiar character of that matron appears to be delineated to the very
life; and a figure of an athlete, with which he was so highly pleased,
that he wrote beneath it the line which has since become so famous, to
the effect that it would be easier to find fault with him than to
imitate him.[231] His Jupiter seated on the throne, with the other
Deities standing around him, is a magnificent production: as, also, is
his Infant Hercules strangling the Dragons, in presence of Amphitryon
and his mother Alcmena, who is struck with horror. Still, however,
Zeuxis is generally censured for making the heads and articulations of
his figures out of proportion. And yet, so scrupulously careful was he,
that on one occasion, when he was about to execute a painting for the
people of Agrigentum, to be consecrated in the Temple of the Lacinian
Juno there, he had the young maidens of the place stripped for
examination, and selected five of them as models, in order to adopt in
his picture the most commendable points in the form of each. He also
painted some monochromes in white.
The contemporaries and rivals of Zeuxis were Timanthes, Androcydes,
Eupompus, and Parrhasius. The last, it is said, entered into a pictorial
contest with Zeuxis, who represented some grapes painted so naturally
that the birds flew towards the spot where the picture was exhibited.
Parrhasius, on the other hand, exhibited a curtain, drawn with such
singular truthfulness, that Zeuxis, elated with the judgment which had
been passed upon his work by the birds, haughtily demanded that the
curtain should be drawn aside to let the picture be seen. Upon finding
his mistake, with a great degree of ingenuous candor he admitted that he
had been surpassed, for while he himself had only deceived the birds,
Parrhasius had deceived him, an artist.
There is a story, too, that at a later period, Zeuxis painted a child
carrying grapes, and the birds came to peck at them: upon which, with a
similar degree of candor, he expressed himself vexed with his work, and
exclaimed--"I have surely painted the grapes better than the child, for
if I had fully succeeded in the latter, the birds would have been in
fear of it." Zeuxis executed some figures also in clay, the only works
of art that were left behind at Ambracia, when Fulvius Nobilior
transported the Muses from that city to Rome. There is at Rome a Helena
by Zeuxis, in the Porticos of Philippus, and a Marsyas Bound, in the
Temple of Concord there.
Parrhasius of Ephesus also contributed greatly to the progress of
painting, being the first to give symmetry to his figures, the first to
give play and expression to the features, elegance to the hair, and
gracefulness to the mouth: indeed, for contour, it is universally
admitted by artists that he bore away the palm. This, in painting, is
the very highest point of skill. To paint substantial bodies and the
interior of objects is a great thing, no doubt, but at the same time it
is a point in which many have excelled: but to make the extreme outline
of the figure, to give the finishing touches to the painting in rounding
off the contour, this is a point of success in the art which is but
rarely attained. For the extreme outline, to be properly executed,
requires to be nicely rounded, and so to terminate as to prove the
existence of something more behind it, and thereby disclose that which
it also serves to hide.
Such is the merit conceded to Parrhasius by Antigonus and Xenocrates,
who have written on the art of painting; and in this as well as in other
points, not only do they admit his excellence, but enlarge upon it in
terms of the highest commendation. There are many pen sketches by him
still in existence, both upon panel and on parchment, from the study of
which, even artists may greatly profit.
In his allegorical picture of the People of Athens, he has displayed
singular ingenuity in the treatment of his subjects; for in representing
it, he had to depict it as at once fickle, choleric, unjust, and
versatile; while, again, he had equally to show its attributes of
implacability and clemency, compassionateness and pride, loftiness and
humility, fierceness and timidity--and all these at once. He painted a
Theseus also, which was formerly in the Capitol at Rome, a Naval
Commander wearing a cuirass, and, in one picture, now at Rhodes, figures
of Meleager, Hercules, and Perseus. This last painting, though it has
been thrice struck by lightning, has escaped being effaced, a
circumstance which tends to augment the admiration which it naturally
excites. He painted an Archigallus[232] also, a picture which the
Emperor Tiberius greatly admired. According to Deculo, that prince had
it shut up in his chamber, the price at which it was valued being six
hundred thousand sesterces.