The weekly Butte record., 1862-04-05
Gems and Precious Stones.

"@I> Aiiilscll an inaeiaif-A0-e collector OF pre-
cious stones. chiseled vases statutes, pictures,
etc, especially when they had been the work
Of famous ancient masters. The quantity of
gems the Caesars had &. their command must
have been enormous. Calgula built ships en-
tirely Of cedar. with sterns iulaid with gems.
These were probably fine stones such as the
onyx. Tie emperor's mantle was heavy with
precious stones and gold embroidery and In
ciius, bis favorte horse, was covered with pur-
pie housings and wore a pearl collar.
In the golden house OF Nero. the panels were
Of mother oi-pearl enriched with gold and gems.
At the Great Games instituted by this empe-
ror, as many as thousand lottery-,iekets were
daily thrown to the people the prizes consist
ed of rare birds of various kinds, corn, gold,
silver, robes, precious stones and pictures
during the last days, even ships, houses, and
lands
But it was under the reign of the Antonines
that luxury was carried TO its greatest hight.
Luxury iu edifces, gardens, furniture, banquets
and dress, found historians 10 pauegyrize or
satirize them as far back as the reign of Au-
gustus but Pliuy was the first writer who
spoke of precious stones.
When the mania for jewels reached the eli.
max. it was not enough for the vanity of these
masters Of the world that their trinkets were
valuable on account of their workmanship and
beauty of the gems; they were not content
unless they could boast of possessing such as
had origin. A ring. vase, a string of pearls
or cameo, had its geneaogy. and was traced
back to a Cleopatra, and Antony. or some
other illustrious owner. This vanity forms the
text of one of Martial's epigrams
Men and women We'd with each other in
their fonduess for jewels. Pliny Indignantly re-
lates that women, not content with wearing
gold on their heads arms tresses. and fingers,
IN their ears. and around corsage of their tuu-
ces, yet wore pearls on their bosom, in the dead
of night that even in their sleep they might
be conscious of the possession Of incstimable
gems.
He complains, moreover, that they wore
gold on their feet, thus establishing, between
the stoa of the matron and the plebian tunc
a sort Of feminine equestrian order This was
but a trifing piece of extravaganza, however,
when compared with the whim of the Empress
Popp;ca, who caused her mules 10 be shod with
gold
Indeed moderation could scarcely be expect
ed from the wives of the patricians who had
subdued empires, made kings their tributaries,
and reigned as sovereigns over the wide do
mains wrested from surrounding nations to be
provinces of Rome. a. have SEEN. saws Plinv.
Lolita Pauline, who was the wife of the EN-
peror Caligula, and this not on the occasion of
solemn festival. or ceremony but merely at
the supper Of ordinary berothals, have seen
Lolita Pauline covered with enlerads and
pearls, arranged alternately, so as 70 give each
other additional brillancy on her neck. arms
hands and grdle, to the amount of 40 600
sesterces (f336,OO0 sterlingl, the which value
she was prepared 10 prove on the instant bv
producing the receipts; and these pearls came,
not from the prodgal generosity of an imperial
husband but from treasures which had been
the spoils of provinces. Marcus Lollius her
grandfather. was dishonored in all the East on
account of the gifts he had extorted from
kings, disgraced by Tiberius, and obliged to
poison himself that his granddaughter might
exhibit herself by the light of the lucernas
blazing with jewels"
The censoriOus naturalist tells US, that Ro-
man belle could no more have been seen abroad
without her Jewels than consul without his
fasces.
The Greek and Roman jewelers. had varied
the form and style of ornaments to such a de,
gree that, according to archaologists, our most
skilliul modern artists are merely copyists or
imitators. The works that treat of the ancients
furnish inexhaustible repertories to those who
explore their scientific depths. Diadems, neck
laces, earrings, bracelets, rings, pins, brooches,
clasps of all shapes and dimensions, surmount-
ed with busts, statuettes, animals, birds, in
sects flowers, etc, were indispensable to the
Roman ladies, and were frequently priced far
more for their artistic merit than for the sub
stance of which they were composed. Hair
pins constituted a very important article of
the toilet and were elaborately finished the
head usually represented figures delicately
wrought Mention is made of hair-pn that
cost 100000 Among the relics of Pompei
and Herculaneurl, row in the Royal Museum
of Naples, is a pin that had belonged to the
Empress Sabina it represents the Goddess of
Plenty, bearing in one hand the horn of Arch
claus and caressing dolphin with the other
The pin is described by Wingelmau in his let
ter on the antiquities Of Herculaneum.
The necklaces usually wound several times
round the neck. the last circle falling on the
bosom the clasp was a magnificent cameo
We may Judge Of The delicacy of the work