In the speech of Demosthenes _De Falsa Legatione_ (p. 415) occurs a passage which is generally taken as having reference to painted vases: καὶ σύ, Φιλόχαρες, σὲ μὲν τὰς ἀλαβαστοθήκας γράφοντα καὶ τὰ τύμπανα, “And you, Philochares, who paint the alabastos-stands and the pediments.” The word ἀλαβαστοθήκη is commonly supposed to describe a stand with holders for pots of perfume (also called κέρνος, see below, p. 195), although most painted examples of this vase found in Greece are of very early date. The τύμπανα are more easy of explanation, being the triangular pediments of temples, which, like the metopes of the so-called Theseion at Athens and those at Thermon (p. 92), were no doubt often adorned with paintings in place of sculpture. Other passages, if they do not actually refer to painted or even to fictile vases, are at least of value as giving information as to the current names for those in every-day use, or as to various purposes for which they were used. Reference will be made to many of these in the course of the chapter. Suetonius in his Life of Caesar (§ 81) describes how the colonists who were sent out under the _Lex Julia_ to build new houses were destroying ancient tombs for the purpose when they came upon remains of ancient pottery (_aliquantum vasculorum operis antiqui_), the discovery of which caused them to redouble their efforts in the work of destruction. Similarly Strabo[453] tells us that when Julius Caesar sent colonists to rebuild Corinth they came upon tombs containing large quantities of ὀστράκινα τορεύματα, which they nicknamed “Necrocorinthia.” The meaning of this expression is somewhat doubtful, but the word τορεύματα seems to imply chased or relief work, and it is probable that these were not painted vases, but Hellenistic ware with reliefs, like the so-called Megarian bowls.[454] The latter can be identified, by means of their subjects, with the _scyphi Homerici_ of which Nero was so fond; Suetonius tells us that they were so named _a caelatura carminum Homeri_, from the subjects from Homer’s poems carved in relief upon them.[455] The _scyphi_ were doubtless of metal, the use of which was confined to the wealthy and luxurious, while the so-called Megarian bowls and similar ware were copied from them in the cheaper material for the use of the humbler classes.