Book XXXVI. The Natural History of Stones.

Chaps. 1-4.

Chap. 1. (1.)—Luxury Displayed in the Use of Various Kinds of Marble.

It now remains for us to speak of stones, or, in other words, the leading folly of the day; to say nothing at all of our taste for gems and amber, crystal and murrhine vases. [See B. xxxvii. cc.,,.] For everything of which we have previously treated, down to the present Book, may, by some possibility or other, have the appearance of having been created for the sake of man: but as to the mountains, Nature has made those for herself, as a kind of bulwark for keeping together the bowels of the earth; as also for the purpose of curbing the violence of the rivers, of breaking the waves of the sea, and so, by opposing to them the very hardest of her materials, putting a check upon those elements which are never at rest. And yet we must hew down these mountains, forsooth, and carry them off; and this, for no other reason than to gratify our luxurious inclinations: heights which in former days it was reckoned a miracle even to have crossed!

Our forefathers regarded as a prodigy the passage of the Alps, first by Hannibal, [See the lines of Juvenal, Sat. x. l. 151, et seq.] and, more recently, by the Cimbri: but at the present day, these very mountains are cut asunder to yield us a thousand different marbles, promontories are thrown open to the sea, and the face of Nature is being everywhere reduced to a level. We now carry away the barriers that were destined for the separation of one nation from another; we construct ships for the transport of our marbles; and, amid the waves, the most boisterous element of Nature, we convey the summits of the mountains to and fro: a thing, however, that is even less unpardonable than to go on the search amid the regions of the clouds for vessels [He alludes to vessels made of crystal, which, as Dalechamps remarks, was long supposed to be nothing but ice in a concrete form. See B. xxxvii. c..] with which to cool our draughts, and to excavate rocks, towering to the very heavens, in order that we may have the satisfaction of drinking from ice! Let each reflect, when he hears of the high prices set upon these things, when he sees these ponderous masses carted and carried away, how many there are whose life is passed far more happily without them. For what utility or for what so-called pleasure do mortals make themselves the agents, or, more truly speaking, the victims of such undertakings, except in order that others may take their repose in the midst of variegated stones? Just as though too, the shades of night, which occupy one half of each man’s existence, would forbear to curtail these imaginary delights.

Chap. 2.—Who Was the First to Employ Marble in Public Buildings.

Indeed, while making these reflections, one cannot but feel ashamed of the men of ancient times even. There are still in existence censorial [See B. viii. c. 82.] laws, which forbid the kernels [“Glandia.”] in the neck of swine to be served at table, dormice too, and other things too trifling to mention: and yet there has been no law passed, forbidding marble to be imported, or the seas to be traversed in search of it!

(2.) It may possibly be observed, that this was, because marble was not then introduced. Such, however, is not the fact; for in the ædileship of M. Scaurus, [See Chapter of this Book.] three hundred and sixty columns were to be seen imported; for the decorations of a temporary theatre, too, one that was destined to be in use for barely a single month. And yet the laws were silent thereon; in a spirit of indulgence for the amusements of the public, no doubt. But then, why such indulgence or how do vices more insidiously steal upon us than under the plea of serving the public? By what other way, in fact, did ivory, gold, and precious stones, first come into use with private individuals?

Can we say that there is now anything that we have reserved for the exclusive use of the gods? However, be it so, let us admit of this indulgence for the amusements of the public; but still, why did the laws maintain their silence when the largest of these columns, pillars of Lucullan [See Chapter of this Book.] marble, as much as eight-and-thirty feet in height, were erected in the atrium of Scaurus? a thing, too, that was not done privately or in secret; for the contractor for the public sewers compelled him to give security for the possible damage that might be done in the carriage of them to the Palatium. [In the Eleventh Region of the City.] When so bad an example as this was set, would it not have been advisable to take some precautions for the preservation of the public morals? And yet the laws still preserved their silence, when such enormous masses as these were being carried past the earthenware [See B. xxxv. cc.,.] pediments of the temples of the gods, to the house of a private individual!

Chap. 3. (3.)—Who Was the First to Erect Columns of Foreign Marble at Rome.

And yet it cannot be said that Scaurus, by way of a first essay in vice, took the City by surprise, in a state of ignorance and totally unguarded against such evils as these. Already had L. Crassus, [See B. xvii. c. 1.] the orator, he who was the first to possess pillars of foreign marble, and in this same Palatium too, received from M. Brutus, on the occasion of a dispute, the nickname of the “Palatine Venus,” for his indulgence in this kind of luxury. The material, I should remark, was Hymettian marble, and the pillars were but six in number, and not exceeding some twelve feet in height. Our forefathers were guilty of this omission, no doubt, because morals were universally contaminated; and, seeing that things which had been interdicted had been forbidden in vain, they preferred the absence of laws to laws that were no better than a dead letter. These particulars and others in the sequel will show that we are so far improved; for who is there at the present day that has, in his atrium, any such massive columns as these of Scaurus?

