[664] The “Smaragdus” is described in B. xxxvii. c. 13.
[665] “Et aurum jam accessio est.”
[666] “Sacrum famæ.” This is the reading given by the Bamberg MS. in substitution for “aurum, sacra fames” and other readings of a similar nature, in which Pliny was thought by the commentators to allude to the famous lines of Virgil—
“Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
Auri sacra fames!”
Had he alluded to the passage of Virgil, it is not probable that he would have used the expression in the plural, “celeberrimi auctores.”
[667] Il. B. vii. ll. 472-5.—B.
[668] Il. B. vi. l. 236.
[669] We may infer that this was the reason why the figure of an ox or other animal was impressed on the earliest Roman coins.—B.
[670] As Hardouin remarks, “This story is told by others, of Gyges, and not of Midas.” He refers to Cicero, De Off. B. iii. c. 9, in confirmation of his assertion.—B. Both Gyges and Midas were noted for their wealth.