Id. i. 150. Footnote 784: Dioscor. i. 102. Footnote 785: Id. iv. 80. The berry of the yew-tree, known to be perfectly harmless, was often eaten in antiquity. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iii. 10. 3. ----- Another class of tradesmen who selected the Agora[786] or its neighbourhood, for their residence, was the goldsmiths, silversmiths, jewellers, and lapidaries, who were possibly of more importance in the ancient than the modern world,[787] since a much greater quantity of the precious metals was then wrought up into plate, whether for the temples, chapels and sanctuaries of the gods,[788] or for private individuals.[789] How much or how little of the articles they produced could be seen at one time in their shops, it is now impossible to determine; but if their practice resembled that of the moderns, it would be difficult to imagine a greater blaze of magnificence[790] than must have met the eye upon entering their establishments,—where piles of gold and silver vessels[791] of all forms and dimensions, some burnished[792] and plain, others embossed with every variety of figure in high or low relief, others crusted with seed pearls,[793] or brilliants, or set with gems[794] of every shade and hue, from the ruby, the emerald, and the hyacinth, to the turquoise, the chrysoprase, the amethyst, the beryl, and the jasper, might be beheld rising to the ceiling. ----- Footnote 786: Dem. cont. Mid. § 8. Footnote 787: The kings and courtiers of Persia even during the dangers of their military expeditions carried along with them not only bowls and goblets, but complete services for the table in silver and gold. Herod. vii. 119. These instruments of luxury appear often to have operated as an incitement to victory upon the enemies of Persia, at least they constituted its reward. Thus in the plunder of Mardonios’s camp at Platæa, the Helots found, we are told, tents sumptuously decorated with silver and gold, bedsteads plated with the same precious metals, gold bowls, cups, and other drinking vessels, and carriages laden with golden and silver caldrons: σάκκους τε ἐπ᾽ ἁμαξέων εὕρισκον, ἐν τοῖσι λέβητες ἐφαίνοντο ἐνεόντες χρύσεοι τε καὶ ἀργύρεοι. Id. ix. 80. Footnote 788: Thucyd. vi. 46. Footnote 789: Plut. Alcib. § 4. Footnote 790: Athen. vi. 17. xi. 105. Demosthen. adv. Tim. § 5. 7. Winkelm. Hist. de l’Art, i. 277. Poll. i. 28. Footnote 791: Plat. Tim. vii. 77. 19. De Rep. t. vi. p. 86. 164. Schol. Acharn. Arist. 1187. Among the cabinet ornaments of the ancients, we find ostrich eggs set in silver. Plin. x. 1. Footnote 792: Goldsmiths made use, in burnishing, of the Samian stone. Dioscor. v. 173. Footnote 793: Athen. iv. 29. Casaub. ad. Theoph. Char. 311. These rich articles we find were sometimes pledged to raise money. Dem. adv. Spud. § 4. Footnote 794: Athen. xi. 17. -----