Chaps. 58-60.

Chap. 58. (57.)—The Things About Which Mankind First of All Agreed. The Ancient Letters.

There was at the very earliest [Herodotus, B. v. c. 59, says that the Phœnician letters were very similar to the Ionian; and we are informed by Hardouin, that Scaliger, in his Dissertation upon an ancient inscription on a column discovered in the Via Appia, and removed to the Farnese Gardens, has proved that the Ionians borrowed their letters from the Phœnicians.—B.] period a tacit consent among all nations to adopt the letters now used by the Ionians. [Herodotus confirms this opinion by a reference to an ancient tripod at Thebes, written in what he terms Cadmæan letters, having a strong resemblance to those used by the Ionians.—B.] (58.) That the ancient Greek letters were almost the same with the modern Latin, [Tacitus, Ann. B. ix. c. 14, says, “The Latin letters have the same form as the most ancient Greek ones.”—B.] is proved by the ancient Delphic inscription on copper, which is now in the Palatine library, having been dedicated by the emperors to Minerva; this inscription is as follows:

ΝΑΥΣΙΚΡΑΤΗΣ ΑΝΕΘΕΤΟ ΤΗΙ ΔΙΟΣ ΚΟΡΗΙ. [“Nausicrates offered this to the daughter of Zeus.”] [There is scarcely a letter of this inscription which has not been controverted, and no two editions hardly agree.—B.]

Chap. 59. (59.)—When Barbers Were First Employed.

The next point upon which all nations appear to have agreed, was the employment of barbers. [The ancients had two methods of arranging the beard; in one it was cut close to the skin, in the other it was trimmed by means of a comb, and left of a certain length. These two methods are alluded to by Plautus, Capt. ii. 2, 16:—B. “Now the old fellow is in the barber’s shop; at this very instant is the other handling the razor—but whether to say that he is going to shave him close, or to trim him through the comb, I know not.”] The Romans, however, were more tardy in the adoption of their services. According to Varro, they were introduced into Italy from Sicily, in the year of Rome 454, [Varro, De Re Rus. B. ii., states this fact in almost the same words. He remarks, in continuation, that the old statues prove that there were formerly no barbers, by the length of their beard and hair.—B.] having been brought over by P. Titinius Mena: before which time the Romans did not cut the hair. The younger Africanus [“Africanus sequens;” he was the son of Paulus Æmilius, the conqueror of Perseus, and the adopted son of Scipio Africanus. In consequence of his conquest of Carthage, he was named Africanus the Younger. His custom of shaving is alluded to by Aulus Gellius, B. iii. c. 4. From the remarks of these writers, we may conclude that the Romans were not generally in the habit of shaving until after the age of forty.—B.] was the first who adopted the custom of shaving every day. The late Emperor Augustus always made use of razors. [“Cultus.” Suetonius gives a different account of the method in which Augustus managed his beard. After remarking upon his carelessness as to his personal appearance, he says, that Augustus sometimes cropped, “tonderet,” and sometimes shaved, “raderet,” his beard. Dion. Cassius mentions the period when Augustus began to shave, the consulship of L. Marcius Censorinus and C. Calvicius Sabinus, A.U.C. 714; he was then in his twenty-fourth year.—B.]

Chap. 60.—When the First Time-pieces Were Made.

