Rome to represse that excesse 563 b d. grauers cutters and caruers in Marble who were the first 564 h. grauing in Marble as ancient as the reckoning of yeares by Olympiades ibid. l Marble of Paros white 565 b Marble spotted 571. b. of sundry sorts ibid. Marble pillers and columnes in building of temples why at first vsed ibid. men of Chios built therewith the walls of their citie 571. c. the scoffe of M. Cicero vnto them by that occasion ibid. d Marble slit into thin plates whose inuention 571. d who seeled the wals of his house first with Marble at Rome 571. e. who built his house first at Rome vpon Marble pillers ibid. f K. Mausolus first garnished his pallace with marble of Proconnesus 571. d Marble Lucullian whereupon it tooke the name 572. g. it is blacke ibid. where it groweth ibid. Marble stone slit and sawed after what manner ibid. h Marble of sundrie kindes 573. a Marble of Lacedaemon esteemed best ibid. Marble Augustum and Tiberium why so called 573. b how they differ ibid. Marble serpentine ibid. the medicinable vertues thereof ib. Marble of Memphis with the medicinable properties 573 c Marble Coraliticum where it is found and the nature of it 574. i. Marble Alabandicum why so called ibid. it will melt and drinking glasses be made thereof ibid. Marble Thebaicke 574 i. the vertues that it hath ibid. k Marble Syenites why so called 574 k. it is named also Pyrrhopoecilos ibid. it serued for long Obeliske ibid. Marble gray or Sinadian Marble 522. i Marble doth liue and grow in the quarrey 586. i Marchesin or Marquesit stone See Cadmia and Pyrites Marcion of Smyrna a writer of hearbes 300. k Marcipores what they were 459 a C. Marius Censorinus how rich he died 479 e. f Q Marcius Tremellius his statue in a gowne for what desert 491. e Marigolds and their floures compared with Violets 85. e Mariscon a kinde of rishi 106. k C. Marius dranke ordinarily out of a wooden tankard after the example of Bacchus 482. l Markes remaining after the cauterie or searing-yron how to be taken away 377. f Marmaridius a Magician 372. i Marrow of what vertue it is 320. m what Marrow is best ib. how to be ordered and prepared ib. Marsians people resisting all poyson 95. a. b Marsians descended from Circe 210. l. they cure the sting of serpents by touching or sucking onely ibid. Martia a water seruing Rome 408. g. most cold and holesome ibid. from whence it commeth ibid. who conueied it to Rome and maintained it ibid. how it tooke that name 585. d Q. Martius Rex his wonderfull workes performed during his Pretourship 585. d Mascellin mettall of gold siluer and brasse 487. q. c Maspetum what it is 8. l Massaris 146 g. a wilde Vine ibid. 147. c. how employed ibid. Massurius a writer of Histories 320. k Thistle-Masticke what it is 98. i Masticke the gum of the Lentiske tree and the medicinable vertues 182. l. 184. h Matrice pained and vexed with throwes what remedies for it 39 f. 53 b 66 k. 106. i m. 121. f. 186 k. 198 m 207 d. 266 l. 267 b. f. 268 g. 279 a. 283 a. 308 g. 339 c 340. g. Matrice puffed vp swelled and hard how to be assuaged and mollified 72 l. 103 c. 111 c. f. 162 k. 180 l. 183. d 186 g. 339 c. f. 340 g. 352 i. 396 h. 397 a. Matrice enflamed and impostumat how to be cured 55 e 59 d. 71 b. 267 d. 303 a. 350 g. 351 a. Matrice sore and exulcerat how to be healed 140 i. 159. d 161 c. 175 a. 267 d. 340 g m. Matrice ouermoist and slipperie how to be helped 340 l Matrice drawne in and contracted how to be remedied 303. a. Matrice peruerted fallen downe or displaced how to be reduced and settled againe 303 a. 339 b. 340 h. 396. h 557 f. 591 b. See more in Mother Matrice obstructed and vncleane how to be opened clensed and mundified 43. b. c. 55. d. 57. c. 62. k. 77. b. 101. d 168. i. 180. l. 268. g. 340. k. 104. i. 121. f. 133. e. 158. h 175. b. 182. g. 187. d. 192. l. 266. l 267. c. d. 271. d. for the infirmities of the Matrice in generall comfortable medicines 102. h. k. 108. k. 109. b. c. 111. d. 119. d 121. e. 154. g. 173. a. 175. a. 179. f. 181. b. 183. e. 193. b 196. g. 207. c. 267. f. 271. d. 313. c. 318. h. 339. d. 340. i. l 395. c. 448. i. 449. b. 589. b. Maturatiue medicines 76. k. 103. c. 139. a. 183. d. 303. a 556. l. Mattiaci what springs 404. h Maur-hils corruptly called Moul-hils what they be 397. d Mausoleum the renowmed tombe erected by queene Artemisia for king Mausolus her husband 568. i. the description thereof and the workemen ibid. M E Mead or honied water See Hydromell one Meale a day no good diet 304. h Mechopanes a painter full of curious workemanship 548. m Mecoenas Messius held his peace voluntarily for three years space 305. d Mecoenas signed with the print of a Frog 601. f Mecon a kinde of