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of the Christian era. Corundum, called adamas, took the place
filled so universally in these days by diamond; partly because the
diamond, if known at all, was a very scarce stone, even among the
wealthy, as late as the fifteenth century; partly because the semiprecious
stones could easily be manipulated by corundum, or even a
stone considerably less hard.
The scarab has its place also among carved gems. It is a beetle,
cut cameo fashion in high, almost full relief, the underside flat, upon
which is engraved the intaglio or cartouche. Egypt was the country
from which the scarab emanated in the long ago, and it retains its
popularity there to this day. The scarabeus is emblematic of the
origin of life, being supposed originally to reproduce itself, each in
its own person. At the time of the greatest prosperity in Etruria,
there was close commercial relation, via Phoenicia, between that
country and Egypt. Hence the prevalence of the scarab in Etruria's
tombs and ruins to the present time. The Etruscan can be distinguished
from the Egyptian ;n several ways, but the most conspicuous
characteristic is that while the material of the Egyptian was lime-
stone, or some equally inexpensive substance, the Etruscan in ninetynine
cases out of a hundred was carnelian, found in great quantities
in the beds of Etruria's streams. These are more valuable in a sense
than the Egyptian, but lack the intrinsic charm of the latter, the artistic
coloring painted by skillful hands on an otherwise unattractive
substance, and the highly interesting hieroglyphics. The intagli of
the Etruscan are similar to those on other carved gems of Rome,
scenes from mythology or history, but they are by no means as
ancient as the scarabs of Egypt, some of the latter dating back to the
times of the Pharaohs.
As the most desired scarabs are of Egyptian origin, and the most
beautiful intagli those of Greece, so the cameo reached its culmination
under Roman influence, in the reign of Hadrian.
The Greeks, the greatest artists of all time, always respected the
nude, while the Romans clung to drapery. "This requirement of
Roman taste," says Westropp, "was very unfavorable to the development
of the beauty of this art, and engraved stones executed at Rome
evince this influence. The figures seldom trespass against the rules
of design, but they are deficient in elegance, they seldom bespeak
either genius or elevation of mind in the artist. The ideal, which is
the soul of Greek composition, is never perceived in that of the
Romans; and the art sensibly declined into that of a servile imitation."
The Greeks who were attracted to Rome, even the great Dioscorides,
had to bow to this prejudice of the Romans in the matter of
the nude. Consequently the best purely Roman work is largely in
portraits, generally in cameo, and this branch of the art, because
of the Roman passion for portraiture, both of ancestors and contemporaries,
maintained itself long after merit in the intaglio had
vanished.
Astrological gems attained extreme popularity in the later Imperial
times. These display frequently the signs of the zodiac. Often
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