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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,1 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 summoner2 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;3 he also proclaimed the last hour, when the sun had gone down from the Mænian column4 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,5 at the temple of Quirinus,6 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. Varro7 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;8 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;9 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,10 Cneius Gellius,11 Licinius Mutianus,12 Massurius Sabinius,13 Agrippina, the wife of Claudius,14 M. Cicero,15 Asinius Pollio,16 M. Varro,17 Messala Rufus,18 Cornelius Nepos,19 Virgil,20 Livy,21 Cordus,22 Melis- sus,23 Sebosus,24 Cornelius Celsus,25 Maximus Valerius,26 Trogus,27 Nigidius Figulus,28 Pomponius Atticus,29 Pedianus Asconius,30 Fabianus,31 Cato the Censor,32 the Register of the Triumphs,33Fabius Vestalis.34

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Herodotus,35 Aristeas,36 Bæton,37 Isigonus,38 Crates,39 Agatharchides,40 Calliphanes,41 Aristotle,42 Nymphodorus,43 Apollonides,44 Phylarchus,45 Damon,46 Megasthenes,47 Ctesias,48 Tauron,49 Eudoxus,50 Onesicritus,51 Clitarchus,52 Duris,53 Artemidorus,54 Hippocrates55 the physician, Asclepiades56 the physician, Hesiod,57 Anacreon,58 Theopompus,59 Hellanicus,60 Damastes,61 Ephorus,62 Epigenes,63 Berosus,64 Petosiris,65 Necepsos,66 Alexander Polyhistor,67 Xenophon,68 Callimachus,69 Democritus,70 Diyllus71 the historian, Strabo,72 who wrote against the Euremata of Ephorus, Heraclides Ponticus,73 Aclepiades,74 who wrote the Tragodoumena, Philostephanus,75 Hegesias,76 Archima- chus,77 Thucydides,78 Mnesigiton,79 Xenagoras,80 Metrodorus81 of Scepsos, Anticlides,82 Critodemus.83

1 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.

2 "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.

3 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.

4 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.

5 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.

6 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.

7 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.

8 Owing to the circumstance of the dial having been adapted to the latitude of Catina, now Catania, about four degrees south of Rome—B.

9 Vitruvius describes this instrument. Marcus, Ajasson, vol. vi. pp. 218, 219, gives us an account of two kinds of elepsydræ, or water-clocks, which were constructed by the Greeks.—B. See also the account of clocks in Beckmann's History of Inventions, vol. i.

10 See end of B. iii.

11 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.

12 See end of B. ii.

13 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. 4, to show the possibility of gestation being to the thirteenth month.

14 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.

15 The great Roman orator and philosopher.

16 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.

17 See end of B. ii.

18 Nothing whatever seems to be known relative to this author, who is mentioned in c. 53 of this Book. See the Note to that passage.

19 See end of B. ii.

20 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.

21 See end of B. vi.

22 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.

23 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."

24 See end of B. ii.

25 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.

26 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.

27 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.

28 See end of B. vi.

29 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,

30 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.

31 Probably Papirius Fabianus. See end of B. ii.

32 See end of B. iii.

33 See end of B. v.

34 Nothing whatever is known relative to this author.

35 See end of B. ii.

36 He is said to have written an epic poem, called Arimaspeia, full of marvellous stories respecting the Arimaspi and the golden regions. See c. 2 of the present Book, and Note 98 in p. 211, where some further particulars relative to him will be found.

37 See end of B. v.

38 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.

39 See end of B. iv.

40 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.

41 See end of B. iii.

42 See end of B. ii.

43 See end of B. iii.

44 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.

45 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.

46 Of Cyrene, an author of uncertain date. He wrote a work on the philosophers.

47 See end of B. v.

48 See end of B. ii.

49 Nothing is known of this writer.

50 For Eudoxus of Cnidos, see end of B. ii: and for Eudoxus of Cyzicus, see end of B. vi.

51 See end of B. ii.

52 See end of B. vi.

53 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.

54 See end of B. ii.

55 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 flouished 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.

56 Of Prusa, in Bithynia. He is mentioned in c. 37 of this Book. See Note 44 in p. 183.

57 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."

58 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. 5, of the present Book.

59 See end of B. ii.

60 See end of B. iv.

61 See end of B. iv.

62 See end of B. iv.

63 See end of B. ii.

64 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.

65 See end of B. ii.

66 See end of B. ii.

67 See end of B. iii.

68 See end of B. iv.

69 See end of B. iv.

70 See end of B. ii.

71 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.

72 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.

73 See end of B. iv.

74 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.

75 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.

76 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.

77 Mentioned by Athenæus as having written a history of Eubœa.

78 See end of B. iii.; and see c. 31 of the present Book, and Note 6 in p. 175.

79 Nothing whatever appears to be known of this writer.

80 See end of B. iv.

81 See end of B. iii.

82 See end of B. iv.

83 See end of B. ii.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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