ELEPHANT TUSKS 401 



in 188 B. C. by Lucius Scipio Asiaticus, brother of Hanni- 

 bal's great adversary, 1,231 elephant tusks were borne through 

 the streets of Rome, and they were undoubtedly looked 

 upon as constituting a notable part of the spoils of war.* 



During the reign of Masinissa, King of Numidia (238-c. 

 148 B. C), one of his officers landed on the island of Malta, 

 and took from an ancient temple of Juno elephant tusks of 

 altogether exceptional size, the most valued of the votive 

 offerings in the temple. When these were first brought to 

 the Numidian king he was greatly delighted with their 

 rarity and size, but as soon as he learned whence they had 

 come he ordered that they should be restored to the temple, 

 no doubt in fear of the vengeance of the outraged divinity. f 

 Indeed, Cicero states that they had been inscribed, in Punic 

 characters, with the following words: "King Masinissa im- 

 prudently accepted these tusks; but learning the truth about 

 them, he took care to have them replaced and restored." A 

 century or so later the Roman Verres, the arch-plunderer of 

 temple treasures, secured possession of them without feeling 

 any scruples. This temple treasury also contained many 

 ornaments of ivory and a statue of Victory of the same 

 material. 



In a temple of Diana at Capua there was preserved a com- 

 plete skull of an elephant with the tusks. { This curiosity 

 was undoubtedly a temple-offering of great value. Indeed, 

 Pliny tells us that the great size of elephant tusks could best 

 be appreciated by visiting the temples.** 



*Livy, Lib. XXXVII, cap. 59, "tulit in triumpho . . . eburneos denies millia du- 

 centos triginta iinum." 



tCicero, In C. Verrem, II, Lib. IV, § 103. 



JPausanius, Lib. V. cap. 12, par. 3. 



**Pliny, Nat. Hist., Lib. VIII, cap. 10. In a note to this passage Hardouin, writing about 

 1740, states that he saw in the workshop of one of the Dieppe ivory carvers a tusk weigh- 

 ing over 100 pounds and about 7 ft. long. See his edition of Pliny, Paris, 1741, Vol. I, p. 

 441, note 25. 



