BOOK IX. VIII. I2I-LX. 125 



cut in two pieces, so that half a helping of the jewel 



might be in each of the ears of Venus in the Pantheon 



at Rome. LIX. They " will not carry off this trophy, An eariier 



and will be robbed even of the record for ?<•<"■' ■«""■y- 



luxury ! A predecessor had done this at Rome in the 



case of pearls of great value, Clodius, the son of the 



tragic actor Aesopus, who had left him his heir in a 



vast estate ; so that Antony cannot take too much 



pride in his triumvirate when compared with one 



who was virtually an actor, and who had indeed been 



led on to this display not by any wager — which would 



make it more royal — but to discover by experiment, 



for the honour of his palate, what is the exact flavour 



of pearls ; and when they proved marvellously 



acceptable, in order not to keep the knowledge to 



himself he gave his guests also a choice pearl apiece 



to swallow. 



Fenestella records that they came into common witen 

 use at Rome after the reduction of Alexandria under ^^omeT^ 

 our sway,* but that small and cheap pearls first came 

 in about the period of Sulla'' — which is clearly a 

 mistake, as Aelius Stilo states that the distinctive 

 name was given to large pearls just at the time of 

 the wars '^ of Jugurtha. 



LX. And nevertheless this article is an almost 

 everlasting piece of property- — it passes to its 

 owner's heir, it is offered for pubHc sale Uke some 

 landed estate ; whereas every hour of use wears 

 away robes of scarlet and purple, which the same 

 mother, luxury, has made almost as costly as pearls. 



Purples live seven years at most. They stay Habusofihe 

 in hiding Uke the murex for 30 days at the time o{ P};^PjfJ^^^ 

 the rising of the dog-star. They coUect into shoals 

 in spring-time, and their i'ubbing together causes 



247 