But before proceeding to treat of the several varieties of this material, it will be as well to mention the various artists, and the degrees of estimation in which they are held, who have worked in marble. We will, therefore, proceed to review the sculptors who have flourished at different periods.

Chap. 4. (4.)—The First Artists Who Excelled in the Sculpture of Marble, and the Various Periods at Which They Flourished. The Mausoleum in Caria. The Most Celebrated Sculptors and Works in Marble, Two Hundred and Twenty-five in Number.

The first artists who distinguished themselves in the sculpture of marble, were Dipœnus [These two artists are invariably mentioned together. Pausanias, B. ii. c. 14, and B. iii. c. 17, speaks or them as the pupils or sons of Dædalus; only intimating thereby, as Sillig thinks, that they were the first sculptors worthy of being associated with the father of artists. Pausanias, B. ii. c. 22, mentions ebony statues by them.] and Scyllis, natives of the Isle of Crete. At this period the Medians were still in power, and Cyrus had not begun to reign in Persia; their date being about the fiftieth Olympiad. They afterwards repaired to Sicyon, a state which for a length of time [In the time of the Telchines, before the arrival of Inachus in Argolis.] was the adopted country of all such pursuits as these. The people of Sicyon had made a contract with them for the execution of certain statues of the gods; but, before completing the work, the artists complained of some injustice being done them, and retired to Ætolia. Immediately upon this, the state was afflicted with sterility and famine, and dreadful consternation was the result. Upon enquiry being made as to a remedy for these evils, the Pythian Apollo made answer, that Dipœnus and Scyllis must complete the statues of the gods; an object which was attained at the cost of great concessions and considerable sums of money. The statues were those of Apollo, [Pausanias says that this statue was completed by their pupils. Clemens Alexandrinus mentions other works of theirs.] Diana, Hercules, and Minerva; the last of which was afterwards struck by lightning.

(5.) Before these artists were in existence, there had already appeared Melas, a sculptor of the Isle of Chios; and, in succession to him, his son Micciades, and his grandson Archermus; [Another reading is “Anthermus.” Of many of these sculptors, no further particulars are known.] whose sons, Bupalus and Athenis, afterwards attained the highest eminence in the art. These last were contemporaries of the poet Hipponax, who, it is well known, lived in the sixtieth Olympiad. Now, if a person only reckons, going upwards from their time to that of their great-grandfather, he will find that the art of sculpture must have necessarily originated about the commencement of the era of the Olympiads. Hipponax being a man notorious for his ugliness, the two artists, by way of joke, [Another cause of the quarrel is said to have been the refusal of Bupalus to give his daughter in marriage to Hipponax. This quarrel is referred to in the Greek Anthology, B. iii. Epigr. 26.] exhibited a statue of him for the ridicule of the public. Indignant at this, the poet emptied upon them all the bitterness of his verses; to such an extent indeed, that, as some believe, they were driven to hang themselves in despair. This, however, is not the fact; for, at a later period, these artists executed a number of statues in the neighbouring islands; at Delos for example, with an inscription subjoined to the effect, that Chios was rendered famous not only by its vines [See B. xiv. c. 9.] but by the works of the sons of Archermus as well. The people of Lasos [See B. iv. c. 20.] still show a Diana that was made by them; and we find mention also made of a Diana at Chios, the work of their hands: it is erected on an elevated spot, and the features appear stern to a person as he enters, and joyous as he departs. At Rome, there are some statues by these artists on the summit of the Temple [Dedicated by Augustus, in the Tenth Region of the City.] of the Palatine Apollo, and, indeed, in most of the buildings that were erected by the late Emperor Augustus. At Delos and in the Isle of Lesbos there were formerly some sculptures by their father to be seen. Ambracia too, Argos, and Cleonæ, were filled with productions of the sculptor Dipœnus.

All these artists, however, used nothing but the white marble of the Isle of Paros, a stone which was known as “lychnites” at first, because, according to Varro, it was cut in the quarries by lamplight. [Λύχνος being the Greek for a “lamp.”] Since their time, many other whiter marbles have been discovered, and very recently that of the quarries of Luna. [See B. iii. c. 8: now known as the marble of Massa and Carrara, of a bluish white, and a very fine grain.] With reference to the marble of Paros, there is one very marvellous circumstance related; in a single block that was split with wedges, a figure [A similar case has been cited, in the figure of St. Jerome, to be seen on a stone in the Grotto of Our Saviour at Bethlehem, and in a representation of the Crucifixion, in the Church of St. George, at Venice. A miniature resembling that of the poet Chaucer is to be seen on the surface of a small stone in the British Museum.] of Silenus made its appearance.