wild Poppie 69. c Meconis a Lectuce why so called 24. i Meconites a pretious stone 628. i Meconium whaet it is 68. i remedie against Meconium 160 k Meconium Aphrodes an hearbe 257 f Mecontum what kinde of medicine to make a woman fruitfull 303. b Medea a pretious stone 628. i. by whom found ibid. Medea queene of Colchis a famous witch 210. k Medion an hearbe with the description 285. e Medius a writer in Physicke 39. e Medlers the fruit and their medicinable vertues 171. b Megabizus what he is 548. i Meges a Chirurgian 439. c Mel-frugum See Panicke Melamphyllon what hearbe 129. c Melampodium what hearbe and of whom it tooke that name 217. b Melamprasium 278. g Melampus a famous Diuinor or Prophet 217. a Melancholie the disease what remedies are appropriat for it 46. i. 50. l. 72. k. 107. e. 140. h. 157. a. 219. d. 283. a 304. l. 316 g. 318. g. 336. h. Melancholie the humour what medicines doe purge 111. f 188. g. 235 f. 412. m. Melandrium what hearbe 248. g Melanthemon what hearbe 125. d Melas a fountaine the water whereof maketh sheepe white 403. c. Melas a cutter in marble of great antiquitie 564. k Melichloros a pretious stone 630. m Melichrus a pretious stone ibid. Mililot an hearbe 90 g. why called Sertula-Campana the description thereof ibid. the vertues medicinable 106. l Melinum a Painters white colour 528. k. why so called 529. d. how it is gotten ibid. the vse in Physicke and the price ibid. Melitaei what dogs 380. h Melites a pretious stone 630. m Melities a kinde of Honied wine 136. m. the properties it hath 137. a Melitites a stone why so called 589. b. the vertues that it hath ibid. Melons their meat and medicinable properties 37. c Melopepones what they be 14. k Melothron what plant 149. c Membranes wounded how
Sil and Azur As for Sil to speake properly it is a kind of muddy slime the best of this kind is called Atticum and euery pound of it is worth 32 deniers The next in goodnesse is hard as stone or marble and carieth hardly halfe the price of the other named Atticum there is a third sort of a fast compact substance which because it is brought out of the Island Scyros some call Scyricum and yet of late verily we haue it out of Achaia also and this is the Sil that painters vse for their shadows this is sold after two sesterces the pound As for the Sil which commeth out of France called the Bright Sil it is sold in euery pound two asses lesse than that of Achaia This Sil and the first called Atticum painters vse to giue a lustre and light withall but the second kinde which standeth vpon marble is not imploied but in tablements and chapters of pillers for that the marble grit within it doth withstand the bitternesse of the lime This Sil is digged likewise out of certain hils not past 20 miles from the city of Rome afterwards they burne it and by that means do sophisticate and sell it for the fast or flat kinde named Pressum but that it is not true and natural but calcined appeareth euidently by the bitternesse that it hath and for that it is resolued into pouder CHAP. XIII ¶ Of Sil Caeruleum Nestorianum and Coelum Also that all these kindes keep not the same price euerie yeare POlygnotus and Mycon were the first Painters who wrought with Sil or Ochre but they vsed onely that of Athens in their pictures The age insuing imploied it much in giuing light vnto their colours but that of Scyros and Lydia for shadowes As for the Lydian ochre it was commonly bought at Sardis the capitall city of Lydia but now it is growne out of all remembrance As touching Caeruleum or Azur it is a certaine sandy grit or pouder of which in old time there were knowne 3 kinds to wit the Aegyptian most commended aboue the rest the Scythian which is easie to be dissolued and tempered and in the grinding turneth into foure colours namely the Azur which is of a pallet colour called therefore the whiter the blacker Azur of a deeper blew there is the Azur also of a grosser substance and the fourth of a finer The Cyprian Azur is preferred before that of Scythia Ouer and aboue those Azures before-named wee haue some from Puteoli and Spaine where they be artificiall and they haue taken to making it of a kind of sand All the sorts of these Azurs receiue first a dye and are boiled with a certain hearbe appropriat to it called Oad the colour and juice whereof Azur is apt to drinke in and receiue As for all the preparation and making of it otherwise it is the same that belongeth to Chrysocolla or Borax Of Azur there is made that powder which wee call in Latine Lomentum for which purpose it must be first punned puluerized and washed and this is whiter indeed than the Azur it selfe sold it is after three and twentie deniers the pound