But all these gigantic statues of this kind have been surpassed in our own age by that of Mercury, made by Zenodotus[1332] for the city of the Arverni in Gaul,[1333] which was ten years in being completed, and the making of which cost four hundred thousand sesterces. Having given sufficient proof there of his artistic skill, he was sent for by Nero to Rome, where he made a colossal statue intended to represent that prince, one hundred and ten feet in height. In consequence, however, of the public detestation of Nero’s crimes, this statue was consecrated to the Sun.[1334] We used to admire in his studio, not only the accurate likeness in the model of clay, but in the small sketches[1335] also, which served as the first foundation of the work. This statue proves that the art of fusing [precious] brass was then lost, for Nero was prepared to furnish the requisite gold and silver, and Zenodotus was inferior to none of the ancients, either as a designer or as an engraver.[1336] At the time that he was working at the statue for the Arverni, he copied for Dubius Avitus, the then governor of the province, two drinking-cups, chased by the hand of Calamis,[1337] which had been highly prized by Germanicus Cæsar, and had been given by him to his preceptor Cassius Silanus, the uncle of Avitus; and this with such exactness, that they could scarcely be distinguished from the originals. The greater, then, the superiority of Zenodotus, the more certainly it may be concluded that the secret of fusing [precious] brass is lost. (8.) Persons who possess what are called Corinthian bronzes,[1338] are generally so much enamoured of them, as to carry them about with them from place to place; Hortensius, the orator, for instance, who possessed a Sphinx, which he had made Verres give him, when accused. It was to this figure that Cicero alluded, in an altercation which took place at the trial: when, upon Hortensius saying that he could not understand enigmas, Cicero made answer that he ought to understand them, as he had got a Sphinx[1339] at home. The Emperor Nero, also, used to carry about with him the figure of an Amazon, of which I shall speak further hereafter;[1340] and, shortly before this, C. Cestius, a person of consular[1341] rank, had possessed a figure, which he carried with him even in battle. The tent, too, of Alexander the Great was usually supported, it is said, by statues, two of which are consecrated before the Temple of Mars Ultor,[1342] and a similar number before the Palace.[1343] CHAP. 19.—AN ACCOUNT OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WORKS IN BRASS, AND OF THE ARTISTS, 366 IN NUMBER.