PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY 



9 V. Quare ceteri sermone eas tradidere, aliqvii ne 

 effigie quidem indicata et nudis plerumque nominibus 

 defuncti, quoniam satis videbatur potestates vimque 

 demonstrare quaerere volentibus. nec est difficilis 

 cognitio : nobis certe, exceptis admodum paucis, 

 contigit reliquas contemplari scientia Antoni Castoris, 

 cui summa auctoritas erat in ea arte nostro aevo, 

 visendo hortulo eius in quo plurimas alebat centesi- 

 mum annum aetatis excedens, nuUum corporis malum 

 expertus, ac ne aetate quidem memoria aut vigore 

 concussis. neque aliud mirata magis antiquitas 



10 reperietur. inventa iampridem ratio est praenun- 

 tians horas, non modo dies ac noctes, sohs lunaeque 

 defectuum. durat tamen tradita persuasio in magna 

 parte vulgi veneficiis et herbis id cogi eamque unam 

 feminarum scientiam praevalere. certe quid non 

 repleverunt fabuhs Colchis Medea ahaeque, in primis 



11 Itala Circe dis etiam adscripta? unde arbitror 

 natum ut Aeschyhis e vetustissimis in poetica re- 

 fertam Itaham herbarum potentia proderet, multique 

 Circeios, ubi habitavit illa, magno argumento etiam- 

 nunc durante in Mai-sis, a fiho eius ortagente, quoniam 

 esse domitores serpentium constat. Homerus qui- 



" 1 think that there is some reason for the diminutive 

 hortvlo. It can hardly mean in the context " little garden," 

 but seems to suggest that the hortulus was Castor's favourite 

 hobby (" affectionate diminutive "). 



' It is generally supposed that Pliny is referring to the 

 pentameter quoted by Theophrastus H.P. IX 15, 1 : 'Tvpprjvov 

 yevedv, (jyapjjiaKOTToiov edvo?. In this passage Theophrastua 

 mentions both Circe and Helen, as well as the wealth of Egypt 

 in drugs. 



142 



