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1 In B. xxxiii. c. 31, where we have an account of the ores of silver.—B.
2 Pliny again refers to this mineral in the 22d Chapter. We have no means of ascertaining, with certainty, what is the substance to which this name was applied by the ancients. The ores of copper are very numerous, and of various chemical constitutions: the most abundant, and those most commonly employed in the production of the pure metal, are the sulphurets, more especially what is termed copper pyrites, and the oxides. It has been supposed, by some commentators, that the Cadmia of the ancients was Calamine, which is an ore of zinc; but we may be confident that the Æs of the ancients could not be produced from this substance, because, as has been stated above, the Æs contains no zinc. I must, however, observe that the contrary opinion is maintained by M. Delafosse.—B. See Note 2 above.
3 The inhabitants of Bergamum, the modern Bergamo.—B. See B. iii. c. 21.
4 Aristotle gives the same account of the copper ore of Cyprus. Chalcitis is also spoken of by Dioscorides, as an ore of copper.—B. See further as to "Chaicitis," in Chapter 29 of this Book.
5 There has been much discussion respecting the nature of this substance, and the derivation of the word. Hardouin conceives it probable that it was originally written "orichaleum," i.e. "mountain brass" or "copper."—B. Ajasson considers it to be native brass, a mixture of copper and zinc. In the later writers it signifies artificial brass. The exact composition of this metal is still unknown, but there is little doubt that Hardouin is right in his supposition as to the origin of the name.
6 Possibly so called from Sallustius Crispus, the historian, who was one of the secretaries of Augustus.
7 There is some doubt respecting the locality of these people; they are enumerated by Pliny among the inhabitants of the mountainous districts of Savoy, B. iii. c. 24, and are referred to by Ptolemy.—B.
8 Livia.
9 It was named "Marian," after the celebrated Marius, and "Corduban," from the place whence it was procured; probably the mountains near Corduba, in Spain, well known as the birth-place of the two Senecas and of Lucan.—B. See B. iii. c. 3, and B. xix. c. 43.
10 No light is thrown upon the nature either of Cadmia or Aurichalcum by this statement; we only learn from it that different compounds, or substances possessing different physical properties, went under the common appellation of Æs, and were, each of them, employed in the formation of coins.—B.
11 "Dupondiariis." The "as," it must be remembered, originally weighed one pound. See B. xxxiii. c. 13, and the Introduction to Vol. III. 19 He alludes to the ancient works of art in this compound metal.
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- Cross-references to this page
(8):
- Harper's, Orichalcum
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), ORICHAL´CUM
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), DELOS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MARIA´NUS MONS
- Smith's Bio, C. Sallu'stius Crispus
- Smith's Bio, Mu'mmius
- Smith's Bio, Myron
- Smith's Bio, Polycleitus
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (8):