We must not omit to remark, that the art of sculpture is of much more ancient [See B. xxxv. c..] date than those of painting and of statuary in bronze; both of which commenced with Phidias, in the eighty-third Olympiad, or in other words, about three hundred and thirty-two years later. Indeed, it is said, that Phidias himself worked in marble, and that there is a Venus of his at Rome, a work of extraordinary beauty, in the buildings of Octavia. [See B. xxxv. cc.,.] A thing, however, that is universally admitted, is the fact that he was the instructor of Alcamenes, [See B. xxxiv. c..] the Athenian, one of the most famous among the sculptors. By this last artist, there are numerous statues in the temples at Athens; as also, without the walls there, the celebrated Venus, known as the Aphrodite ἐν κήποις, [“In the Gardens.” A suburb of Athens, in which there was a temple of Venus, or Aphrodite Urania.] work to which Phidias himself, it is said, put the finishing hand. Another disciple also of Phidias was Agoracritus [He is mentioned also by Pausanias and Strabo.] of Paros, a great favourite with his master, on account of his extremely youthful age; and for which reason, it is said, Phidias gave his own name to many of that artist’s works. The two pupils entering into a contest as to the superior execution of a statue of Venus, Alcamenes was successful; not that his work was superior, but because his fellow-citizens chose to give their suffrages in his favour in preference to a stranger. It was for this reason, it is said, that Agoracritus sold his statue, on the express condition that it should never be taken to Athens, and changed its name to that of Nemesis. [The Goddess of Retribution. Pausanias, B. i. c. 33, says that it was the work of Phidias, and that it was made of Parian marble, which the Persians had brought into Attica for the purpose of erecting a trophy. Strabo, however, in B. ix., says that it was the work of Agoracritus and Diodotus (an artist otherwise unknown), and that it was not at all inferior to the production of Phidias. Tzetzes again, Suidas, and Photius, say that it was the work of Phidias, and that it was presented by him to his favourite pupil, Agoracritus. Sillig rejects the story of the contest, and the decision by the suffrages of the Athenian people. Some modern writers have doubted also, whether a statue of Venus could be modified so as to represent Nemesis; but not with sufficient reason, Sillig thinks.] It was accordingly erected at Rhamnus, [See B. iv. c. 11.] a borough of Attica, and M. Varro has considered it superior to every other statue. There is also to be seen in the Temple of the Great Mother, in the same city, another work [A statue, Sillig supposes, of the goddess Cybele.] by Agoracritus.

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

When speaking [In B. xxxiv. c..] of the statuaries, we have already given the period at which Praxiteles flourished; an artist, who, in the glory which he acquired by his works in marble, surpassed even himself. There are some works of his in the Ceramicus [See B. xxxv. c..] at Athens; but, superior to all the statues, not only of Praxiteles, but of any other artist that ever existed, is his Cnidian Venus; for the inspection of which, many persons before now have purposely undertaken a voyage to Cnidos. The artist made two statues of the goddess, and offered them both for sale: one of them was represented with drapery, [“Velatâ specie.” There has been much discussion about the meaning of these words; and Sillig is of opinion that the figure was represented draped in a garment, which, while it seemed designed to hide the person, really exposed it to view. This dress would not improbably recommend it additionally to the inhabitants of Cos, who were skilled in making the Coæ vestes, garments which, while they covered the body, revealed its naked charms. See further mention of them in B. ix. c. 26.] and for this reason was preferred [Visconti thinks that a statue still preserved in the Royal Museum at Paris, is a copy of the Coan Venus. It has, however, a figure of Cupid associated with it, which, as Sillig observes, militates against the supposition.] by the people of Cos, who had the choice; the second was offered them at the same price, but, on the grounds of propriety and modesty, they thought fit to choose the other. Upon this, the Cnidians purchased the rejected statue, [The ancient writers abound in praises of this wonderful statue. Lucian, however, has given the most complete and artistic description of it. It was supposed by the ancients, to represent Venus as standing before Paris, when he awarded to her the prize of beauty; but it has been well remarked, that the drapery in the right hand, and the vase by the side of the figure, indicate that she has either just left or is about to enter the bath. The artist modelled it from Phryne, a courtesan or hetæra of Athens, of whom he was greatly enamoured. It was ultimately carried to Constantinople, where it perished by fire in the reign of Justinian. It is doubtful whether there are any copies of it in existence. There is, however, a so-called copy in the gardens of the Vatican, and another in the Glyptothek, at Munich. A Venus in the Museo Pio-Clementino, at Rome, is considered by Visconti and others to have been a copy of the Cnidian Venus, with the addition of drapery. It is supposed that Cleomenes, in making the Venus de Medici, imitated the Cnidian Venus in some degree.] and immensely superior has it always been held in general estimation. At a later period, King Nicomedes wished to purchase this statue of the Cnidians, and made them an offer to pay off the whole of their public debt, which was very large. They preferred, however, to submit to any extremity rather than part with it; and with good reason, for by this statue Praxiteles has perpetuated the glory of Cnidos. The little temple in which it is placed is open on all sides, so that the beauties [There are numerous Epigrams in reference to this statue in the Greek Anthology; the most striking line in any of which is the beautiful Pentameter: Φεῦ! φεῦ! ποῦ γυμνὴν εἶδε με Πραξιτέλης; “Alas! where has Praxiteles me naked seen?”] of the statue admit of being seen from every point of view; an arrangement which was favoured by the goddess herself, it is generally believed. Indeed, from whatever point it is viewed, its execution is equally worthy of admiration. A certain individual, it is said, became enamoured of this statue, and, concealing himself in the temple during the night, gratified his lustful passion upon it, traces of which are to be seen in a stain left upon the marble. [Lucian, Valerius Maximus, and Athenæus, tell the same improbable story, borrowing it from Posidippus the historian.]

