We must, in the next place, give an account of the ores of bronze, an alloy which, in respect of utility, is next in value; indeed the Corinthian bronze comes before silver, not to say almost before gold itself. It is also the standard of monetary value; I have already mentioned that for a great length of time the Roman people employed no coin except bronze, and there is another ancient fact which proves that the esteem in which it was held was of equal antiquity with that of the City itself, the circumstance that the third associated body which Numa established, was that of the braziers.[209]

The most highly esteemed copper is procured beyond the seas; it was formerly obtained in Campania, and at present is found in the country of the Bergomates, at the extremity of Italy. It is said to have been lately discovered also in the province of Germany.

Formerly a mixture was made of copper fused with gold and silver, and the workmanship in this metal was considered even more valuable than the material itself; but, at the present day, it is difficult to say whether the workmanship in it, or the material, is the worse. But in this, as in everything else, what was formerly done for the sake of reputation, is now undertaken for the mere purpose of gain. This art was ascribed to the gods themselves, and men of rank in all countries endeavored to acquire fame by the practice of it, but we have now so entirely lost the method of making this valuable compound by fusion, that, for a long time past, not even chance itself has assumed the privilege which formerly belonged to art.

Next to this compound, so celebrated in antiquity, the Corinthian metal has been the most highly esteemed. This was a compound produced by accident, when Corinth was burnt at the time of its capture. There has been a wonderful mania with many for gaining possession of this metal. Verres, whom Cicero caused to be condemned, was proscribed by Antonius, along with Cicero, for no other reason than his refusal to give up some specimens of Corinthian bronze which were in his possession.

Corinth was captured in the third year of the 158th Olympiad, being the year of the City, 608,[210] some ages after the period when those artists flourished, who produced all the specimens of what these persons now call Corinthian metal. The only genuine Corinthian vessels are those which these men of taste metamorphose, sometimes into table dishes, sometimes into lamps, or even into wash-basins, without any regard to decency. They are of three kinds; the white variety, approaching very nearly to the splendor of silver, and in which that metal forms a large proportion of the compound; a second kind, in which the yellow color of gold predominates; and a third, in which all the metals are mixed in equal proportions. Besides these, there is another mixture, the composition of which it is impossible to describe, for although it has been formed into images and statues by the hand of man, it is chance that rules in the formation of the compound. The last is highly prized for its color, which approaches to that of liver, but is far inferior to the Corinthian metal, though much superior to the Æginetan and Delian, which long held the first rank.

The Delian bronze was the first that became famous, all the world coming to Delos to purchase it; and hence the attention paid to the manufacture of it. It was in this island that bronze first obtained celebrity for the manufacture of the feet and supports of dining-couches. After some time it came to be employed for the statues of the gods and the effigies of men and other animated beings.

The next most esteemed bronze was the Æginetan; the island being famous not for the metal produced there, but because the annealing of the Æginetan manufactories was so excellent. A bronze Ox, which was taken from this island, now stands in the cattle market at Rome. This is a typical specimen of the Æginetan metal, as the Jupiter in the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, in the Capitol, is of the Delian. Myron used the former metal and Polycletus the latter; they were contemporaries and fellow-pupils, and there was great rivalry between them.

Ægina was particularly famous for the manufacture of sockets for lamp-stands, as Tarentum was for that of the branches; the most complete articles were, therefore, produced by the union of the two. There are persons who are not ashamed to give for one a sum equal to the salary of a military tribune, although, as its name indicates, its only use is to hold a lighted candle. On the sale of one of these lamp-stands, Theon the public crier announced, that the purchaser must also take, as part of the lot, one Clesippus, a fuller, who was hump-backed, and in other respects of a hideous aspect. The purchase was made by a lady named Gegania, for fifty thousand sesterces.

The ancients were in the habit of making the door-sills and even the doors of the temples of bronze. Cneius Manlius was the first who introduced bronze banqueting-couches, buffets, and tables with single feet, when he entered the City in triumph, in the year of Rome 567, after his conquests in Asia. We also learn from Antias, that the heirs of Lucius Crassus, the orator, sold a number of banqueting-couches adorned with bronze. The tripods, which were called Delphian, because they were devoted more particularly to receiving the offerings that were presented to the Delphian Apollo, were usually made of bronze: also the pendant lamps, so much admired, which were placed in the temples, or gave their light in the form of trees loaded with fruit.