140 ANTIQ UE MARBLES. 



In 1847 a quarry of white marble was opened at Maremma, about thirty- 

 five miles from Leghorn, which bore many evidences of having been worked 

 in ancient times. It closely resembles the Parian in color and grain, works 

 smoothly, and takes a high polish. 



White marbles were also obtained by the ancients from Mount Phelleus, 

 Ehamnus, and Sunium, in Attica; Demetrias, in Thessaly; on the river 

 Sangarius, in Phrygia; from near Alexandria Troas; from Mount Prioiji, 

 near Ephesus; from Cappadocia, and from Mount Libanus, the modern 

 Lebanon. 



The marbles of Phelleus, Ehamnus, and Sunium, were of good color, but 

 were coarse, and less homogeneous than the Pentelic. The Sangarian mar- 

 ble was sometimes called Coralitic, The Cappadocian was called Phengites, 

 on account of its translucenoe. The temple of Fortuna, built by Nero 

 within the precincts of his Golden House, was built of this stone; and, al- 

 though it had no windows, it is said to have been perfectly light when the 

 door was closed. The marble of Mount Libanus, usually called Tyrian, was 

 probably the material of Solomon's Temple and of Herod's palace. The Scala 

 Santa in the Lateran Palace, Eome, said to have been brought from Pi- 

 late's house in Jerusalem, is of this marble, which is a clear blue-white. 



The Proconneaian marble, a pure white with black veins, was quarried 

 in the island of Proconnesus, in the Propontis. The celebrity of this stone 

 has changed the name of the island to Marmora, and also given its modern 

 name (Sea of Marmora) to the Propontis. This marble was also called 

 Cyzican, because it was largely used in the city of Cyzicus, opposite the 

 island of Mysia. The palace of Mausolus, at Halicarnassus, was built of it. 

 It was also much used at Constantinople, under Honorius and the younger 

 Theodosius. Several columns of it in the mosque of St. Sophia were spoils 

 of the temple of Cybele at Cyzicus. 



A white marble, with yellow spots, was brought from Cappadocia, and a 

 similar marble from Ehodes, but the spots were of a brighter, more golden, 

 yellow. White marble, with black spots, was quarried in the Troad. 



But the most beautiful of the antique variegated marbles, with a white 

 base, was the Synnadic, Docima3an, or Docimite, sometimes called marmor 

 Phrygium, It was quarried at the village of Docimia, not far from Synnada, 

 in Phrygia Major. The ancient authorities generally describe it as pure 

 white, marked with red or purple veins, which the poets compared to the 

 blood of Atys, slain at Synnada; but Hamilton, who visited the quarries 

 about 1835, says that they yield several different kinds. He mentions 

 white, bluish-white, white with yellow veins, white with blue veins, and 

 white with blue spots, the latter having almost a brecciated appearance. 

 He describes the principal quarry as worked horizontally into the hill, the 

 sides of which are cut away perpendicularly to a great height to secure the 

 splendid columns for which it was famous. Strabo sajs that pillars and 

 slabs of surprising magnitude and beauty, approaching the alabastrite mar- 

 ble in variety of colors, were conveyed thence to Eome, notwithstanding 



