Cbap. 18,] 



COLOSSAL STATUES IN THE CITY. 167 



the requisite gold and silver, and Zenodotus was inferior to 

 none of the ancients, either as a designer or as an engraver.^'' 

 At the time that he was working at the statue for the Arverni, 

 he copied for Dubius Avitus, the then governor of the province, 

 two driuking-cups, chased by the hand of Calamis,^ which 

 had been highly prized by Germanicus Csesar, and had been 

 given by him to his preceptor Cassius Silanus, the uncle ot 

 Avitus ; and this with such exactness, that they could scarcely 

 be distinguished from the originals. The greater, then, the supe- 

 riority of Zenodotus, the more certainly it may be concluded 

 that the secret of fusing [precious] brass is lost. 



(8.) Persons who possess what are called Corinthian bronzes, 

 are generally so much enamoured of them, as to carry them 

 about with them from place to place ; Hortensius, the orator, 

 for instance, who possessed a Sphinx, which he had made 

 Yerres give him, when accused. It was to this figure that 

 Cicero aUuded, in an altercation which took place at the trial : 

 when, upon Hortensius saying that he could not understand 

 enigmas, Cicero made answer that he ought to understand 

 them, as he had got a Sphinx^-^ at home. The Emperor Nero 

 also, used to carry about with him the figure of an Amazon, ot 

 which I shall speak further hereafter f and, shortly before this, 

 C. Cestius, a person of consular^^ rank, had possessed a figure, 

 which he carried with him even in battle. The tent, too, ot 

 Alexander the Great was usually supported, it is said, hy sta- 

 tues, two of which are consecrated before the Temple of Mars 

 Ultor,2'5 and a similar number before the Palace.^' 



20 This observation has been supposed to imply, that Zenodotus cast his 

 statues m a number of separate pieces, which were afterwards connected 

 toc^ether, and not, as was the case with the great Grecian artists, in one 

 entire piece — B. ^^ See B. xxxiii. c. 55. 



22 The term signum, which is applied to the Corinthian figures, may 

 mean a medallion, or perhaps a seal-ring or brooch ; we only know that 

 it must have been something small, which might be carried about the person, 

 or, at least, easily moved from place to place.-E. Statuette, probably. 



23 Her riddle, and its solution by (Edipus, are too well known to need 

 repetition here. ^* I^ the followins Chapter. 



26 Th?" Aveiger." ' In the Forum of Augustus, in the Eighth Region 



*^^\^®u^e^\a." The palace of Minerva, also in the Forum of Angus- 

 tus.—B. 



