Quantcast
  Due to a new server, slow response may occur for which we apologize Portal logo
Login/Register
Bactrian Gold Treasure from Afghanistan, coming soon....
/gemstones/king-natural-history/page_012 - 2
 

Introduction

Introduction Page of 453 Introduction Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
4            NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES, &c.
The treatises however of Sotacus, Sudines, and Zonothemis, and probably several of the others, were, as Pliny's extracts show, confined to the subject of the precious stones. Sotacus must have been earlier than Alexander's age, as he speaks of the king of Persia; the others probably flourished under the Pto­lemies, when Alexandria had become the entrepot of the Oriental trade. They appear to have visited the gem-producing regions as jewellers and merchants, for Pliny's extracts from their works bear the stamp of technical precision.
As for the Αίθικα of the Pseudo-Orpheus, I am far from agreeing with Tyrwhit's sentence, who puts it down as low as the times of Valens, the middle of the 4th century. In fact, I see no reason for doubting the assertion of the scholiast that it served Nicander as a model for his Theriaca. But however ancient and curious, its value as a mineralogical treatise is very trifling, as it consists of a description of the medical and supernatural virtues of several stones, put in the mouths, first, of the seer Theodamas, and then, by a sudden transition, of the Trojan Helenus.
Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, composed (about the year a.d. 400) a small tract ' Upon the Twelve Stones of the Rationale, or High-Priest's Breastplate,' which is praised, with but small reason, by St. Jerome, to whom the author had pre­sented a copy. Epiphanius in this compilation appears to refer occasionally to some valuable sources then accessible; but either
Introduction Page of 453 Introduction
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
Other Books on this topic
bullet Tag
This Page