There are also at Cnidos some other statues in marble, the productions of illustrious artists; a Father Liber [Bacchus.] by Bryaxis, [See B. xxxiv. c..] another by Scopas, [See B. xxxiv. c..] and a Minerva by the same hand: indeed, there is no greater proof of the supreme excellence of the Venus of Praxiteles than the fact that, amid such productions as these, it is the only one that we generally find noticed. By Praxiteles, too, there is a Cupid, a statue which occasioned [Pliny is mistaken here: for in the time of Cicero, as we find in Verr. 4, 2, 4, the Thespian Cupid was still at Thespiæ, in Bœotia, where it had been dedicated by Phryne, and was not removed to Rome till the time of the emperors. It was the Parian Cupid, originally made for the people of Parium, that, after coming into the possession of Heius, a rich Sicilian, was forcibly taken from him by Verres.] one of the charges brought by Cicero against Verres, and for the sake of seeing which persons used to visit Thespiæ: at the present day, it is to be seen in the Schools [Where it was destroyed by fire in the reign of Titus. See B. xxxiv. c..] of Octavia. By the same artist there is also another Cupid, without drapery, at Parium, a colony of the Propontis; equal to the Cnidian Venus in the fineness of its execution, and said to have been the object of a similar outrage. For one Alcetas, a Rhodian, becoming deeply enamoured of it, left upon the marble similar traces of the violence of his passion.

At Rome there are, by Praxiteles, a Flora, a Triptolemus, and a Ceres, in the Gardens of Servilius; statues of Good Success [See B. xxxiv. c..] and Good Fortune, in the Capitol; as also some Mænades, [Frantic Bacchantes.] and figures known as Thyiades [Sacrificing Bacchantes.] and Caryatides; [The name given in architecture to figures of females employed as columns in edifices. The Spartans, on taking the city of Carya, in Laconia, massacred the male inhabitants, and condemned the females to the most bitter servitude, as “hewers of wood and drawers of water.” Hence the memorials of their servitude thus perpetuated in architecture.] some Sileni, [Or companions of Bacchus. See B. xxxv. c..] to be seen in the memorial buildings of Asinius Pollio, and statues of Apollo and Neptune.

Cephisodotus, [See B. xxxiv. c..] the son of Praxiteles, inherited his father’s talent. There is, by him, at Pergamus, a splendid Group [“Symplegma.”] of Wrestlers, a work that has been highly praised, and in which the fingers have all the appearance of being impressed upon real flesh rather than upon marble. At Rome there are by him, a Latona, in the Temple of the Palatium; a Venus, in the buildings that are memorials of Asinius Pollio; and an Æsculapius, and a Diana, in the Temple of Juno situate within the Porticos of Octavia.

Scopas [Also mentioned in B. xxxiv. c..] rivals these artists in fame: there are by him, a Venus [Pausanias, B. I., speaks of three figures sculptured by Scopas; Erôs, Himeros, and Pothos. It is doubtful, however, whether they are identical with those here spoken of.] and a Pothos, [Or “Desire.” The name of “Phaëthon” is added in most of the editions, but Sillig rejects it as either a gloss, or a corruption of some other name.] statues which are venerated at Samothrace with the most august ceremonials. He was also the sculptor of the Palatine Apollo; a Vesta seated, in the Gardens of Servilius, and represented with two Bends [“Campteras.” This, which is probably the true reading, has been restored by Sillig from the Bamberg MS. The καμπτὴρ was the bend or turning, round the goal in the race-course for chariots; and as Vesta was symbolical of the earth, these figures, Sillig thinks, probably represented the poles, as goals of the sun’s course.] around her, a work that has been highly praised; two similar Bends, to be seen upon the buildings of Asinius Pollio; and some figures of Canephori [Figures of Virgins, carrying on their heads baskets filled with objects consecrated to Minerva.] in the same place. But the most highly esteemed of all his works, are those in the Temple erected by Cneius Domitius, [Dedicated to Neptune by Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus, in the Ninth Region of the City.] in the Flaminian Circus; a figure of Neptune himself, a Thetis and Achilles, Nereids seated upon dolphins, cetaceous fishes, and [“Et” appears a preferable reading to the “aut” of the Bamberg MS.] sea-horses, [“Hippocampi.” It is pretty clear that by this name he cannot mean the small fish so called in B. xxxii. cc.,,,,,,, and, and alluded to in B. ix. c. 1; the Syngnathus hippocampus of Linnæus.] Tritons, the train of Phorcus, [A sea-divinity.] whales, [“Pistrices.” See B. ix. cc. 2, 3, 15.] and numerous other sea-monsters, all by the same hand; an admirable piece of workmanship, even if it had taken a whole life to complete it. In addition to the works by him already mentioned, and others of the existence of which we are ignorant, there is still to be seen a colossal Mars of his, seated, in the Temple erected by Brutus Callæcus, [Conqueror of Callæcia. See B. iv. c. 35. This temple was dedicated to Mars.] also in the Flaminian Circus; as also, a naked Venus, of anterior date to that by Praxiteles, and a production that would be quite sufficient to establish the renown of any other place.

