1 / 17

Amber in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History Dalia Andziulyt ė University of Vilnius

Amber in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History Dalia Andziulyt ė University of Vilnius. What was the price ( pretium ) of amber ? I. Monetary value

herne
Télécharger la présentation

Amber in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History Dalia Andziulyt ė University of Vilnius

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Amber in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History Dalia Andziulytė University of Vilnius

  2. Whatwastheprice(pretium)ofamber? I. Monetaryvalue Plinyspeaksaboutambernext to thepearls, crystal, spar (murrinum), emeralds, andsays, that a smallhumanmadeofambercould be morepretiousthan a slave, aliveandstrong: C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.30Proximum locum in deliciis, feminarum tamen adhuc tantum, sucina optinent, eandemque omnia haec quam gemmae auctoritatem. C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.49 Taxatio in deliciistanta, ut hominisquamvisparva effigies vivorumhominumvigentiumquepretiaexsuperet.

  3. Pliny‘switness, however, issomewhatcontroversialonthispoint. He also says, thatamberisused to imitateothertransparentgems, especiallyamethysts, bydyeing it, likewiseglassisusednowadays: C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.51Sucina et gemmis, quae sunt tralucidae, adulterandis magnum habent locum, maxime amethystis, cum tamen omni, ut diximus, colore tinguantur.

  4. Did Romans really used to dye amber, or it was naturally of unusual color (we know, such amber can be found, for example purple, mentioned by Pliny). Or, may it be, Pliny speaks about some other matter overall? Nonetheless, the statement let us know, that amber was far from being most expensive. Examplesofdyedamber

  5. Andindeed, Plinysays, amber is daily imported and abundant in Rome (thus how might it be, that so many nonsenses are being told about it?) C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.41Sed hoc in ea re, quae cotidie invehatur atque abundet ac mendacium coarguat, serio quemquam dixisse summa hominumcontemptio est et intolerandamendaciorumimpunitas.

  6. Pliny also tells the story about a gladiatorialcombat, where all equipment, apparatus pompae, of one single day at this event was decorated with amber – the curtain of podium, the stage, the stretchers of the dead(Libitina): C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.45 Vivitque eques R. ad id comparandummissus ab IulianocurantegladiatoriummunusNeronisprincipis. Qui et commerciaea et litoraperagravit, tanta copia invecta, ut retiacoercendisferis podium protegentiasucinisnodarentur, harenavero et libitinatotusqueuniusdieiapparatus in variationepompaesingulorumdierumesset e sucino. Maximum pondus is glaebae attulit XIII librarum. It was, actually the special commision of emperor Nero, and Pliny lived in the first century, when amber trade, surely, was most intensive (not findings only, but also texts shows it, for example from about fourty references to amber in Latin databases, only two or three aren’t from the first century). To make a comparison, Theophrastus in the fourth century B.C. in Greece wrote, that amberwas miserably rare.

  7. II. Aestheticvalue Whatisremarkable, sometimes, at theverybeginingaswell, hesays, thatamberhasnopragmaticpurpose (whilemostotherpreciousstoneshave it) andisappreciablesolelyforthepleasure it takes to it’sbeholder, sortofKantianbeautyforbeauty: C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.30 In sucinis causam ne deliciaequidem adhuc excogitare potuerunt.

  8. Laterhemustadmit, thatamberisusedinmedicineandforsomeotherpurposes, asspinningwheels (due to it‘smagneticproperties), but also inthatcasehedon‘tforget to remind, thatamberissomuchvaluedsurelynotforthesereasons: C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.50 Usus tamen aliquis sucinorum invenitur in medicina, sed non ob hoc feminis placent. C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.44 Pado vero adnexa fabula est evidente causa, hodiequeTranspadanorumagrestibusfeminismonilium vice sucinagestantibus, maximedecoris gratia, sed et medicinae.

  9. LastlyPlinysays, thatwhileothervicesorweaknesses(vitia), haswhateverreasoninuseor at leastinpride, amberisworthyonlyfortheconsciousnessofpleasure, theobserverhas: C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.49 Inomnibusdeniquealiisvitiis aut ostentatio aut ususplacet: insucinissoladeliciarumconscientia. Mustwejudgeoutofthis, thatevenifamberwasnotsoexpensiveorsorare, astheverypossesionof it mightbringprideorprestige to it‘sowner, yet it washighlydesirable?

  10. Pliny also mentionssortofnewfashionofwomenhaircolor, broughtbyDomitius Nero (seeminglythefatherofemperor Nero), whosaidhiswifehair to be likeamber. And wittily comments, that any vices never lack pretentious, grandiose names: C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.50 Domitius Nero inceterisvitaesuaeportentiscapillosquoquePoppaeaeconiugissuaeinhocnomenadoptaveratquodametiamcarminesucinosappellando, quoniamnullisvitiisdesuntpretiosa nomina; ex eotertiusquidam hic coloscoepitexpetimatronis.

  11. We also seeinPliny‘sdescription, thatthesubtlecriteriapresumablywereestablishedin Rome inthefirstcentury, onpurpose to distinguishbetterandworsekindsofamber: C. PliniusSecundus. NaturalisHistoria. XXXVII.47 Exiiscandidaodorispraestantissimi, sednechisneccerinispretium; fulvismaiorauctoritas. Exiisetiamnumampliustralucentibus, praeterquam si nimioardoreflagrent. Imaginemigneaminiisesse, nonignem, placet. SummalausFalernis a vinicoloredictis, mollifulgoreperspicuisinquibus et decoctimellislenitasplaceat. So white amber was use mostly for frankincence(tūs); waxen or opaque pieceswere not of the highest rank either. The most appreciated were fulvi (that isfrom deep mild yellow to reddish; vinumFalernumwas white vine, but could occasionally be very dark) – so of that color and transparent but not very bright or burning pieces of amber. Pliny is very mysterious here: the image of fire, not the fire itself is so lovely in amber.

  12. Supposedexamplesoftheperfectkindsofamberaccording to Pliny

  13. Supposedexamplesofimperfectkindsofamberaccording to Pliny

  14. Amberwasalien, far-offborrowedgold, butsurprisinglyfromtheearliesttimesofGreekhistorywesee it involvednotonlyinlife, but also inarchaicpoetryandperhapsyetmoreearlymyths. Sowecanask, whether it weresolelyhisit‘sownproperfeaturesandbeauty, namely yelloworreddishtones, lucidityandtransparencyrelating it withsunandlight, thatmadehimsoimportantassymbolandestheticvalue. Wecanremember a Tacitus‘ phrasethatAestii(presumablyancient name forBalts) collect rude, rawamber, sell it shapeless, and take thepaymentwithwonder, because it isuselessforthemselves. And Roman luxuryonlygavehim name orimportance. Asweknowfromarchaeologicalfindings, amberequallyhadaestheticandritualfunctionsinourlands. Thisleadsus to thequestion, might it be so, thatamberbroughtwhatevermythsofourswithhimself, werethereanynorthernmythsimported to theGreeceand Rome togetherwithamber?

More Related