(60.) The third point of universal agreement was the division of time, a subject which afterwards appealed to the reasoning faculties. We have already stated, in the Second Book, [In B. ii. c. 78; where Pliny says, that the first clock was made at Lacedæmon, by Anaximander; he was the contemporary of Servius Tullius, who commenced his reign 577 B.C. —B.] when and by whom this art was first invented in Greece; the same was also introduced at Rome, but at a later period. In the Twelve Tables, the rising and setting of the sun are the only things that are mentioned relative to time. Some years afterwards, the hour of midday was added, the summoner [“Accensus;” he was one of the public servants of the magistrates, and was so called from his office of summoning the people to the public meetings (acciere).—B.] of the consuls proclaiming it aloud, as soon as, from the senate-house, he caught sight of the sun between the Rostra and the Græcostasis; [See also B. xxxiii. c. 6. This was a place in Rome appropriated to the Greek ambassadors; it is mentioned by Cicero, in a letter to his brother, Quintus, B. ii. c. 1.—B. It stood on the right side of the Comitium, being allotted to the Greeks from the allied states, for the purpose of hearing the debates in the comitia curiata.] he also proclaimed the last hour, when the sun had gone down from the Mænian column [This column is supposed to have stood near the end of the Forum, on the Capitoline Hill. It was C. Mænius (in whose honour it was erected) who defeated the Antiates, and adorned the Forum with the “rostra,” or beaks of their ships, from which the “rostrum,” or orator’s stage, took its name. His statue was placed on the column. He was consul in B.C. 338. See B. xxxiv. c. 11.] to the prison. This, however, could only be done in clear weather, but it was continued until the first Punic war. The first sun-dial is said to have been erected among the Romans twelve years before the war with Pyrrhus, by L. Papirius Cursor, [Hardouin supposes that this event took place in the consulship of Papirius Cursor, A.U.C. 461, B.C. 292. According to the commonly received Chronology, Pyrrhus came into Italy, B.C. 280, twelve years after the consulship of Papirius Cursor.—B.] at the temple of Quirinus, [According to Censorinus, in his treatise, De Die Natali, it was difficult to decide which was the most ancient dial in Rome; some writers agreeing with Pliny, that it was the one in the Temple of Quirinus, others that in the Capitol, and others the one in the Temple of Diana, on the Aventine.—B.] on which occasion he dedicated it in pursuance of a vow which had been made by his father. This is the account given by Fabius Vestalis; but he makes no mention of either the construction of the dial or the artist, nor does he inform us from what place it was brought, or in whose works he found this statement made.

M. Varro [Marcus conjectures, that this account of the dial was contained in the work of Varro, De Rebus Humanis, referred to by Aulus Gellius, B. iii. c. 2, but not now extant.—B.] says that the first sun-dial, erected for the use of the public, was fixed upon a column near the Rostra, in the time of the first Punic war, by the consul M. Valerius Messala, and that it was brought from the capture of Catina, in Sicily: this being thirty years after the date assigned to the dial of Papirius, and the year of Rome 491. The lines in this dial did not exactly agree with the hours; [Owing to the circumstance of the dial having been adapted to the latitude of Catina, now Catania, about four degrees south of Rome.—B.] it served, however, as the regulator of the Roman time ninety-nine years, until Q. Marcius Philippus, who was censor with L. Paulus, placed one near it, which was more carefully arranged: an act which was most gratefully acknowledged, as one of the very best of his censorship. The hours, however, still remained a matter of uncertainty, whenever the weather happened to be cloudy, until the ensuing lustrum; at which time Scipio Nasica, the colleague of Lænas, by means of a clepsydra, was the first to divide the hours of the day and the night into equal parts: and this time-piece he placed under cover and dedicated, in the year of Rome 595; [Vitruvius describes this instrument. Marcus, Ajasson, vol. vi. pp. 218, 219, gives us an account of two kinds of clepsydræ, or water-clocks, which were constructed by the Greeks.—B. See also the account of clocks in Beckmann’s History of Inventions, vol. i.] for so long a period had the Romans remained without any exact division of the day. We will now return to the history of the other animals, and first to that of the terrestrial.

Summary. —Remarkable events, narratives, and observations, seven hundred and forty-seven.

