179 
to the original intentions or use of the large dise of metal 
thus brought to light; there can, however, be little doubt 
that it is a specimen of the flat charger or dish used by the 
Romans to hold a large joint of meat, or, as in a case men- 
tioned by Horace (S. 1. 4. 41), a boar entire (illustrated and 
confirmed by an ancient fresco found near S. John Lateran at 
Rome), and also serving occasionally for sacrificial rites (Virg. 
G. 11. 194, &c.), Such an appliance of the table was properly 
designated a lanx, and the epithets, “panda,” “ 
“rotunda,” commonly applied to it by ancient writers are obvi- 
ously most appropriate. To the kindness of Professor Liveing 
I owe an analysis which shews that the metal of this lanx 
is 80 per cent. tin, with 184 lead, and a little trace of iron, 
thus nearly corresponding with the argentarium of Pliny 
(H, N. xxxiv. 20 and 48), and with certain oval cakes that 
have been found in the bed of the Thames, near Battersea, 
on which are stamped the Christian monogram, with the word 
“spes,” and the name, as it is believed, of Syagrius, perhaps 
the same whom we hear of as secretary to the Emperor Va- 
lentinian. One of these cakes weighs nearly 111 ounces. In 
cava,’ and 
the term éavos caccitepos, as designating the material of which 
Hephestus made the greaves of Achilles (Jl. xvu1I. 612), we 
probably find the earliest mention of a compound of this kind ; 
and Boeckh (Inserr. 1. 150, § 48) gives xattitépwa év@dia 
(€\A0Bia?) wévre as occurring in a list of offerings of plate 
and jewelry dedicated, in Ol. 95. 3 (B.C. 398), to the gods of 
Athens. The pliability of such metal shows the strong pro- 
priety of the words of Juvenal (V. 80)— 
“Aspice quam magno distendat pectore lancem 
Que fertur domino squilla,” 
As is seen also in the passage from Horace quoted above. Of 
the lanx before us the diameter is 2 ft. 43 in., equal to 24 feet 
of Roman measure, the weight 30 lbs.—excessive, according 
to our modern ideas, of the capabilities of servants; but Pliny 
