The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)Pliny, the Elder
History
The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)
Pliny, the Elder
Natural history -- Pre-Linnean works
To preserve an ally merely, even though it should be the life of a
king that is so saved, confers no right to this high reward, nor is
the honour at all increased, even if it is the Roman general that has
been thus preserved, it being the intention of the framers of the law
that it should be the status of the citizen that is everything. When a
man has received this wreath, it is his privilege to wear it for the
rest of his life. When he makes his appearance at the celebration of
the games,[2224] it is customary for the Senate even to rise from their
seats, and he has the right of taking his seat next to the senators.
Exemption, too, from all civic duties is conferred upon him as well
as his father and his father’s father. Siccius Dentatus, as we have
already mentioned[2225] on an appropriate occasion, received fourteen
civic crowns, and Manlius Capitolinus[2226] six,[2227] one, among the
rest, for having saved the life of his general, Servilius. Scipio
Africanus declined to accept the civic crown for having saved the life
of his father at the battle of Trebia. Times these, right worthy of
our everlasting admiration, which accorded honour alone as the reward
of exploits so mighty, and which, while other crowns were recommended
by being made of gold, disdained to set a price upon the safety of a
citizen, and loudly proclaimed thereby that it is unrighteous to save
the life of a man for motives of lucre.
CHAP. 6. (5.)—THIRTEEN VARIETIES OF THE ACORN.
It is a well-known fact that acorns[2228] at this very day constitute
the wealth of many nations, and that, too, even amid these times of
peace. Sometimes, also, when there is a scarcity of corn they are dried
and ground, the meal being employed for making a kind of bread. Even
to this very day, in the provinces of Spain,[2229] we find the acorn
introduced at table in the second course: it is thought to be sweeter
when roasted in the ashes. By the law of the Twelve Tables, there is a
provision made that it shall be lawful for a man to gather his acorns
when they have fallen upon the land of another.
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