Part 13

Case 51 contains three examples of muzzles for horses (No. =509=), nearly complete, with a fragment of a fourth. These muzzles are in bronze, but we can hardly expect that this was the usual material. Probably the bronze examples were reserved for state occasions or else only used by the very wealthy. The muzzles depicted on vases seem rather to be of some pliant material--leather, for example. It is probable that all the bronze examples in this Case belong to the Greek period, though the one here illustrated (fig. 207) has been assigned to as late a date as the fourth century after Christ. The muzzle was only used when the horse was being rubbed down or led, not when he was ridden or driven. Xenophon[58] observes that "the groom must understand how to put the muzzle on the horse, when he takes him out to rub him or to roll him. And, indeed, wherever he takes him without a bridle, he ought to muzzle him." The muzzles must have been fastened to the horse's head by straps attached to the rings seen on each side of them.

It has been a subject of controversy whether Greek and Roman horses were shod. There is no mention of horse-shoes in Greek literature, and it seems improbable that they were used by the Greeks. Xenophon advises the use of a specially constructed stone floor for hardening the horse's hoofs,[59] but in spite of such precautions, it is not surprising to hear that the Athenian cavalry horses sometimes went lame as a result of continuous work on hard ground.[60] Horse-shoes are occasionally (though rarely) spoken of in Roman literature. Their use seems to have been quite exceptional as when Nero, for instance, had his mules shod with silver.[61] In the lower part of Case 51 will be seen a series of iron shoes of the Roman period (No. =510=; fig. 208), for the most part found in the south of France. It is impossible to believe that these were ever used as ordinary horse-shoes. The most plausible theory is that they were "hobbles," put on the feet of horses and other quadrupeds to prevent them straying. The upper part of this same Case contains sets of spurs (No. =511=), most of them probably Roman. The arrangement for attaching the spurs to the heel varies. Two have loops formed by the head and neck of swans, three have discs or knobs, while another has holes for laces.

(=502=) _Cat. of Bronzes_, 2695; (=503=) _ibid._, 2696 ff.; (=504=) _ibid._, 2520; (=505=) _Cat. of Terracottas_, C 612; (=506=) _Cat. of Sculpt._, III., 2310; (=507=) _Cat. of Bronzes_, 357; (=508=) Cf. Pernice, _Griech. Pferdegeschirr_, pll. ii. and iii. (56th _Winckelmannsfestprogramm_); (=509=) _ibid._, pl. i. and pp. 6-16; (=510=) Cf. _Rev. Arch._, 1900 (36), p. 296 ff; Smith, _Dict. of Ant._^3, s.v. _Solea_.

[Footnote 55: See _Journal of Hell. Stud._, xix., pl. 8.]

[Footnote 56: _E.g._, on _B.M. Coins of Ionia_, pl. xx. 7 (Coin of Magnesia: Gordianus Pius).]

[Footnote 57: Xen., _De re eq._ x. 6: [Greek: prôton men toinyn chrê ou meion duoin chalinoin kektêsthai; toutôn de estô ho men leios, tous trochous eumegetheis echôn, ho de heteros tous men trochous kai bareis kai tapeinous, tous d' echinous oxeis, hina hopotan men touton labê, aschallôn tê trachytêti dia touto aphiê].]

[Footnote 58: _De re eq._ v. 3.]

[Footnote 59: Xen., _op. cit._, iv. 3.]

[Footnote 60: Thuc., vii. 27, 5.]

[Footnote 61: Suet., _Ner._ 30.]

XVII.--AGRICULTURE.

(Wall-Case 52.)

Farming, the rearing of live stock, the cultivation of corn, vines and olives were practised by the earliest civilisations of the Aegean, and of Greece.