At Rome, it is true, it is quite lost sight of amid such a vast multitude of similar works of art: and then besides, the inattention to these matters that is induced by such vast numbers of duties and so many items of business, quite precludes the generality of persons from devoting their thoughts to the subject. For, in fact, the admiration that is due to this art, not only demands an abundance of leisure, but requires that profound silence should reign upon the spot. Hence it is, that the artist is now forgotten, who executed the statue of Venus that was dedicated by the Emperor Vespasianus in his Temple of Peace, a work well worthy of the high repute of ancient times. With reference, too, to the Dying Children of Niobe, in the Temple of the Sosian [A statue of Apollo, Hardouin thinks, which was originally brought from Seleucia by C. Sosius, the quæstor of M. Lepidus. See B. xiii. c. 5.] Apollo, there is an equal degree of uncertainty, whether it is the work [Ajasson says that this work is identical with the group representing Niobe and her children, now at Florence. It was found in 1535, or, as some say, 1583, near the Lateran Gate at Rome; upon which, it was bought by Ferdinand de Medici, and placed in the park of one of his villas. More recently, the Emperor Leopold purchased it, and had it removed to Florence.] of Scopas or of Praxiteles. So, too, as to the Father Janus, a work that was brought from Egypt and dedicated in his Temple [The Temple of Janus, in the Eighth Region of the City.] by Augustus, it is a question by which of these two artists [Probably by neither of them, as Janus was essentially an Italian Divinity. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. I.] it was made: at the present day, however, it is quite hidden from us by the quantity of gold that covers it. The same question, too, arises with reference to the Cupid brandishing a Thunderbolt, now to be seen in the Curia of Octavia: the only thing, in fact, that is affirmed with any degree of certainty respecting it, is, that it is a likeness of Alcibiades, who was the handsomest man of his day. There are, too, in the Schools [See B. xxxv. c..] of Octavia, many other highly attractive works, the authors of which are now unknown: four Satyrs, for example, one of which carries in his arms a Father Liber, robed in the palla; [A large upper garment, reaching to the ankles.] another similarly supports the Goddess Libera; [Both Liber and Libera were originally Italian Divinities, who presided over the vine and the fields. Pliny, however, always identifies the former with Bacchus, and other writers the latter with Persephone, or Proserpina, the daughter of Demeter or Ceres. Ovid, Fasti, B. iii. l. 512, calls Ariadne, “Libera.”] a third is pacifying a child who is crying; and a fourth is giving a child some water to drink, from a cup; two Zephyrs also, who agitate their flowing drapery with their breath. No less is the uncertainty that prevails as to the authors of the statues now to be seen in the Septa; [See B. xvi. c. 76.] an Olympus [A disciple of Marsyas, and a famous player on the flute. See p..] and Pan, and a Charon and Achilles; [All these figures have been found copied in the frescoes of Herculaneum.] and yet their high reputation has caused them to be deemed valuable enough for their keepers to be made answerable for their safety at the cost of their lives.

