.scenes of war. Many of their temples were richly ornamented
with gold, silver, and precious stones, and as an instance of the
luxurious habits of the kings of Cyprus, one of the Phoenician
colonies, it is said that Cato sent to Rome the sum of ;£ 16,000
realized from the sale of these and other treasures taken from
the royal palace. Jewels and engraved stones have been found
in the region of northern Syria, occupied by the Hittites, a
nation of biblical fame.
As imitations of precious stones were produced as soon as
the art of making glass and tinting it was understood, spurious
gems have been discovered in the remains of all the cities of
antiquity, comprising those of Phoenicia, whose inhabitants
were renowned for their skill in the manufacture of glass.
They frequently combined real gems with their imitations in the
same jewel, as may be seen in bracelets, bangles, and necklaces of Phoenician workmanship, and sometimes personal
ornaments were made of enamelled porcelain, and even of iron,
which was regarded by the ancients as a precious metal.
Greece and Rome. — The use of precious stones for decoration was exported into Greece from Asia, thence into Rome ;
but the Greeks made a vast improvement in the works of their
masters, by introducing human forms in jewelry and gemengraving, which they did with all the refined taste and remarkvable skill and ingenuity characteristic of this gifted race.
Alexander, after his conquest, adopted the oriental fashion of
wearing ornaments and robes displaying a profusion of gems,
while the Romans not only imitated the Greeks, but vastly
exceeded them, in the use of these expensive luxuries, which
they employed liberally to adorn their own persons as well as
to embellish their equipages and household utensils, and for
other common purposes. In their wars with Mithridates, King
of Pontus, who, perhaps, surpassed all other princes of ancient