The use of the plough was also known at that distant period. In this Case are shown three bronze ploughshares (No. =512=), which belong to the Mycenaean Age, and were found in Cyprus. A plough in its most primitive form was merely the trunk of a tree which served as the pole, with two branches on opposite sides, one forming the share, the other the handle. This was the plough in one piece spoken of by Hesiod. The Mycenaean ploughshare belongs to a later development, when the plough is made up of several parts, the "joined plough" of Homer and Hesiod. Such is the plough seen in the very primitive bronze group (No. =513=), where it is in the act of being turned at the end of the furrow. To effect the turning the two oxen are pulling the yoke in opposite directions. A black-figured vase of the sixth century, here exhibited (No. =514=), shows the later plough in a simple form, which has changed but little for many centuries, as may still be observed in the East. The different parts can be seen more clearly from a bronze votive plough of the third century B.C. at Florence (fig. 209). It is made up of (1) a horizontal share-beam, to which is fastened the iron share, (2) a pole, at the end of which is the yoke, (3) the vertical handle. This type of plough is exactly described by Virgil in the _Georgics_.[62]

The ploughman was followed by the sower, who is represented on the vase mentioned above (No. =514=) with a basket from which he scatters the seed in the furrow. At harvest-time a sickle was used to cut the grain, of which instrument two iron specimens are shown in the Case, from Lycia in Asia Minor (No. =515=). Winnowing the grain was accomplished either by means of a shovel or a basket of peculiar shape ([Greek: liknon], _vannus_); on a terracotta relief in the Museum (D 525, Case 75, Terracotta Room Annexe) the infant Dionysos is being rocked in one of these objects instead of a cradle, by a Satyr and a Nymph.

Of fruit crops the vine and the olive were by far the most important in the Greek and Roman world, and great attention was paid to their cultivation. The operations involved in the manufacture of both wine and oil find many illustrations among ancient works of art. The gathering of grapes is illustrated by a Roman terracotta relief (No. =516=) exhibited in the Case, where a Satyr is picking grapes from a vine. Another relief of the same class (No. =517=) depicts the treading out of the grapes in the wine-press, also by Satyrs, two of whom are balancing themselves by holding a ring between them while they tread the grapes in an oblong trough to the tune of flutes. An elderly Satyr brings up fresh supplies in a basket. The massive bronze rings commonly known as "athletes' rings" may have been used at the wine-press (No. =517*=).

The must or new wine was partly used for drinking as soon as ready, partly decocted into a sort of jelly (_defrutum_), and partly stowed in cellars in large casks or jars (_dolia_); in the latter case after being fermented for nine days it was covered up and sealed. The commoner kinds were drunk direct from the _dolia_, the finer sorts drawn off into amphorae and stored up. On the marble reliefs here given (No. =518=; fig. 210) we have a representation of the conversion of the must into _defrutum_: two men are attending to a caldron placed over a fire, while a third is pouring wine from an amphora into another caldron, and a fourth is waiting to fill a jug from the same. In the lowest part of the Case is exhibited the upper part of an amphora with long neck and two handles (whence the frequent term _diota_), as an example of those used for the storage of wine. The terracotta figure of a man carrying a wineskin and one of these _diotae_ (No. =519=), and a Roman lamp depicting slaves carrying casks of wine, should also be noted (No. =520=).

The cultivation of the olive is well illustrated by a black-figured vase of the sixth century B.C. (No. =521=; fig. 211), showing a primitive method of gathering the fruit: a youth has climbed to the top of the tree, and he and two men are beating the branches with sticks to bring the fruit down, while another youth collects it in a vessel. This method is expressly condemned by Varro, an early Roman writer on agriculture.[63]

In order to extract the oil from the pulp of the fruit, it was necessary to use a press of some kind, such as we see on the terracotta relief here exhibited (No. =522=; fig. 212), of the first century B.C. Here the press consists of flat stones between which layers of olives are placed; to the uppermost stone is fastened a long pole, which serves as a lever, and is being worked by two Satyrs; round the press a rope is wound many times. Compare the large vase in the Hall of Inscriptions (_Cat. of Sculpture_, 2502).

The remaining objects in this Case are mostly illustrative of men or beasts of burden engaged in agricultural and kindred occupations, such as the goat-herd depicted on a Roman lamp, to whom the name of Titurus is applied, with reference to Virgil's first Eclogue (No. =523=; fig. 213). The bronze figure of a donkey (No. =524=) with panniers recalls the ornament of Trimalchio's dinner-table described by Petronius, and may have served a similar purpose. Model panniers, and terracottas of a donkey and a camel with the panniers laden with rural produce, should also be noted. Several model carts from Amathus, in terracotta, are either flat-bottomed, for general use, or in vase-shape, for the transport of wine or other liquids (No. =525=).