Scopas had for rivals and contemporaries, Bryaxis, [See B. xxxiv. c..] Timotheus, [It is doubtful whether this is the same artist that is mentioned in B. xxxiv. c..] and Leochares, [See B. xxxiv. c..] artists whom we are bound to mention together, from the fact that they worked together at the Mausoleum; such being the name of the tomb that was erected by his wife Artemisia in honour of Mausolus, a petty king of Caria, who died in the second year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad. It was through the exertions of these artists more particularly, that this work came to be reckoned one of the Seven Wonders of the World. [Hence, too, the use of the word “Mausoleum,” as meaning a splendid tomb.] The circumference [He means, probably, the extent of the colonnade or screen which surrounded it. The Mausoleum was erected at Halicarnassus.] of this building is, in all, four hundred and forty feet, and the breadth from north to south sixty-three, the two fronts [Facing east and west.] being not so wide in extent. It is twenty-five cubits in height, and is surrounded with six-and-thirty columns, the outer circumference being known as the “Pteron.” [Or “wing.” The “ptera,” or “pteromata,” properly speaking, were the two wings at the sides of a building. See Note below.] The east side was sculptured by Scopas, the north by Bryaxis, the south by Timotheus, and the west by Leochares; but, before their task was completed, Queen Artemisia died. [She only survived her husband two years.] They did not leave their work, however, until it was finished, considering that it was at once a memorial of their own fame and of the sculptor’s art: and, to this day even, it is undecided which of them has excelled. A fifth artist also took part in the work; for above the Pteron there is a pyramid erected, equal in height to the building below, and formed of four and twenty steps, which gradually taper upwards towards the summit; a platform, crowned with a representation of a four-horse chariot by Pythis. This addition makes the total height of the work one hundred and forty feet. [Another reading, and perhaps a preferable one, is “one hundred” feet. The account given by Pliny is very confused, and Littré has taken some pains to explain the construction of this building. He is of opinion that in the first place, a quadrangular main building was erected, 63 feet in length on the north and south, the breadth of the east and west faces being shorter, some 42 feet perhaps. Secondly, that there was a screen of 36 columns surrounding the main building, and 411 feet in circumference. (He adopts this reading in preference to the 440 feet of the Bamberg MS.) That the longer sides of this screen were 113.25 feet in extent, and the shorter 92.125 feet. That between the main building and this screen, or colonnade, there was an interval of 25.125 feet. Thirdly, that the colonnade and the main buildings were united by a vaulted roof, and that this union formed the “Pteron.” Fourthly, that rising from this Pteron, there was a quadrangular truncated pyramid, formed of twenty-four steps, and surmounted with a chariot of marble. This would allow, speaking in round numbers, 37½ feet for the height of the main body of the building, 37½ feet for the pyramid, and twenty-five feet for the height of the chariot and the figure which it doubtless contained.]

There is at Rome, by Timotheus, a Diana, in the Temple of Apollo in the Palatium, the head of which has been replaced by Avianius Evander. [Supposed to be the person alluded to by Horace, 1 Sat. 3, 90.] A Hercules, too, by Menestratus, [He is mentioned also by Tatian, and is supposed to have lived about the time of Alexander the Great.] is greatly admired; and there is a Hecate of his at Ephesus, in the Temple of Diana there, behind the sanctuary. The keepers of the temple recommend persons, when viewing it, to be careful of their eyes, so remarkably radiant is the marble. No less esteemed, too, are the statues of the Graces, [“Charites.”] in the Propylæum [“Porch,” or “Vestibule” of the Citadel at Athens.] at Athens; the workmanship of Socrates the sculptor, a different person from the painter [Mentioned in B. xxxv. c.. The present Socrates is identified by Pausanias, B. i. c. 22, and B. ix. c. 25, and by Diogenes Laertius, B. ii. c. 19, with the great Athenian philosopher of that name, son of the statuary Sophroniscus: but the question as to his identity is very doubtful. Diogenes Laertius adds, that whereas artists had previously represented the Graces naked, Socrates sculptured them with drapery.] of that name, though identical with him in the opinion of some. As to Myron, [See B. xxxiv. c..] who is so highly praised for his works in bronze, there is by him at Smyrna, An Old Woman Intoxicated, a work that is held in high estimation.

