Cliap. 3.] THE COUINTUIAN BRASS. l49 



its excellent quality ; but none of it has been found for this 

 long time, the earth having been quite exhausted. The kind 

 which was next in value was the Sallustian/^ procured from 

 the Alpine district of the Centrones ;!* but this did not last 

 long, and was succeeded by the Livian, in Gaul. They both 

 took their names from the owners of the mines ; the former a 

 friend of the Emperor Augustus, the latter that emperor's 

 wife.^^ They soon failed, however, and in the Livian even 

 there is now found but a very sm.ali quantity of ore. That 

 which is at present held in the highest estimation is the 

 Marian, likewise known as the Corduban :^^ next to the Livian, 

 this kind most readilj^ absorbs cadmia, and becomes almost as 

 excellent as aurichalcum^'' for making sesterces and double 

 asses, '^ the Cyprian copper being thought good enough for the 

 us. Thus much concerning the natural qualities of this metal. 



CHAP 3. THE COEINTUIAN BEASS. 



The other kinds are made artificially, all of which will be 

 described in the appropriate places, the more celebrated kinds 

 first coming under our notice. Formerly a mixture was made 

 of copper fused with gold and silver, and the workmanship in 

 this metal was considered even more valuable than the ma- 

 terial itself; but, at the present day, it is difficult to say 

 whether the workmanship in it, or the material, is the worst. 

 Indeed, it is wondei-ful, that while the value of these works'^ 



" Possibly so called from Sallustius Crispus, the historian, who was one 

 of the secretaries of Augustus. 



^^ There is some doubt respecting the locality of these people ;_ they are 

 enumerated by Fliny among the inhabitants of the mountainous districts of 

 Savoy, B. iii. c. 24, and are referred to by Ptolemy. — B. 



''^ Li via. 



■'- It was named " Marian," after the celebrated Marius, and " Cordu- 

 ban," from the place whence it Avas procured ; probably the mountains near 

 Cord'uba, 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. 



^' No light is thrown upon tlic nature either of Cadmia or Aurichalcum. 

 by this statement ; we only learn from it that different compounds, or sub-^ 

 stances possessing different physical properties, went under tlie common 

 appellation of ^.s, and were, each of them, employed in the formation of 

 coins, — B. 



1^ "Dupondiariis." The "as," it must be remembered, Griginalhj 

 weighed one pound. See B. xxxiii. c. 13, and the Introduction to Vol. III. 



^3 He alludes to the ancient works of art in this compound metal. 



