The portico of Octavia was adorned by pictures of Greek Mythology and History, painted by that finished artist Antiphilus; and that of Pompey boasted of a rare fragment by Polygnotus. It was a soldier upon a scaling ladder, and possibly stolen from some of the great battle pieces which he painted in honour of his countrymen[52]. The Romans were not more ceremonious than modern conquerors in their robberies; witness the conduct of the general who permitted the tombs of Corinth to be broken open, and in the sight of the people the urns containing the ashes of their forefathers torn from their sacred asylum, and publicly sold to the highest bidder among the Romans, who became for a time so passionately fond of them, that not a grave was left unviolated for miles round Corinth; and it was only when the market was glutted, and the fashion had passed away, that Corinthian vessels were laid aside. A new school, if I may so express myself, of pottery was then established in Italy, where formerly the Etruscan workmen had excelled all others. But as fashion is all-powerful in all ages, a new rage for earthen dishes and bowls of enormous size grew to such a pitch, that the nickname of Patinarius was given to Vitellius, on account of one large platter which he had made for him, and which cost more than a fine wrought vessel of chalcedony would have done[53]; and the satirical poets of that age have named not a few of the lovers of large dishes. But to return to our imported pictures. The portico of Pompey was still farther adorned with pictures by Nicias. There was a large portrait of Alexander, a figure of Calypso, and some animals painted by him which were much prized. The same Nicias painted that beautiful picture of Hyacinthus, which Augustus valued so highly, that, after his death, Tiberius consecrated it to his memory, in the temple dedicated to him. But the greatest influx of Greek pictures at any one time into Rome was during the edileship of Scaurus; when, on account of a real or pretended debt owing by the people of Sicyon to Rome, the whole of the pictures of that city were seized and conveyed to Italy. Among these the most precious appears to have been a sacrifice by Pausius, the greatest painter of his native town, and one whose playful disposition and agreeable qualities we may gather from even the short notices we can at this distance of time collect[54]. Such were a few of the many pictures, the prizes of war, which were brought to adorn the temples, palaces, and public places of Rome; not to speak of those with which taste or fashion decorated private houses[55].