(=512=) _Excavations in Cyprus_, p. 15, 1477; (=516=, =517=) _Cat. of Terracottas_, D 542, D 544; (=518=) _Cat. of Sculpture_, III., 2212; (=520=) _Cat. of Lamps_, 1142; (=521=) _Cat. of Vases_, II., B 226; (=522=) _Cat. of Terracottas_, D 550. Cf. Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. _Torcular_; (=523=) _Cat. of Lamps_, 661; (=524=) Cf. Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. _Clitellae_; (=525=) _Excavations in Cyprus_, p. 112.

[Footnote 62: i. 169 ff.; Cf. Gow, _Journ. of Hellenic Studies_, xxxiv., p. 249.]

[Footnote 63: Varro, _Res Rust._ i. 55: de oliveto oleam ... legere oportet potius quam quatere.]

XVIII.--INDUSTRIAL ARTS.

(Table-Case H.)

In Table Case H we have objects illustrating the craft of the metal worker, the potter, the turner, and the woodworker.

Towards one end of the case are objects illustrating the processes of metal work. A Greek vase of the sixth century B.C. depicts a man in the act of thrusting a mass of metal into a blazing furnace. Anvil, tongs, and hammers are visible (No. =526=). Beside it is a reproduction of a Vase in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, showing an armourer at work on a helmet (No. =527=). Two limestone moulds of a very early period are for casting primitive implements (No. =528=). Note also a mould (No. =529=) for a metal weight of a type similar to that with the head of Herakles in Case 41. The mould shows a female head with a cornucopia before it, apparently a personification of Profit ([Greek: Kerdos]), whose name appears above the head. Another mould (No. =530=) is intended for a series of lead weights of values [Greek: a'] to [Greek: ê'], that is, 1 to 8. (Compare a similar set in Case 42.) It should be observed that the moulds seen here are, for the most part, only half-moulds, or in some cases even less. A corresponding half-mould had to be placed in position before casting could be effected. This is well shown by a limestone half-mould from Rome (No. =531=; fig. 214) for casting lead counters, with designs representing Victory, Fortune, and Athena. Here can be seen the channels by which the molten metal was introduced, and the holes for the studs joining the two half-moulds together. In one of these a lead stud still remains.

The steatite mould for a ring of the Mycenaean period (No. =532=; Fig. 215) required a counterpart piece, and a third piece at the bottom to complete it. Some of the steatite moulds which have no channels for the molten metal, were probably used for the production of ornaments by pressing and rubbing thin foil into the forms.

=The Potter.=--At the end of the case are exhibits connected with potters and pottery. Here is seen the limestone figure of a Greek potter from Cyprus (No. =533=; fig. 216), seated and modelling clay on the wheel. He reminds us of Homer's description of the potter's action when he compares the whirling motion of dancers to the revolving of a potter's wheel--"a motion exceeding light, as when a potter sits and makes trial of a wheel fitted to his hands, to see whether it will run."[64] Immediately behind is a potter's wheel in terracotta (No. =534=; fig. 217), which has in the centre a depression for the insertion of the pivot on which it turned. It was found on a primitive site at Gournià in Crete. As the clay spun round on the wheel the potter moulded it into shape inside and outside with his hands. The foot, the handles, and the neck of the vase were moulded separately as a rule and attached afterwards to the body. A design on a sixth century Greek vase here exhibited (No. =535=; fig. 218), depicts a Greek potter in the act of attaching a handle to a cup which rests upon a wheel. When the vase or other object had been modelled in clay, it then had to be fired. For this purpose a kiln was required, such as one (probably Roman) excavated at Shoeburyness, a model of which is here exhibited (No. =536=). It consists of a barrel-shaped chamber, at about half the height of which is a horizontal table on a conical support, with eight round openings pierced in its circumference to allow the heat to penetrate above. Fuel was introduced below through a small fire-chamber constructed at the side (fig. 219). The packing of the objects to be fired required considerable care. For this purpose the so-called "cockspurs" (No. =537=) were used for the larger pieces. But sometimes there were failures, such as the two batches of Roman lamps seen in this Case, which have become fused together in the baking (No. =538=; fig. 220). If it survived the risks of manufacture, the pot often needed repair when in use, and several examples are shown of rivets, large and small, employed for this purpose (No. =539=). The cover of a toilet-box (No. =540=) shows the method of painting employed in the Greek red-figured vases; here the grotesque head has been outlined in black, but the background has not been filled in with black in the usual way. Two terracotta heads with projecting stumps (No. =541=) show the manner in which the terracotta figurines were built up of several parts. The heads were inserted into holes in the trunks, and were then fastened in position with clay. An unfinished clay relief (No. =542=) of a man with his dog, shows the first process in the production of modelled relief, such as those in the Room of Terracottas, Case 8.