whereas Azur may bee bought for eighteene Herewith they vse to paint walls that be ouercast with plastres for lime it will not abide Of late daies there is a kinde of Azur growne into request called Nestorianum taking that name of him who first deuised it made it is of the lightest part of the Aegyptian Azur and it costeth 40 deniers the pound Of the same vse also is the Azur of Puteoli saue only in windows and this some call Coelon It is not long since another kind of Azur or blew named Indico began to be brought ouer vnto vs out of India which is prized at 17 deniers the pound It serueth painters wel for the lines called Incisurae that is to say for to diuide shadows from lights in their workes To conclude there is another kinde of Lomentum or blew powder of the basest account of all other some call it Tritum and it is not esteemed worth aboue fiue asses the pound But to try the right and perfect Azur indeed the best experiment is to see whether it will flame vpon a burning cole As for the false and sophisticat Azur it is thus made they take the floures of violets dried and boile them in water the juice they presse forth through a linnen cloth and mix the same with the chaulky earth called Eretria vntill such time as it be well incorporat with it To proceed vnto the medicinable vertues of Azur It is holden to be a great clenser therfore it mundifieth vlcers in which regard it entreth into plasters as also into potentiall cauteries As touching Ochre or Sil it is exceeding hard to be reduced into pouder and this also serueth in Physicke for it hath a mild kind of mordacity astringent it is besides incarnatiue in which respect soueraigne to heale vlcers but before that it will doe any good it ought to be burnt and calcined vpon an earthen pan To conclude with the prices of all those things named heretofore howsoeuer hitherto I haue set them downe yet I am not ignorant how they vary according to the place yea and alter in manner euery yeare and well I wot that as shipping and nauigation speeds well or ill as the Merchant buyeth cheap or deare the price may rise and fall Againe it falleth out that sometime one rich munger or other buying vp a commodity and bringing it wholly into his owne hands for to haue the Monopoly of it raiseth the market and inhaunceth the price for I remember well how in the daies of Nero late Emperor all the spicers druggers and Apothecaries preferred a Bill of complaint vnto the Consuls against one Demetrius a regrater Yet notwithstanding I thought it necessarie to put downe the prices of things as they are ordinarie valued at Rome one yeare with another to shew in some sort by a generall aestimat the worth of such wares and commodities whereof I haue written THE XXXIV BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS The Proem CHAP. I. ¶ The Mines of Brasse IT is now time to go in hand with Mines of Brasse a mettall esteemed most of all other next to Gold and Siluer in regard of the vses about which it is imployed nay if I should say truly preferred it is especially that which is called the laton of Corinth in diuers respects before siluer yea and gold it selfe for brasse I may tell you is of great authority in the campe and carrieth no small stroke among souldiers in regard of their pay which as I haue said before was weighed them out in brasse and hereupon their wages-money is vsually called by the name of Aera militum From this mettall likewise the generall Receiuers and Treasurers take their title of credit and place for at Rome they be called Tribuni aerarij as a man would
Rome for his owne vsâ—… pillars of Marble brought from forraine Lands NEither can it be alledged for excuse of this tolleration in Scaurus that hee tooke the vantage and spied his time when the city of Rome was not ware of any such matter toward as hauing not been acquainted beforetime with the like and therefore he stale vpon them with these superfluous pompes as doubting nothing lesse than such new deuises and therefore hauing no time to preuent and stay them for long before this L. Crassus that great Orator who was the first that inriched his house within the same Palatium with pillars of outlandish marble although they were but of the Quarry in Hymettus hill and neither more in number than six nor carying in length aboue 12 foot apiece was reproued and reproched for this pride and vanity by M. Brutus who among other hot words and biting terms that passed interchangeably between them taunted him by the name of Venus Palatina Certes considering how all good orders and customs otherwise were trodden vnder foot weare to presume thus of our predecessors That when they saw other injunctions and prohibitions