Roman authors quoted. —Verrius Flaccus, [See end of B. iii.] Cneius Gellius, [He was a contemporary of the Gracchi, and was author of a History of Rome, down to B.C. 145 at least; supposed to have been very voluminous and full in its details of the legendary history of the Roman nation. Livy probably borrowed extensively from it.] Licinius Mutianus, [See end of B. ii.] Massurius Sabinius, [A hearer of Ateius Capito, and celebrated as a jurist under Tiberius and later emperors. From him a school of legists, called the Sabiniani, took their rise. He wrote some works on the Civil Law. Pliny quotes him, as we have seen, in c., to show the possibility of gestation being to the thirteenth month.] Agrippina, the wife of Claudius, [Daughter of the elder Agrippina and Germanicus, and the mother of Nero. Her memoirs of her life are quoted by Tacitus, but we have no remains of them.] M. Cicero, [The great Roman orator and philosopher.] Asinius Pollio, [A distinguished orator, poet, and historian of the Augustan age. He was an active partisan of Cæsar, and the patron of Horace and Virgil, whose property he saved from confiscation. He wrote a history of the civil war in seventeen books, but none of his works have come down to us. His tragedies are highly spoken of by Virgil and Horace.] M. Varro, [See end of B. ii.] Messala Rufus, [Nothing whatever seems to be known relative to this author, who is mentioned in c. of this Book. See the Note to that passage.] Cornelius Nepos, [See end of B. ii.] Virgil, [The author of the Æneid and the Georgics, the friend of Augustus, Pollio, and Mæcenas, one of the most virtuous men of ancient time, and the greatest probably of the Latin poets.] Livy, [See end of B..] Cordus, [Cremutius Cordus, a Roman historian, who was impeached before Tiberius, by two of his clients, for having praised Brutus, and styled Cassius “the last of the Romans,” his real offence being the freedom with which, in his work, he had spoken against Sejanus. He starved himself to death, and the senate ordered his works to be burnt. Some copies, however, were preserved by his daughter, Marcia, and his friends.] Melissus, [C. Mæcenas Melissus, a native of Spoletum. He was of free birth, but exposed in his infancy, and presented to be reared by Mæcenas. He was afterwards manumitted, and obtained the favour of Augustus, who employed him to arrange the library in the portico of Octavia. At an advanced age he commenced the composition of a collection of jokes and bon-mots. He also wrote plays of a novel character, which he styled “Trabeatæ.”] Sebosus, [See end of B. ii.] Cornelius Celsus, [A. Cornelius Celsus, the celebrated writer on medicine. Little is known of his age or origin, or even his profession. It is supposed, however, that he lived in the time of Augustus and Tiberius. His treatises on Medicine and Surgery are still used as hand-books for the medical student, and his style is much admired for its purity.] Maximus Valerius, [Or Valerius Maximus. He is supposed to have lived in the time of Tiberius, and wrote nine books on memorable deeds and sayings, which still survive, and are replete with curious information.] Trogus, [Trogus Pompeius, the Roman Historian, on whose work Justin founded his history. His grandfather, who was of the Gaulish tribe of the Vocontii, received the citizenship of Rome during the war against Sertorius; and his father was a private secretary of Julius Cæsar. Except as set forth in the pages of Justin, no portion of his history, except a few scattered fragments, exists. The quotations from him in Pliny, are thought to have been all taken from a treatise of his, “De Animalibus,” mentioned by Charisius, and not from his historical works.] Nigidius Figulus, [See end of B..] Pomponius Atticus, [The friend and correspondent of Cicero, descended from one of the most ancient equestrian families of Rome. His surname was, probably, given to him from his long residence at Athens, and his intimate acquaintance with the Greek language and literature. Though, generally, of a virtuous character, he neglected no means of making money, and was, consequently, a man of great opulence. He wrote a book of Annals, or rather an Epitome of Roman History, which, like the rest of his works, has perished.] Pedianus Asconius, [He lived in the time of Augustus and Tiberius, and is mentioned by the Eusebian Chronicle, as becoming blind in his seventy-third year, during the reign of Vespasian, and attaining the age of eighty-five. He wrote a work on the Life of Sallust, another on the Censurers of Virgil, and commentaries on the speeches of Cicero, of which alone a few portions are still extant, and are of considerable value in a historical as well as a grammatical point of view.] Fabianus, [Probably Papirius Fabianus. See end of B. ii.] Cato the Censor, [See end of B. iii.] the Register of the Triumphs, [See end of B. v.] Fabius Vestalis. [Nothing whatever is known relative to this author.]