A mould (No. =543=) for making a bowl of the ware called Arretine from its place of manufacture, Arretium in Central Italy, is shown, with a cast from the mould beside it. An impression is also shown of the mark of M. Perennius, the most noted of the Arretine potters, in combination with his slave Bargates (No. =544=). Near the mould are stamps, one with a design of a slave heating some fluid in a caldron, and others of a bear and lion (No. =545=; fig. 221). These stamps were used for producing the designs in the moulds, being impressed in the clay while it was soft. Several specimens of these moulds and bowls, which are of about the first century B.C., will be seen in Cases 39-40 of the Fourth Vase Room.

The moulds for parts of Roman lamps, show the way in which these objects were produced. The clay was pressed into the lower mould (such as No. =546=; fig. 222) and also into a corresponding upper mould (compare No. =547=), and then the two halves were joined together and ready for baking.

(=526=) _Cat. of Vases_, II., B 507; (=528=) _Excavations in Cyprus_, p. 26, fig. 50; (=531=) Cf. _Bull. della Comm. Arch._ xxxiii. (1905), p. 146 ff; (=532=) _Cat. of Jewellery,_ No. 609; (=533=) _Excavations in Cyprus_, p. 93, fig. 145; (=535=) _Cat. of Vases_ II., B 432; (=536=) _Proc. of Soc. of Ant._, Ser. II., xvi., p. 40; (=542=) _Cat. of Terracottas_, B 376. pl. 20; (=545=) _Cat. of Roman Pottery_, M 82, 83; (=546=) _Cat. of Lamps_, 1401.

=Gems and Pastes.=--In the next division of Case H are objects illustrating the processes of producing Gems and Pastes. These include a series of scarabs, scarabaeoids, and other beads at various stages of manufacture (No. =548=); a series of clay moulds for Graeco-Egyptian porcelain scarabs from Naukratis (No. =549=) and a fine specimen of a paste cameo head of Silenos (No. =550=). Here also are examples of stone socket-handles for a bow-drill (No. =551=). In this and the next compartment several pieces of work are incised with designs intended to be filled in with inlay (No. =552=). See also a series of fragments of an acanthus pattern in ivory, evidently intended to be inlaid. A piece of rock crystal is carved with ears of corn in intaglio, gilded (No. =553=). See also examples of enamel work, of the period of the Roman empire, on studs, seal boxes, etc. (cf. p. 135, 155).

=Woodworking, etc.=--An interesting wooden box of Roman date is derived from Panticapaeum, in the Crimea (No. =554=). This has two sliding lids, above and below respectively, each furnished with two catches. The interior was divided by a horizontal partition, and was again subdivided into numerous small divisions. An inlaid pattern decorates the border of the box. Another box of simpler construction (No. =555=) was found in a grave in Bulgaria. Various specimens of fretwork in jet and ivory are shown, and two pieces of an egg and tongue moulding, carved in wood, and coloured with scarlet and gilding, from a sarcophagus, also found at Panticapaeum (No. =555*=).

=The Lathe.=--In the next division are examples of work finished on the lathe, in a variety of materials, as marble, alabaster, coloured stones, crystal, bronze, ivory, bone, and wood; also a rough piece of alabaster from Cyprus, derived from a lathe mandrel.

[Footnote 64: _Il._ xviii. 600 ff.]