Asinius Pollio, a man of a warm and ardent temperament, was determined that the buildings which he erected as memorials of himself should be made as attractive as possible; for here we see groups representing, Nymphs carried off by Centaurs, a work of Arcesilas: [See B. xxxv. c..] the Thespiades, [Or Muses of Thespiæ, in Bœotia.] by Cleomenes: [There have been several distinguished sculptors, all of this name. A statuary, son of Apollodorus the Athenian, made the celebrated Venus de Medici. It is the opinion of Visconti and Thiersch, that the artist here mentioned flourished before the destruction of Corinth.] Oceanus and Jupiter, by Heniochus: [This name is doubtful, and nothing is known relative to the artist.] the Appiades, [“Hippiades” is the old reading, which Dalechamps considers to mean “Amazons.” The Appiades were Nymphs of the Appian Spring, near the temple of Venus Genetrix, in the Forum of Julius Cæsar. See Ovid, Art. Am. B. i. l. 81, and B. iii. l. 451; and Rem. Am. l. 659.] by Stephanus: [From an inscription on a statue still extant, he is supposed to have been a pupil of Pasiteles, and consequently to have flourished about B.C. 25.] Hermerotes, [Figures in which the form and attributes of Hermes, or Mercury, and Eros, or Cupid, were combined, Hardouin thinks.] by Tauriscus, not the chaser in silver, already [In B. xxxiii. c..] mentioned, but a native of Tralles: [In Caria: see B. v. c. 29.] a Jupiter Hospitalis [Or “Xenias”—“Presiding over hospitality,” or “Protector of strangers.”] by Papylus, a pupil of Praxiteles: Zethus and Amphion, with Dirce, the Bull, [The story was, that Zethus and Amphion bound Dirce, queen of Thebes, to the flanks of an infuriated bull, in revenge for the death of their mother, Antiope, who had been similarly slain by her. This group is supposed still to exist, in part, in the “Farnese Bull,” which has been in a great measure restored. Winckelmann is of opinion, however, that the Farnese Bull is of anterior date to that here mentioned, and that it belongs to the school of Lysippus.] and the halter, all sculptured from a single block of marble, the work of Apollonius and Tauriscus, and brought to Rome from Rhodes. These two artists made it a sort of rivalry as to their parentage, for they declared that, although Apollodorus was their natural progenitor, Menecrates [Probably a native of Rhodes. No further particulars of this artist appear to be known.] would appear to have been their father. In the same place, too, there is a Father Liber, [Bacchus.] by Eutychides, [See B. xxxiv. c..] highly praised. Near the Portico of Octavia, there is an Apollo, by Philiscus [A different person, probably, from the painter, mentioned in B. xxxv. c..] of Rhodes, placed in the Temple of that God; a Latona and Diana also; the Nine Muses; and another Apollo, without drapery. The Apollo holding the Lyre, in the same temple, was executed by Timarchides. [See B. xxxiv. c..] In the Temple of Juno, within the Porticos of Octavia, there is a figure of that goddess, executed by Dionysius, [Supposed by Sillig not to be the early statuary of Argos of that name, who flourished, probably, B.C. 476.] and another by Polycles, [See B. xxxiv. c..] as also other statues by Praxiteles. [“Pasiteles” would appear to be a preferable reading; for Pliny would surely have devoted more space to a description of these works of Praxiteles.] This Polycles, too, in conjunction with Dionysius, [The same artist that is previously mentioned, Sillig thinks.] the son of Timarchides, made the statue of Jupiter, which is to be seen in the adjoining temple. [Of Jupiter.] The figures of Pan and Olympus Wrestling, in the same place, are by Heliodorus; [See B. xxxiv. c..] and they are considered to be the next finest group [“Symplegma.” See Note, page 314.] of this nature in all the world. The same artist also executed a Venus at the Bath, and Polycharmus another Venus, in an erect [The first being in a stooping posture, washing herself.] posture.

By the honourable place which the work of Lysias occupies, we may see in what high esteem it was held by the late Emperor Augustus, who consecrated it in honour of his father Octavius, in the Palatium, placing it on an arch within a small temple, adorned with columns: it is the figure of a four-horse chariot, with an Apollo and Diana, all sculptured from a single block. I find it stated, also, that the Apollo by Calamis, the chaser already [In B. xxxiii. c., and B. xxxiv. c..] mentioned, the Pugilists by Dercylides, and the statue of Callisthenes the historian, by Amphistratus, [A sculptor of the age of Alexander the Great. He is also mentioned by Tatian. For an account of Callisthenes, see end of B. xii.] all of them now in the Gardens of Servilius, are works highly esteemed.

Beyond these, there are not many sculptors of high repute; for, in the case of several works of very great excellence, the number of artists that have been engaged upon them has proved a considerable obstacle to the fame of each, no individual being able to engross the whole of the credit, and it being impossible to award it in due proportion to the names of the several artists combined. Such is the case with the Laocoön, for example, in the palace of the Emperor Titus, a work that may be looked upon as preferable to any other production of the art of painting or of statuary. It is sculptured from a single block, both the main figure as well as the children, and the serpents with their marvellous folds. This group was made in concert by three most eminent artists, [Winckelmann supposes that these artists lived in the time of Lysippus; but, as may be discovered from an attentive examination of the present passage, Lessing and Thiersch are probably right in considering them to have been contemporaries of the Emperor Titus. This group is generally supposed to have been identical with the Laocoön still to be seen in the Court of the Belvedere, in the Vatican at Rome; having been found, in 1506, in a vault beneath the spot known as the Place de Sette Sale, by Felix de Fredi, who surrendered it, in consideration of a pension, to Pope Julius II. The group, however, is not made of a single block, which has caused some to doubt its identity: but it is not improbable, that when originally made, its joints were not perceptible to a common observer. The spot, too, where it was found was actually part of the palace of Titus. It is most probable that the artists had the beautiful episode of Laocoön in view, as penned by Virgil, Æn. B. II.; though Ajasson doubts whether they derived any inspiration from it. Laocoön, in the sublime expression of his countenance, is doing any thing, he says, but— “Clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit.” “Sending dire outcries to the stars of heaven.”] Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, natives of Rhodes. In similar manner also, the palaces of the Cæsars, in the Palatium, have been filled with most splendid statuary, the work of Craterus, in conjunction with Pythodorus, of Polydeuces with Hermoläus, and of another Pythodorus with Artemon; some of the statues, also, are by Aphrodisius of Tralles, who worked alone. The Pantheon of Agrippa has been decorated by Diogenes of Athens, and the Caryatides, by him, which form the columns of that temple, are looked upon as master-pieces of excellence: the same, too, with the statues that are placed upon the roof, though, in consequence of the height, they have not had an opportunity of being so well appreciated.