as touching diuers abuses crept in take no effect but daily broken they thought it better policy to make no lawes at all for restraint of such columns than to haue them infringed or at leastwise not obserued when they were made yet are we in these daies in better order than so and I doubt not but the age and generation following will justifie and approue of vs in comparison of them for where is there one in Rome at this day who hath in the portaile or entrie of his house any columns that for bignesse and pride come near to those of Scaurus But before that I enter farther into this discourse of marbles and other rich stones it shal be good to speak somwhat of the men that haue excelled in the cutting thereof and whose workmanship hath carried the greatest price First therfore I wil go through with the artificers themselues CHAP. IIII. ¶ The first Imageurs that were in name for cutting in Marble and in what ages they flourished THe first that we reade renowned for grauing and caruing in marble were Dipoenus and Scyllis both Candiots borne who during the Empire and Monarchie of the Medes and before that Cyrus began his reigne in Persia liued in great fame and that was in the fiftieth Olympias or thereabout These men went together vnto Sicyone a city which I may truly say was for a long time the very natiue country that brought forth the excellent workemen in all kinds of mettals and minerals It fortuned at the same time that the magistrates of Sicyone had bargained with them for certaine images of the gods to be made at the publicke charges of the city but these artificers who had vndertaken the thing agriued at some wrongs offered to them departed in Aetolia before they had finished the said images and so left them vnperfect Presently vpon this there insued a great famine amongst the Sicyonians by occasion that the earth failed to yeeld increase the citizens therefore full of sorrow and heauinesse fearing vtter desolation had recourse to the Oracle of Apollo Pythius to know what remedy for this calamity and this answer was deliuered vnto them from the said god That according to their petition they should finde meanes for to be eased of this plague in case Dipoenus and Scyllis had once finished the images of the gods which they begun and this was performed accordingly but with much difficulty for they were faine to pay whatsoeuer they would demand they were glad also to pray vnto them with cap in hand And what images mought these be Euen Apollo Diana Hercules and Minerva and this last named was afterwards smitten and blasted with fire from heauen CHAP. V. ¶ Of singular pieces of worke and excellent artificers in cutting and grauing Marble to the number of 126. Of the white Marble of Paros and of the stately sepulchre called Mausoleum LOng time before Dipoenus and Scyllis there had been in the Island Chios one Melas a cutter and grauer in marble after whom his son Micciades succeeded and he likewise left a sonne behind him named Anthermus of the said Isle a cunning workman whose two sons Bupalus and Anthermus proued also most skilfull Imageurs These flourished in the daies of Hipponax the Poet who as it is well knowne liued in the 60 Olympias Now if a man will calculate the times according to the genealogie of these two last named and count backeward in ascent no higher than to their great grandsire he shall find by the ordinary course of Nature that the art of cutting and grauing in stone is equall in antiquity to the originall and beginning of the Olympiades But to proue that these two Bupalus and Anthermus liued in the daies of Hipponax aboue named recorded it is That the said Poet had a passing soule ill-fauored face of his own and these Imageurs could find no better sport than to counterfeit both him and his visage as liuely as possibly might be in stone and in a knauery to set the same vp in open place where mery youths met in knots together and so to propose him as a laughing stock to the whole world Hipponax could not indure this indignitie but for to be reuenged vpon these companions sharpened his style or pen against them and so coursed them with bitter rimes biting libels that as some do thinke and verily beleeue being weary of their liues they knit their necks in halters and so hanged themselues But sure this canot be true for they liued many a faire day after yea and wrought a number of Images in the Islands adiacent to Chios and namely in Delos vnder which pieces of their worke they subscribed certain arrogant verses to this effect That the Island of Chios was not only enobled for the vines there growing which yeelded so good wine but renowned as well for Anthermus his two sons who made so many