BOOK XXXIV. xviii. 47-xix. 49 



was making the statue for the Arverni, vvhen the 

 governor of the province was Dubius Avitus, he 

 produced facsimiles of two chased cups, the handiwork 

 of Calamis, which Germanicus Caesar had prized 

 highly and had presented to his tutor Cassius Salanus, 

 Avitus's uncle ; the copies were so skilfully made that 

 there was scarcely any difference in artistry between 

 them and the originals. The greater was the emi- 

 nence of Zenodorus, the more we reaHze how the 

 art of working bronze has deteriorated. 



Owners of the figurines " called Corinthian are Fiffurines. 

 usually so enamoured of them that they carry them 

 about with them ; for instance the orator Hortensius 

 was never parted from the sphinx which he had got 

 out of \erres when on trial ; this explains Cicero's tob.o. 

 retort when Hortensius in the course of an altercation 

 at the trial in question said he was not good at 

 riddles. * You ought to be,' said Cicero, * as you keep 

 a sphinx in your pocket.' The emperor Nero also ^i^- ^^^^- 

 used to carry about with him an Amazon which we 

 shall describe later, and a httle before Nero, the ^ ^2. 

 ex-consul Gaius Cestius used to go about with a 

 figurine, which he had with him even on the battle- 

 iield. It is also said that the tent ^ of Alexander 

 the Great was regularly erected with four statues 

 as tent-poles, two of which have now been dedicated 

 to stand in front of the temple ^ of Mars the Avenger ' 

 and two in front of the Royal Palace.^ 



XIX. An almost innumerable multitude of artists Smaii 

 have been rendered famous by statues and figures ^aJjJ^^, 

 of smaller size ; but before them all stands the '^''"^^* . 

 Athenian Pheidias, celebrated for the statue of Bom c. 560 

 Olympian Zeus, which in fact was made of ivory and c.' 4508.0. 

 gold, although he also made figures of bronze. He 



163 



