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Book VIII metals, precious such as gold, platinum, silver

Book VIII metals, precious such as gold, platinum, silver Page of 251 Book VIII metals, precious such as gold, platinum, silver Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
BOOK VIII
177
cold. When a projecting piece of the metal is struck it makes a sound be­cause it is hard. Copper makes a black mark on wood. When rubbed on a whetstone, Samian earth or similar hard substances it leaves its natural color. When in a solid mass it sinks in water while thin sheets will float. Silver is present in almost all copper although that produced in the Moselle District near Herstein is almost free of silver. Copper often contains imperfections they call aerugo especially copper that has been exposed to acid solutions. Pliny is correct when he writes that copper which is rubbed clean draws rust to itself more quickly than that which is neglected and it is recognized that the metal is best preserved in liquid pitch.
Many more things are made from copper than from silver since it is cheaper. Money, tablets upon which public regulations are engraved, goblets, basins, vessels of many kinds used in baths, kitchen utensils and the vats in which malt liquors are cooked are made from copper. It is used in ladles, tanks, ovens, dining couches, gaming boards, pedestal tables, shafts, small table tops, thresholds, doors, folding doors, lamps, candelabra, lamp stands, three-legged stools and statues of deities, ani­mals and men. It is used in statues of horses and other large statues. The shields of the singers of the Salii are made of copper from Mamurius.14 The heifer of the sculptor Myro was of copper as well as the horse by Domitius and the bull of Phalaris. The hundred gates of Babylon were famous as well as the columns of Hercules in Cadiz that were twelve feet high. The people of Sparta gave Croesus a copper punch bowl with a capacity of seventeen gallons. The manger of Mardonius was of copper as were the horses by Durius and the lioness in Athens. In the center of Athens near the statue of Minerva were copper spheres that were used by athletes to test their strength. The Romans and Greeks erected a great many statues of this metal and the casting of them made many men famous, especially among the Greeks. I shall not discuss these statues since Pliny has mentioned almost all of them. However I shall mention some others. In Taenarum there was a statue of Arion of Methymna together with the dolphin that caught him up and carried him on the sea. In Athens were statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton who tried to pro­tect the Athenians from tyranny. There was a statue of Jupiter in Peri-bolus and another in Sparta. All of these must have been very old as Pausanias the Laconian believed. Seutonius writes that Caesar Augustus erected a statue to Antonius Musa, a physician, close by the statue of Aesculapius. The ancient peoples often used copper arms, not only the Greeks, Persians and Phoenicians but also the Romans under Servius
14 The Salii were leapers, a college of priests of Mars, instituted by Numa. Their sacred processions accompanied by singers and dancers carrying shields took place annually in the beginning of March. A shield was believed to have fallen from Heaven during the time of Numa and the safety of the Roman Empire was supposed to depend upon its preservation.
Book VIII metals, precious such as gold, platinum, silver Page of 251 Book VIII metals, precious such as gold, platinum, silver
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