94 PLINY THE ELDER. 



Oil an ordinary occasion, ornamented with emeralds 

 and pearls, which she valued at forty millions of ses- 

 tertii (about £300,000). 



The two finest specimens ever seen were in the 

 possession of the celebrated Cleopatra, who, on being 

 sumptuously feasted by Mark Antony, derided him 

 for the meanness of his entertainment ; and on his 

 demanding how she could go beyond him in such a 

 matter, answered that she would spend upon him 

 in one supper ten millions of sestertii. Antony, con- 

 ceiving it impossible for her to make good her boast, 

 laid a great wager with her about it. When the 

 supper came, although it was such as to befit the 

 condition of the hostess and guests, it presented no 

 extraordinary appearance ; so that Antony jeered 

 the queen on the subject, asking by way of mockery 

 a sight of the bill of fare ; whereupon she affirmed, 

 that what had as yet been brought to table was 

 not to be reckoned in the count, but that even 

 her own part of the supper should cost sixty mil- 

 lions. She then ordered the second service to be 

 brought in. The servants placed before her a cruet 

 of vinegar, and she put into it one of the pearls 

 which were appended to her ears. When it was 

 dissolved, she took up the vessel, and drank its 

 contents ; on which Lucius Plancus declared that 

 she had gained the wager. Afterwards, when Cleo- 

 patra was taken prisoner and deprived of her royal 

 estate, the other pearl was cut into two, and affixed 

 to the ears of the statue of Venus in the Pantheon 

 at Rome. 



The tenth book speaks of birds, beginning with 

 the larger species, and concluding with remarks on 

 generation, the food of animals, and other circum- 



