30.03.26: Describing objects [7]: stone and related materials (ii)

Several words that refer to stone and related materials

[i] lapis, lapidis [3/m]: a stone

lapis pretiōsus: a precious stone

lapideus, -a, -um: of stone

mūrus lapideus │ a stone wall

Lapideus sum, commovēre mē miser nōn audeō (Plautus) │ I'm made of stone / I’m petrified; in my wretchedness, I dare not move myself

[ii] saxum, -ī [2/n]: any large (rough) stone; rock

multa sepulcra ex saxō fōrmāta:  many tombs fashioned (shaped) out of stone

saxeus, -a, -um: (made of) stone

et sit cruor in omnī terrā Aegyptī tam in ligneīs vāsīs quam in saxeīs (Vulgate) │ and let there be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone

[iii] petra, -ae [1/f]: rock

nōn sitiērunt in dēsertō cum ēdūceret eōs aquam dē petrā prōdūxit eīs et scidit petram et flūxērunt aquae (Vulgate) │ They didn't thirst when he led them through the deserts; he brought forth for them water from the rock; he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out

[iv] silex, silicis [3 m/f]: pebble, stone, flint; lava

siliceus, -a, -um: (made of) flint

nōn minus saxa silicea, quae neque ferrum neque ignis potest per sē dissolvēre, cum ab ignī sunt percalefacta, acētō sparsō dissiliunt et dissolvuntur (Vitruvius) │ Even rocks of lava, which neither iron nor fire alone can dissolve, split into pieces and dissolve when heated with fire and then sprinkled with vinegar

[v] later, -is [3/n]: brick; ingot / bar (made of precious metal)

laterīcius, -a, -um: (made of) brick

turris laterīcia: a brick tower

laterīciōrum parietum strūctūrae (Vitruvius): literally: structures of brick walls = brick wall constructions

Caesar describes the construction of a musculus (literally: ‘little mouse’), “a shelter used by soldiers while engaged in undermining the walls of a hostile fortification. It was made of wood with a sloping roof …” (Thurston Peck).

The image shows that the musculus allowed Roman soldiers some mobility and protection when doing works nearer to enemy lines.

… mūsculum pedēs LX longum ex māteriā bipedālī, quem ā turrī laterīciā ad hostium turrim mūrumque perdūcerent, facere īnstituērunt (Caesar) │ … they resolved to build a musculus, sixty feet long, of timber, two feet square, and to extend it from the brick tower to the enemy's tower and wall

[vi] marmor, -is [3/n]: marble

marmoreus, -a, -um: (made of) marble

magnum ōrnātum eī templō ratus adiectūrum, sī tēgulae marmoreae essent (Livy) │ The beauty of the temple would be enhanced, he thought, if the tiles were made of marble

tēgula, -ae [1/f]: (roof-) tile

Suetonius (referring to Augustus):

Urbem neque prō maiestāte imperiī ōrnātam et inundātiōnibus incendiīsque obnoxiam excoluit adeō, ut iūre sit glōriātus marmoream sē relinquere, quam laterīciam accēpisset.

The city, which had not been adorned in a manner worthy of the greatness of the empire and was exposed to floods and fires, he so improved that he could rightly boast he had left a city of marble which he had received made of brick.