fine â—…nd curious images The Islanders also of Iasus haue to shew the image of Diana their handiworke within the Isle of Chios their natiue country there was likewise another Diana of their making whereof there goeth much talke and which standeth aloft in a temple there the visage of which Diana is so disposed that to as many as enter into the place it seemes sad and heauy but to them that goe forth it appeareth pleasant and merry And in very truth there be certaine statue at Rome of these mens doing to wit those which stand vpon the lanterne of Apollo's Temple 〈◊〉 the mount Palatine and almost generally in all those chappels which Agustus Caesar Emperor â—…f glorious memory erected Moreouer their father Anthermus left behind him certain images both in Delos and also in the Island Lesbos As for Dipoenus his workes were rife in Ambracia Arâ—…os and Cleone in which cities a man should not see a corner without them But all
not altered againe but taken for a presage and religiously euer after kept as if the very gods themselues had so ordered and appointed it and made a counterchange which is the reason also that in the foresaid chappell of Iuno there is that kinde of seruice which was meant for Iupiter To conclude there haue been certaine workemen that haue growne to great name by cutting and grauing in small pieces of marble and namely Myrmecides deuised to inchase in marble a charriot and foure horses and a man to driue the same in so smal a roome that a poor flie might couer all with her little wings As for Callicrates he cut in stone the similitude and proportion of pismires in so narrow a compasse that a man cannot easily discerne the feet and other parts of the body CHAP. VI. ¶ When first began Marble stones to be vsed in building of priuat houses Who began at Rome to parget and couer walls with thin leaues of Marble In what ages each kinde of Marble came into vse and request Who inuented cutting of Marble into thin plates the de uise and manner thereof Of sand proper for building THus far forth haue I discoursed of the cutters and ingrauers of marble and of those excellent artificers who haue bin most renowned In which treatise I remember wel that the diapred and spotted marble all this while was of no regard for all the antique pieces which I haue rehearsed were made of the marble of Thasos of the Islands Cyclades as also of Lesbos and yet this inclineth to a blackish or blewish colour somwhat more than the rest As for marble spotted in sundry colours as also of the ordering workmanship and vse of any kinds of marble in building Menander who in his time was most curious of all others in discussing all such superfluitie dealt first therein but seldome medled he withall Howbeit true it is that at length pillars of marble were taken vp to be vsed in temples not vpon any pride brauerie or magnificence for as yet they knew not what such things meant but for that it was thought that they could not be erected nor beare vpon any thing stronger and in that manner was begun the temple at Athens of Iupiter Olympias out of which Sylla brought those columnes which serued for his house and pallace in the Capitoll Howbeit euen in Homers time a difference there was made betweene ordinary stone and marble for this Poet saith plainely that Paris caught a rap vpon the mouth with a marble stone and yet whensoeuer he extolleth and setteth out in the highest degree the most stately pallaces of kings and princes he neuer makes mention of any other matter to adorne them withall but of Brasse Gold Electrum Siluer and Yvory and not one word of Marble But as I take it the first time that these marbles of sundry spots and colors were discouered was in the quaries of the Islanders of Chios by occasion that they digged for stone to fortifie their city with walls whereupon M. Cicero plaies merily vpon them with a pleasant conceit for when they made shew to all that came and among the rest to him what walls they had built of marble and seemed to take great pride in their sumptuous and magnificent building What ado is here quoth Cicero I would haue maruelled much more at your wall and thought you had done a greater deed if you had built it out of the quary of Tyburtum Certes if marble had bin of any name and credit in old time painters had not bin so highly honored as they were nay had there bin thinke ye any reckoning made of them at all As touching the manner of slitting marble into thin plates therewith to couer and seel as it were the outsides of walls I wot not well whether the inuention came from Caria or no. The palace of Mausolus K. of Caria built at Halicarnassus is the antientest building that I can find in any record