Foreign authors quoted. —Herodotus, [See end of B. ii.] Aristeas, [He is said to have written an epic poem, called Arimaspeia, full of marvellous stories respecting the Arimaspi and the golden regions. See c. of the present Book, and Note in p. 211, where some further particulars relative to him will be found.] Bæton, [See end of B. v.] Isigonus, [He was a native of Nicæa, in Bithynia, and the author of some works, characterized as being full of incredible stories. Cyril, however, says, that he was born at Cittium, and Gellius styles him a writer of no small authority. He is generally looked upon as belonging to the class of writers called Paradoxographi.] Crates, [See end of B. iv.] Agatharchides, [Or Agatharchus, a Greek grammarian of Cnidos. He was, as we learn from Strabo, attached to the Peripatetic school of philosophy, and wrote several historical and geographical works. He was living in the reign of Ptolemy Philometer, who died B.C. 146. His works, which were very numerous, are enumerated by Photius.] Calliphanes, [See end of B. iii.] Aristotle, [See end of B. ii.] Nymphodorus, [See end of B. iii.] Apollonides, [Strabo, in B. ii. speaks of a Periplus of Europe, written by a person of this name. There was also a physician called Apollonides, a native of Cos, who practised at the court of Artaxerxes Longimanus, where he was eventually put to death.] Phylarchus, [A Greek historian of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, and said by different authors to have been a native of Athens, Naucratis in Egypt, and Sicyon. He wrote a work on history, of considerable value, though his credit as an historian has been violently attacked by Polybius.] Damon, [Of Cyrene, an author of uncertain date. He wrote a work on the philosophers.] Megasthenes, [See end of B. v.] Ctesias, [See end of B. ii.] Tauron, [Nothing is known of this writer.] Eudoxus, [For Eudoxus of Cnidos, see end of B. ii: and for Eudoxus of Cyzicus, see end of B..] Onesicritus, [See end of B. ii.] Clitarchus, [See end of B..] Duris, [Of Samos, a descendant of Alcibiades, who flourished in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus. When a boy, he gained a pugilistic victory at Olympia. He eventually became tyrant of Samos; but nothing further is known of his career. From what Pliny says, in c. 40. of B. iii., he is supposed to have been living in the year B.C. 281. He was the author of a history of Greece, and other historical works, of which, however, we possess no remains.] Artemidorus, [See end of B. ii.] Hippocrates [Of Cos, the father of the medical art, and in many respects the most celebrated physician of ancient or modern times. It is supposed that he flourished in the fifth century before Christ. A great number of medical works, still extant, have been attributed to him: but there were many other physicians who either had, or assumed, this name.] the physician, Asclepiades [Of Prusa, in Bithynia. He is mentioned in c. 37 of this Book. See Note in p. 183.] the physician, Hesiod, [Of Ascra, in Bœotia, the earliest of the Greek poets, with the exception of Homer. His surviving works, are his “Works and Days,” and the “Theogony.”] Anacreon, [Of Teos, in Asia Minor, famous for his amatory and lyric poems; he died at the age of eighty-five. Pliny mentions the supposed mode of his death, in c., of the present Book.] Theopompus, [See end of B. ii.] Hellanicus, [See end of B. iv.] Damastes, [See end of B. iv.] Ephorus, [See end of B. iv.] Epigenes, [See end of B. ii.] Berosus, [A priest of Belus, at Babylonia, and a historian of the time of Alexander the Great. He wrote a History of Babylonia, of which some fragments are preserved by the ecclesiastical writers.] Petosiris, [See end of B. ii.] Necepsos, [See end of B. ii.] Alexander Polyhistor, [See end of B. iii.] Xenophon, [See end of B. iv.] Callimachus, [See end of B. iv.] Democritus, [See end of B. ii.] Diyllus [An Athenian, who wrote a history of Greece and Sicily in twenty-six or twenty-seven books, coming down to B.C. 298, from which time Psaon of Platæa continued it.] the historian, Strabo, [Of Lampsacus, a Peripatetic philosopher, and tutor of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He succeeded Theophrastus, B.C. 288, as head of that school. He devoted himself to the study of natural science, and appears to have held a pantheistic system of philosophy. By Cudworth, Leibnitz, and others, he has been charged with atheism. The “Euremata” of Ephorus, here mentioned, was a book which treated of inventions.] who wrote against the Euremata of Ephorus, Heraclides Ponticus, [See end of B. iv.] Aclepiades, [Of Tragilus, in Thrace, a disciple and contemporary of Isocrates. His book, here mentioned, treated on the subjects chosen by the Greek tragic writers, and the manner in which they had dealt with them.] who wrote the Tragodoumena, Philostephanus, [Of Cyrene, the friend or disciple of Callimachus. He flourished under Ptolemy Philadelphus, about B.C. 249. He wrote works on places in Asia, on Rivers, and on Islands; but none of his compositions have survived.] Hegesias, [A native of Magnesia, who wrote on rhetoric and history, probably in the early part of the third century B.C. Strabo speaks but slightingly of him; and Cicero and Dionysius of Halicarnassus agree in looking upon him as a downright blockhead. Upon the other hand, Varro rather admires his style. The history of Alexander the Great was his favourite theme; and he is represented by Aulus Gellius as dealing rather largely in the marvellous.] Archimachus, [Mentioned by Athenæus as having written a history of Eubœa.] Thucydides, [See end of B. iii.; and see c. of the present Book, and Note in p. 175.] Mnesigiton, [Nothing whatever appears to be known of this writer.] Xenagoras, [See end of B. iv.] Metrodorus [See end of B. iii.] of Scepsos, Anticlides, [See end of B. iv.] Critodemus. [See end of B. ii.]