Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

052 SPECULUM. SPECULUM.
314.) The name of Sortes was in fact given to any- (33. tit. 6. s. 3; 34. tit. 2. s. 19. ~ 8). At first:
thing used to determine chances (compare Cic. dl they were made of the purest silver, but metal of
Div. i. 34), and was also applied to any -verbal re- an inferior quality was afterwards employed. (Plin.,
sponse of an oracle. (Cic. de Div. ii. 56; Virg. Ae2. II. N. xxxiii. 9. ~ 45.) Frequently too the.
iv. 346, 377.) Various things were written upon polished silver plate was no doubt very slight, but.
the lots according to circumstances, as for instance the excellence of the mirror very much depended
th'e names of the persons using them, &c.: it seems on the thickness of the plate, since the reflection
to hlave been a favourite practice in later times to was stronger in proportion as the plate was thicker.
write the verses of illustrious poets upon little tab- (Vitruv. vii. 3. p. 204, ed. Bip.) We find gold
lets, and to. draw theln out of the urn like other lots, mirrors mentioned once or twice by ancient writers:
the verses which a person thus obtained being sup- (Estrip. ITecel). 925; Senec. Quaest. Nat. i. 17
posed to be applicable to him: hence we read of Aelian, 1r II. xii. 58); but it is not impossible,Sortes Virqilianae, &c. (Lamprid. Alex. Sesver. 14; as Beckmann has remarked, that the term golden.
Spartian. -Ildr. 2.) It was also the practice to rather refers to the frame or ornaments than to the
consult the poets in the same way as the Moham- mirror itself, as we speak of a gold watch, though
snedans do the Koran and Hafiz, and many Chris- the cases only may be of that metal.
tians the Bible, namely, by opening the book at Besides metals, the ancients also formed stones:
random and applying the first passage that struck into mirrors, but these are mentioned so seldom:
fihe eye to a person's own immediate circumstances. that we may conclude they were intended for orna-.
(August. Co0fjss. iv. 3.) This practice was very ment rither than for use. Pliny (II. N. xxxvi. 26.
common among the early Christians, who substi- s. 67) mnentions the obsidian stone, or, as it is now:
tulted the Bible and the Psalter for Homer and called, the Iceelandic agate, as particularly suitablei
Virgil: many councils repeatedly condemned these for this purpose. Donlitian is said to have had a
S'orts San2ctorumsn, as they were called. (Gibbon, gallery lined with phengites, which by its reflectioln
Declinse and Fall, c. xxxviii. note 51.) The Sibylline showed every thing that was done behind his backl
books were probably also consulted in this way. (Suet. Domn. 14), by which Beckmann nnderstands
[SrBLrI,INi LaRI.] Those who foretold fuiture a calcareous or gypseous spar, or selenite, which is
events by lots were called Sortileyi. (Lncan, ix. indeed capable of reflecting an image; bsut we can-,
581.) not therefore conclude that the ancients formed:
The Sortes Conwitcsievls were tablets sealed up, mirrors of it. Mirrors were also made of rubies:
Which were sold at entertainments, and upon being according to Pliny (HI. N. xxxvii. 7. s. 25), who:s
opened or unsealed entitled the purchaser to things refers to Theophrastus for his authority, bsut lhe
of very unequal value; they were therefore a kind seems to have misunderstood the passage of Theoof lottery. (Suet. Octav. 75; Lamprid. Ileliocyab. phrastus (dle,aepid. 61), and this stone is never
22.) found now snfficiently large to enable it to be made
SPADO'NES. [IMTPUBES, p. 631, b.] into a mirror. The emerald, it appears, also served
SPARUS. [HASTA, p. 588, b.] Nero for a mirror. (Plin. I- N. xxxvii. 5. s. 16;
SPE'CIES NOVA. [CoNrvsIo.] Isidor. xvi. 7.)
SPEC'TIO. [AUGTJR. pp. 177,b, 178,a.] The ancients seem to have had glass mirrors
SPECULA'RIA. [Douvs, p. 432, b.] also like ours, which consist of a glass plate covered
SPECULA'RIS LAPIS. [Dosus, p. 432, a.] at the back with a thin leaf of metal. They were
SPECULATO'RES. [EXERCTvUS, p. 508, b; manufactured as early as the time of Pliny at theZ
comp.: HEMERODr OMI.] celebrated glass-houses of Sidon (Plin. I-. N. xxxsvi.
SPE'CULUM (cdraors'po,ior'o7prTpor,E'vorrpor), 26. s. 66), but they must have been inferior to
a mirror, a looking-glass. The use of mirrors is of those of metal, since they never came into general
very high antiquity (Job, xxxvii. 18; Exodus, use and are never mentioned by ancient writers
xxxviii. 8), but they are not mentioned by Homer, among costly pieces of furniture, whereas metal milr
evren when he describes in so circumstantial a rors frequently are. Pliny seems to allude to them in
marner the toilet of Hera. In the historical times another passage (H. N. xxxiii. 9. s. 45), where he
of Greece they are frequently spoken of (Xen. Cy:-. speaks of gold being applied behind a mirror, which
vii. 1. ~ 2; Eurip. Medea, 1161, Orest. 1]12, &c.), we can understand, if we admit that Pliny was
and they were probably known in Greece long be- acquainted with glass mirrors.
fore, since every substance capable of receiving a Of mirrors made of a mixture of copper and tin,
fine polish would answer the purpose of a mirror. the best were manufactured at Brundisium. (Plin.
Thus basins were employed instead of mirrors I/. N. xxxiii. 9. s. 45, xxxiv. 17. s. 48.) This mix,
(Attemiod. Oneir. iii. 30. p. 279, ed. Reiff), and ture produces a white metal, which, unless prealso cups, the inside of which was sometimes so served with great care, soon becomes so dim that
disposed, that the image of the person who drank it cannot be used until it has been previoulsly
from them was seen multiplied. (Plin. I. Nr. xxxiii. cleaned and polished. For this reason a sponge
9. s. 45; compare Vopisc. Prob. 4.) with pounded pumice-stone was generally fastened
The looking-glasses of the ancients were usually to the ancient mirrors. (Plat. Tinzaeus, p. 72, c.;
made of metal, at first of a composition of tin and Vossius, ad Catull. p. 97.)
copper, but afterwards more frequently of silver. Looking-glasses were generally small and suchl
(Plin. 1. c.) Pliny says that silver mirrors were as could be carried in the hand. Most of those
first made by Praxiteles in the time of Pompey which are preserved in our Museums are of this
the Great, but they are mentioned as early as that kind; they usually have a handle, and are of.a
of Plautus. (Most. i. 3. 111.)- Under the empire round or oval shape. Their general form is: shown
the use of silver mirrors was so common, thatthey in the woodcut annexed. (Caylus, Recueil d'Anbegan to be used even by maid servants (Plin. tiq2ites, vol..v. pl. 62.)
~I. A. xxxiv. 17. s. 48): they are constantly men- Insteadof-their being fixed soas tobe hungagainst
tioned in the Digest, when silver plate is spoken of the wall or to stand.pon the table or. floor, they