WE must, in the next place, give an account of the ores of
brass,[2] a metal which, in respect of utility, is next in value;
indeed the Corinthian brass comes before silver, not to say
almost before gold itself. It is also, as I have stated above,[3]
the standard of monetary value;[4] hence the terms "æra militum,"
"tribuni ærarii," "ærarium," "obærati," and "ære
diruti."[5] I have already mentioned for what length of time
the Roman people employed no coin except brass;[6] and there is
1. Book is translated by the late Dr. Bostock, the translation
being corrected by the readings of the Bamberg MS., which do not appear
to have come under his notice. Some Notes by Dr. Bostock will be also
found at the commencement of Books 33 and 35; they are distinguished
by the initial B.
2. no zinc, but in nearly every instance to be a mixture
of copper and tin, like our bronze. Beckmann says, on the other
hand, that the mixture of zinc and copper now called "brass," first discovered
by ores, abundant in zinc, was certainly known to the ancients.
"In the course of time, an ore, which must have been calamine, was added
to copper while melting, to give it a yellow colour." Hist. Inv. Vol. II.
pp. 32, 33. Bohn's Edition. There can be little doubt that the native
Cadmia of Chapter 22 of this Book was our Calamine, hydrosilicate of
zinc, or carbonate of zinc, or else copper ore impregnated with calamine.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.