[i] plumbum, -ī
[2/n]: lead
plumbum album:
‘white lead’ was the term used by the Romans for ‘tin’; stannum, -ī [2/n]:
(Late Latin) tin
ē / ex plumbō:
made of lead
plumbeus, -a, -um:
(made of) lead
plumbea aut aēnea
fistula (Celsus) │ a lead or bronze tube
- nec mala mē ambitiō perdit nec plumbeus auster autumnusque gravis (Horace) │ Neither wicked ambition destroys me, nor the leaden south wind and the heavy autumn
- Tacē sīs, faber, quī cūdere solēs plumbeōs nummōs (Plautus) │ Be quiet, will you, smith — you who usually mints lead coins; the remark is an insult or sarcasm, implying dishonest or worthless work since since lead was never used for regular coinage.
plumbātus, -a,
-um: made of lead; soldered < verb: plumbō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: make out
of lead; solder with lead
lead poisoning
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html
But lead also
was known to be dangerous and, for that reason, pipes made of clay were
preferred—as Vitruvius, who wrote during the time of Augustus, explains.
“Water conducted
through earthen pipes is more wholesome than that through lead; indeed that
conveyed in lead must be injurious, because from it white lead
[PbCO3, lead carbonate] is obtained, and this is said to be injurious to
the human system. Hence, if what is generated from it is pernicious, there can
be no doubt that itself cannot be a wholesome body. This may be verified by
observing the workers in lead, who are of a pallid colour; for in casting lead,
the fumes from it fixing on the different members, and daily burning them,
destroy the vigour of the blood; water should therefore on no account be
conducted in leaden pipes if we are desirous that it should be wholesome.
That the flavour of that conveyed in earthen pipes is better, is shewn at our
daily meals, for all those whose tables are furnished with silver vessels,
nevertheless use those made of earth, from the purity of the flavour being
preserved in them" (VIII.6.10-11).”
[ii] cērussa,
-ae [1/f]: white lead, ceruse; used by painters and as a skin
whitener; prepared by exposing lead to the vapours of vinegar
Was Elizabeth I
killed by her make-up?
The use of white
lead as a pigment was detrimental to the human body and caused lead poisoning,
skin damage, hair loss and in some cases eventual death. It is possible that
Elizabeth I used ceruse; the portraits (the earliest being obviously on the
left) would seem to suggest it.
Elizabeth got
her iconic red lips through the use of cinnabar.* Cinnabar is a mineral
containing mercury. Mercury poisoning can cause memory loss, depression, or in
extreme cases, death. Unfortunately for her, when Elizabeth began wearing a wig
following her hair loss, the wig was dyed red with even more mercury. It is not
exactly surprising that by the end of her life, she was reported to be in a
state of deep depression.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/elizabeth-makeup-0016887
*New Latin: cinnabaris,
-is [3/f]
- ōvum in acētō sī diūtius positum fuerit, cortex eius mollēscet et dissolvētur. item plumbum, quod est lentissimum et gravissimum, sī in vāse conlocātum fuerit et in eō acētum suffūsum, id autem opertum et oblītum erit, efficiētur, utī plumbum dissolvātur et fīat cērussa. (Vitruvius) │ If an egg is left for some time in vinegar, its shell will soften and dissolve. Again, if a piece of lead, which is very flexible and heavy, is put in a vase and vinegar poured over it, and the vase covered and sealed up, the lead will be dissolved and turn into white lead.
- Hīs duōbus emplastrīs color niger est… at ex bitūmine nigerrimus… ex cērussā albus (Celsus) │ In these two plasters the colour is black … but the blackest is from bitumen, … white from white-lead.
[iii] metallum,
-ī [2/n]: [i] mine, quarry; [ii] a
metal (the product of mining) e.g. gold, silver, iron
metallicus, -a,
-um: (Late Latin) made of metal
- Metallīs ¦ plumbī, ferrī, aeris, argentī, aurī tōta fermē Hispānia scatet (Pliny the Elder) │ The whole of Spain altogether teems with mines ¦ of lead, iron, copper, silver, and gold.
- Prīmōs inventōrēs aurī, sīcut metallōrum ferē omnium, septimō volūmine dīximus (Pliny the Elder) │ We have spoken of the first discoverers of gold, as indeed of almost all metals, in the seventh book.
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