With the exception of these two jewels, authors make no mention of any others that have been rendered famous. We only find it recorded by them, that Ismenias the flute-player[2896] was in the habit of displaying great numbers of glittering stones, a piece of vanity, on his part, which gave occasion to the following story. An emerald,[2897] upon which was engraved a figure of Amymone,[2898] being offered for sale in the Isle of Cyprus at the price of six golden denarii, he gave orders to purchase it. The dealer however, reduced the price, and returned two denarii; upon which, Ismenias remarked—“By Hercules! he has done me but a bad turn in this, for the merit of the stone has been greatly impaired by this reduction in price.” It seems to have been this Ismenias who introduced the universal practice among musicians of proclaiming their artistic merit by this kind of ostentation. Thus Dionysodorus, for instance, his contemporary and rival, imitated his example, in order that he might not appear to be his inferior in skill; whereas, in reality, he only held the third rank among the musicians of that day. Nicomachus, too, it is said, was the possessor of great numbers of precious stones, though selected with but little taste. In mentioning these illustrations, by way of prelude to this Book, it is by no means improbable that they may have the appearance of being addressed to those, who, piquing themselves upon a similar display, become puffed up with a vanity which is evidently much more appropriate to a performer on the flute. CHAP. 4.—WHO WERE THE MOST SKILFUL LAPIDARIES. THE FINEST SPECIMENS OF ENGRAVING ON PRECIOUS STONES. The stone of the ring[2899] which is now shown as that of Polycrates, is untouched and without engraving. In the time of Ismenias, long[2900] after his day, it would appear to have become the practice to engrave smaragdi even; a fact which is established by an edict of Alexander the Great, forbidding his portrait to be cut upon this stone by any other engraver than Pyrgoteles,[2901] who, no doubt, was the most famous adept in this art. Since his time, Apollonides and Cronius have excelled in it; as also Dioscurides,[2902] who engraved a very excellent likeness of the late Emperor Augustus upon a signet, which, ever since, the Roman emperors have used. The Dictator Sylla, it is said, always made use of a seal[2903] which represented the surrender of Jugurtha. Authors inform us also, that the native of Intercatia,[2904] whose father challenged Scipio Æmilianus,[2905] and was slain by him, was in the habit of using a signet with a representation of this combat engraved upon it; a circumstance which gave rise to the well-known joke of Stilo Præconinus,[2906] who naively enquired, what he would have done if Scipio had been the person slain?