XIX.--MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

(Table-Case H.)

=Greek Medicine.=--From the earliest times, as indicated by passages in the Homeric poems, the Greeks practised simple forms of surgery in such matters as the treatment of the wounded.[65] In the historic age of Greece we find temple or wonder-working medicine, practised in temples of Asklepios, especially at Epidaurus; and at the same time a school of medicine, of the Asklepiadae, seated in the island of Kos.

A lively account of temple-healing is given in the _Plutus_ of Aristophanes, where the slave Karion relates the experiences of his master and himself when passing the night in the temple.[66] Examples of the votive offerings deposited in the temples by those who had been made whole have been mentioned in the section on Religion and Superstition, p. 47 ff., and are to be seen in Cases 103-106.

The more serious side of Greek medicine is inseparably connected with the name of Hippokrates (born 460 B.C.), though the Koan school had existed some time before his birth. The Asklepiadae were originally members of a single clan, but the admission of persons from outside soon made the clan into a medical school. The famous Hippokratean oath, imposed upon members of the Koan school, shows the standard set up before the medical profession: "I will conduct the treatment of the sick for their advantage, to the best of my ability and judgment, and I will abstain from all evil and all injustice. I will administer poison to none, if asked to do so, nor will I ever make such a suggestion. I will pass my life and exercise my art in innocence and purity." In Greece there were both public and private physicians. There were further dispensaries, or perhaps more accurately surgeries, called [Greek: iatreia]. These were furnished with the necessary surgical and medical appliances. The scene from a fifth century vase-painting (No. =556=; fig. 223)[67] depicts a young surgeon at work in an [Greek: iatreion]. He is operating on a patient's arm (perhaps bleeding him), while another man, also wounded in the arm, sits before him. A dwarf slave is ushering other patients into the surgery, where bleeding-cups are seen hanging on the wall. Patients also went to the [Greek: iatreia] to get draughts of medicine.[68] Before the Alexandrian age it is probable that medicine was in advance of surgery, for up to that time no scientific study of anatomy had been attempted. Aristotle observes that the internal organs of the human body were in his time very little known,[69] and what dissection there was must have been practised on animals. The terracotta model (No. =122=; fig. 36, above) of the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys shows how vague the ancient idea as to the position of these organs sometimes was.

=Roman Medicine.=--Medical science for a long time made but little progress in Rome. The Greek physician Archagathos, who began to practise there in 219 B.C., became extremely unpopular owing to his bold methods of surgery.[70] The Roman doctors were chiefly of Greek nationality, and not infrequently were slaves or freedmen. Julius Caesar encouraged foreign physicians to settle in Rome by granting them citizenship, and under the early Empire Rome was overcrowded with medical men, if we may believe Pliny and Martial.[71]

The objects illustrating Greek and Roman Medicine and Surgery are exhibited in part of Table-Case H. First in importance are the surgical instruments, a selection of which is shown in fig. 224. With rare exceptions these instruments are of bronze. The principal varieties are here represented. There are several knives or bistouries, an excellent example being the one from Myndos in Asia Minor, with the upper part of the handle inlaid with silver (No. =557=; fig. 224_g_). The lower part of the handle was in iron, and has fallen away. The heavier bronze blades must have been used for various purposes in connection with dissecting. The forceps is fairly common. The interesting variety seen on the right of the illustration (_k_) with its fine toothed ends (No. =558=) is probably an uvula forceps, used for crushing the part intended to be amputated. An instrument frequently found is the spatula or "spathomele" (No. =559=; fig. 224 _a-c_, _e_, _f_), so called from its flat broad end. This was principally employed for mixing and spreading ointments, while the olive-shaped ends were used as probes. Other instruments which call for notice are the fine-toothed surgical saw (No. =560=; fig. 224_h_), the sharp hook (No. =561=; fig. 224_d_), used for "seizing and raising small pieces of tissue for excision, and for fixing and retracting the edges of wounds." The bifurcated probes (No. =562=) were perhaps used for the extraction of arrows and other weapons. A curious instrument (No. =563=), the use of which was for long a puzzle, appears to be a folding drill-bow and has been completed accordingly.