CHAP. 46.—PHENGITES.
During the reign of Nero, there was a stone found in Cappadocia, as hard as marble, white, and transparent even in those parts where red veins were to be seen upon it; a property which has obtained for it the name of “phengites.”[2771] It was with this stone[2772] that Nero rebuilt the Temple of Fortune, surnamed Seia,[2773] originally consecrated by King Servius, enclosing it within the precincts of his Golden Palace.[2774] Hence it was that, even when the doors were closed, there was light in the interior during the day; not transmitted from without, as would be the case through a medium of specular-stone, but having all the appearance of being enclosed within[2775] the building.
In Arabia, too, according to Juba, there is a stone, transparent like glass, which is used for the same purposes as specular-stone.