22 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
and the Greek topazios, the yellowish green chrysolite or the peridot, of deeper green tint. The word is derived from τοπαζα, " to seek," because the traditional source was an island in the Red Sea, often difficult to reach through its envelope of fog.1 The
loose use of the term by Pliny and other old writers makes it
impracticable to mark with any certainty from what greenish hued stone
Arsinoë's statue was cut. Still, in spite of current exaggeration and
confusion of distinctions, there can be no doubt of the rising
production and circulation of the precious stones.
With the spread of the Roman Empire prodigality in displays ran riot. After Pompey's victory over Mithradates, (b.c. 66) precious stones and pearls poured into Rome and the demand of vanity rose to a passion.2
Pliny writes : " We drink out of a mass of gems crusting our wine
bowls, and our drinking cups are emeralds." To heighten the wonder he
tells in his gossiping way how emeralds were set as the eyes of a lion
sculptured in marble on the tomb of King Hermias in the island of
Cyprus. So great was the size and so piercing the light of these
emerald eyes that the tunny fish in the surrounding sea were frightened
away until the fishermen of Cyprus put common stones in place of the
dazzling gems. Later scepticism would make these emerald eyes of
malachite, for copper ores were of common occurrence in Cyprus3
and the glory of the emerald was scattered by loose usage over green
fluor spar, jasper, aquamarine, malachite, and perhaps even green
glass. There is also a shaking of the marvel of the cups, holding a
pint, that were made out of solid carbuncles ; for these are supposed
to be cuttings from the common garnets of the Bar-bary coast, flowing
out from Carthage in such profusion that the carbuncle was called "the
Carthaginian stone."4
Beryl was largely used in the ornamentation of cups and
1 Diodorus Siculus, Lib. Ill, c. 38. Jameson's " Mineralogy," p. 48. Kidd's "Mineralogy," I, izi. 2 " Historia Naturalis," XXXVII, 6-7.
3 Cleaveland's "Mineralogy," p. 565. Theophrastus, "De Lapid.," c. 49.
4 "The Story of Carthage," p. 121, Alfred J. Church, M.A. "Story of the Nations."
