Turning, however, to Greek and Roman authors, we find Hesiod,[1] about B.C. 850, mentioning a time when bronze had not been superseded by iron:—
Τοῖς δ' ἦν χάλκεα μὲν τεύχεα,
χάλκεοι δέ τε οἶκοι Χαλκῶ δ' εἰργάζοντο, μέλας δ' οὐκ ἔσχε σίδηρος.
Lucretius[2] is even more distinct in his views as to the successive Periods:—
"Arma antiqua manus, ungues, dentesque fuerunt
Et lapides, et item sylvarum fragmina rami—
Posterius ferri vis est ærisque reperta;
Sed prior æris erat quam ferri cognitus usus—
Ære solum terræ tractabant, æreque belli
Miscebant fluctus et vulnera vasta ferebant."
So early as the days of Augustus it would appear that bronze arms were regarded as antiquities, and that emperor seems to have commenced the first archæological and geological collection on record, having adorned one of his country residences "rebus vetustate ac raritate notabilibus, qualia sunt Capreis immanium belluarum ferarumque membra prægrandia quæ dicuntur gigantum ossa et arma heroum."[3]
We learn from Pausanias[4] what these arms of the heroes were, for he explains how in the heroic times all weapons were of bronze, and quotes Homer's description of the axe of Pisander and the arrow of Meriones. He also cites the spear of Achilles in the temple of Pallas, at Phaselis, the point and ferrule of which only were of bronze; and the sword of Memnon in the temple of Æsculapius, at Nicomedia, which was wholly of bronze. In the same manner Plutarch[5] relates that when Cimon disinterred the remains of Theseus in Scyros he found with them a bronze spearhead and sword.
There is, indeed, in Homer constant mention of arms, axes, and adzes of bronze, and though iron is also named, it is of far less frequent occurrence. According to the Arundelian marbles,[6] it was discovered only 188 years before the Trojan war, though of course such a date must be purely conjectural. Even Virgil preserves the unities, and often gives bronze arms to the heroes of the Æneid, as well as to some of the people of Italy—
"Æratæque micant peltæ, micat æreus ensis."[7]
- ↑ "Op. et Di.," I., 150.
- ↑ "De Rerum Nat.," v. 1282.
- ↑ Suetonius, Vit. Aug., cap. lxxii. M. Salomon Reinach has disputed my views as to the meaning of this passage, but I see no reason for changing my opinion as to the "arma heroum" referring to "res vetustate notabiles." (See Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscr., 14th Dec, 1888.)
- ↑ "Laconica," cap. 3.
- ↑ Op., ed. 1624, vol. i., p. 17.
- ↑ Wilkinson, "Anc. Egypt.," vol. iii. p. 241.
- ↑ Æn., 1. vii. 743.