garnished set out and inriched with marble of Proconnesus notwithstanding all the wals were reared of brick This prince changed his life in the second yere of the 100 Olympias which fel out to be the 302 yeare after the foundation of the city of Rome As for our Romans Cornelius Nepos writeth That Mamurra borne at Formiae a gentleman of Rome and sometime a Prouost ouer the Pioners Masons Smiths and Carpenters vnder Caesar in France was the first who couered all the walls throughout his house which he had vpon mount Coelius with leaues of marble Now when I speak of Mamurra you must not be offended and think that I ascribe the inuention hereof to a mean person for I tell you this is that Mamurra whom the Poet Catullus my country man of Verona so tanted and reuiled in his verses this is the man whose house before said testifieth better by proofe and effect than Catullus could by his Poesie expresse That he had laid vpon it and gathered into it all the riches of Gallia Comata which was as much to say as all France saue only Prouance Languedoc Sauoy and Dauphine And well it might be so for Cornelius Nepos before named addeth moreouer and saith that he was the first man who caused the pillars of his house to be of marble had not one of other matter neither were those sleight and slender but solid massie euen hewn out of the quaries either of Carystus or Lunâ—… But after him in processe of time M. Lepidus who was ioined companion in the Consulship to Catulus was the first man known to lay the sils lintels cheeks of his dores thorowout his hous with Numidian marble being Consul in the 666 yere reckoning from the foundation of Rome but well shent and rebuked he was for his labor And verily this was the first Numidian marble as far as I can find by any mention or token at all brought ouer to Rome not to serue in pillars only and pannels in the seeling of walls as Mamurra imploied his Carystian marble but in middle workes and in the basest of all namely in dore sils lentils and jambes After this Lepidus some foure yeares succeeded Consull L. Lucullus who as it should seeme by that which fell out gaue the name to Lucullean marble for that he was so much delighted therien he brought it first to Rome and had a speciall fancy thereto notwithstanding it were black otherwise wheras all other men esteemed better of other coloured marble or els spotted This marble growes in an Island lying within the riuer Nilus and no marbles as many kinds as there be took name of him that loued them but it alone But among these men that were giuen to build with marble M. Scaurus was the first man as I take it that for the stage and forefront of his Theatre made the wals of marble but whether the same were of slit and sawne marble or laid with good sound square ashler or no as the temple of Iupiter Tonans
triumphed ouer the enemy Howbeit as sumptuous in this kind as either C. Caligula or Nero was yet shal they not enjoy the glory of this fame though you put them two and two together for I wil shew that al this pride excesse of theirs in building their pallaces princes though they were mighty monarchs came behind the priuat works of M. Scaurus Whose example in his Aedileship was of so ill consequence as I wot not whether euer there were any thing that ouerthrew so much all good manners and orderly ciuility in such sort as hard it is to say whether Sylla did more dammage to the state in hauing a son in law so rich mighty than by the proscription of so many thousand Romane citizens And in truth this Scaurus when he was Aedile caused a wonderfull piece of worke to be made and exceeding all that euer had been knowne wrought by mans hand not only those that haue been erected for a moneth or such a thing but euen those that haue bin destined for perpetuitie and a theatre it was the stage had three lofts one aboue another wherin were there hundred and threescore columnes of marble a strange and admirable sight in that citie which in times past could not endure six small pillars of marble hewed out of the quarry in mount Hymettus in the house of a most honourable personage without a great reproch and rebuke giuen to him for it the base or nethermost part of the stage was all of marble the middle of glasse an excessiue superfluitie neuer heard of before or after as for the vppermost the bourds planks and floores were guilded the columnes beneath were as I haue said before fortie foot high wanting twaine and between these columns as I haue shewed before there stood of statues and Images in brasse to the number of three thousand The theatre it selfe was able to receiue fourescore thousand persons to sit well and at ease Whereas the compasse of Pompeies