Without glory, and excluded from every temple, is the statue of Hercules, [This was an ancient and hideous idol, probably. Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Plautus, Lactantius, Arnobius, and Isidorus, all concur in saying that it was Saturn in honour of whom human victims were immolated.] in honour of whom the Carthaginians were accustomed to sacrifice human victims every year: it stands upon the ground before the entrance of the Portico of the Nations. [“Ad Nationes.” A portico built by Augustus, and adorned with statues representing various nations.] There were erected, too, near the Temple of Felicity, the statues of the Thespian [“Thespiades.” They were brought by Mummius from Thespiæ, in Bœotia. See B. xxxiv. c., and Note, above.] Muses; of one of which, according to Varro, Junius Pisciculus, a Roman of equestrian rank, became enamoured. Pasiteles, [See B. xxxv. c., and of B. xxxiii.] too, speaks in terms of high admiration of them, the artist who wrote five Books on the most celebrated works throughout the world. Born upon the Grecian [Magna Græcia.] shores of Italy, and presented with the Roman citizenship granted to the cities of those parts, Pasiteles constructed the ivory statue of Jupiter which is now in the Temple of Metellus, [Built by Metellus Macedonicus.] on the road to the Campus Martius. It so happened, that being one day at the Docks, [“Navalia.” This was the name of certain docks at Rome, where ships were built, laid up, and refitted. They were attached to the Emporium, without the Trigeminian Gate, and were connected with the Tiber.] where there were some wild beasts from Africa, while he was viewing through the bars of a cage a lion which he was engaged in drawing, a panther made its escape from another cage, to the no small danger of this most careful artist. He executed many other works, it is said, but we do not find the names of them specifically mentioned.

Arcesilaüs, [See B. xxxv. c..] also, is an artist highly extolled by Varro; who states that he had in his possession a Lioness in marble of his, and Winged Cupids playing with it, some holding it with cords, and others making it drink from a horn, the whole sculptured from a single block: he says, also, that the fourteen figures around the Theatre of Pompeius, [In the Ninth Region of the City. These figures are mentioned also by Suetonius, C. 46.] representing different Nations, are the work of Coponius.

I find it stated that Canachus, [See B. xxxiv. c..] an artist highly praised among the statuaries in bronze, executed some works also in marble. Saurus, [A singular combination of names, as they mean “Lizard” and “Frog.” No further particulars of these artists are known, but they appear to have lived in the time of Pompey.] too, and Batrachus must not be forgotten, Lacedæmonians by birth, who built the temples [Of Juno and Apollo.] enclosed by the Porticos of Octavia. Some are of opinion that these artists were very wealthy men, and that they erected these buildings at their own expense, expecting to be allowed to inscribe their names thereon; but that, this indulgence being refused them, they adopted another method of attaining their object. At all events, there are still to be seen, at the present day, on the spirals [“Spiræ.” See Chapter of this Book.] of the columns, the figures of a lizard and a frog, [Winckelmann, in Vol. II. p. 269, of the Monumenti Antichi ined., gives the chapiter of an Ionic column, belonging to the church of San Lorenzo, without the walls, at Rome, on the volutes of which are represented a frog and a lizard.] emblematical of their names. In the Temple of Jupiter by the same artists, the paintings, as well as all the other ornaments, bear reference to the worship of a goddess. The [The old reading is adopted here, in preference to that of the Bamberg MS., which does not appear reconcileable to sense in saying that this temple of Jupiter was originally made in honour of Juno; for in such case there could be no mistake in introducing the emblems of female worship.] fact is, that when the temple of Juno was completed, the porters, as it is said, who were entrusted with the carriage of the statues, made an exchange of them; and, on religious grounds, the mistake was left uncorrected, from an impression that it had been by the intervention of the divinities themselves, that this seat of worship had been thus shared between them. Hence it is that we see in the Temple of Juno, also, the ornaments which properly pertain to the worship of Jupiter.

Some minute works in marble have also gained reputation for their artists: by Myrmecides, [A sculptor of Miletus. See B. vii. c. 21.] there was a four-horse chariot, so small that it could be covered, driver and all, by the wings of a fly; and by Callicrates, [A Lacedæmonian artist. See B. vii. c. 21.] some ants, in marble, the feet and other limbs of which were so fine as to escape the sight.