So far, to the time of Augustus, the statues and other objects removed had been the spoils of war; but Caligula and Nero did not hesitate to go in times of peace and act the part of robbers. The first sent a consul in A.D. 31 with orders to bring the best works of art from Greece to Rome to adorn his villas; Nero went so far as to send his agents to bring even the images of the deities from the most sacred temples, together with the offerings made to them, for the decoration of his Golden House; it is said that from Delphi alone he received five hundred statues of bronze. At first the larger number of these art spoils were so placed as to be constantly seen by the whole Roman people, and there is no doubt that their influence was very great and went far to refine their ideas and to prepare the way for the polish and grace of the Augustan age. Very soon the individual desire for works of art was felt, and wealthy men began to decorate their homes with pictures and statues; and at last these things were thought to be necessary to the proper enjoyment of life. From all these causes there came about a revival of Greek art under the Romans, and in it many beautiful works were produced. Indeed, the greater portion of the sculptures which are now the pride of the collections all over Europe belong to this period. It cannot be said that the artists of this date originated much, but they followed the greatest masters that ever lived; and if they repeated their subjects they so changed them to suit the spirit of their time that they gave their works a certain effect of being something new, and threw their own individuality about them. The list of names which can be given as belonging to Greek sculptors who worked at Rome is long, and would have little interest here. Instead of speaking of the artists I shall speak of the most famous works of the time which remain; most of these are so placed that they are seen by travellers, and have become familiar to all the world. The beautiful statue which is known as the Venus de' Medici is so called because after its discovery it rested for a time in the Medici Palace in Rome. It was found in the seventeenth century in the Portico of Octavia at Rome, and was broken into eleven fragments. The arms from the elbows down are restored; when it was found it had traces of gilding on the hair; the ears are pierced, as if gold rings had sometimes been placed in them. In 1680 Duke Cosmo III. removed it to Florence, where it is the chief glory of the famous Tribune of the Uffizi Gallery. Many persons believe this to have been a copy of the renowned Cnidian Venus by Praxiteles, of which I have told you. This Venus de' Medici was the work of an Athenian artist named Cleomenes. He was the son of Apollodorus, a sculptor who lived in Rome in the first or second century of the Christian era. (Fig. 57.) [Illustration: FIG. 57.--VENUS DE' MEDICI.]