Amphitheatre notwithstanding the city of Rome so much enlarged and more peopled in his time was deuised for to contain no greater number than fortie thousand seats at large As touching the other furniture of this Theatre of Scaurus in rich hangings which were cloth of gold painted tables the most exquisit that could be found plaiers apparrell and other stuffe meet for to adorne the stage there was such abundance thereof that there being caried back to his house of pleasure at Tusculum the surplusage therof ouer and aboue the daintiest part wherof he had daily vse at Rome his seruants and slaues there vpon indignation for this wast and monstrous superfluitie of their master set the said country house on fire and burnt as much as came to a hundred millions of sesterces Certes when I consider and behold the monstrous humours of these prodigall spirits my mind is drawn away stil from the progresse of mine intended iourny and forced I am to digresse out of my way and to annex vnto this vanity of Scaurus as great follie of another not in masonry and marble but in carpentry and timber and C. Curio it was he who in the ciuile warres betweene Caesar and Pompey lost his life in the quarrell of Caesar. This gentleman desirous to shew pleasure vnto the people of Rome at the funerall of his father deceased as the manner then was and seeing that he could not outgo Scaurus in rich and sumptuous furniture for where should he haue had such a father in law again as Sylla Where could he haue found the like mother to dame Metella who had her share in all forfeitures and confiscations of the goods of outlawed citizens and where was it possible for him to meet with such another father as M. Scaurus the principall person of the whole city so long together who parted stakes with Marius in pilling and polling of the prouinces and was the very receptacle gulfe which receiued and swallowed all their spoiles and pillage and Scaurus himselfe verily if he might haue had all the goods in the world could not haue done as he did before nor make the like Theatre againe by reason that his house at Tusculum was burnt where the costly and rich furniture the goodliest rare ornaments which he had gotten together from al parts of the world were consumed to ashes by which fire yet this good hee got and prerogatiue aboue all other That no man euer after him was able to match that sumptuositie of his Theatre This gentleman I say Curio al things considered was put to his shifts deuised to surpasse Scaurus in wit since hee could not come neere him in wealth And what might his inuention be Certes it is worth the knowledge if there were no more but this that we may haue ioy of our own conceits and fashions and call our selues worthily as our manner is Majores that is to say superiour euery way to all others To come then to C. Curio his cunning deuise he caused two Theatres to be framed of timber and those exceeding big howbeit so as they might be turned about as a man would haue them approch neere one to the other or be remoued farther asunder as one would desire all by the means of one hooke apiece that they hung by which bare the weight of the whole frame the counterpoise was so euen all the whole therfore sure and firme Now he ordered the matter thus that to behold the seuerall stage plaies and shews in the forenoone before dinner they shall be set back to back to the end that the stages should not trouble one another and when the people had taken their pleasure that way he turned the Theatres about in a trice against the afternoone that they affronted one another and toward the latter end of the day and namely when the fencers and sword-plaiers were to come in place he brought both the Theatres nearer together and yet euery man sat stil kept his place according to his rank and order insomuch as by the meeting of the horns and corners of them both together in compasse he made a faire round Amphitheatre of it and there in the middest between he exhibited indeed vnto them all jointly a sight and spectacle of sword-fencers fighting at sharpe whom he had hired for that purpose but in truth a man may say more truly that he caried the whole people of Rome round about at his pleasure bound sure enough for stirring or remoouing Now let vs come to the point and consider a little better of this thing What should a man wonder at most therin the deuiser or the deuise it selfe The workeman of this fabricke or the master that set him on worke Whether of the twaine is more admirable either the venturous head of him that deuised it or the bold heart of him that vndertook it to command such a thing to be don or to obey and yeeld to goe in hand with it But when we haue