What ancient Roman(s) wished houses were made of transparent walls?
score:8
It seems to be related to a tale told of Domitian, who was reacting to a prophecy concerning his death. From The History of the Roman Emperors: From Augustus to Constantine, Volume 6 (original French) by Jean Baptiste Louis Crevier (emphasis mine)
He took a farther precaution to guard against any unexpected attack. A stone was found in Nero's time in some quarries in Cappadocia of a very extraordinary nature hard as marble and at the same time transparent or rather luminous for according to Pliny the naturalist. Nero built a temple of this stone into which one could see distinctly when all the doors were shut. Domitian to turn this discovery to the best advantage he could and prevent any one from coming behind him without being perceived had all the walls of the portico's where he used to walk cased with this stone so suitable to his views.
You can see what Pliny had to say concerning this transparent stone in Natural Histories, BOOK XXXVI. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF STONES.
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." It was with this stone that Nero rebuilt the Temple of Fortune, surnamed Seia, originally consecrated by King Servius, enclosing it within the precincts of his Golden Palace. 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 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.
More post
- 📝 How did the african kingdom of Carthage adapt to their environment?
- 📝 Austria and Iron Curtain during Cold War
- 📝 Do we know the situation in Britain before Sealion (summer 1940)?
- 📝 Monotheism/Atheism in Polytheistic societies
- 📝 A counterpoint/corrections list to "A Peoples' History of the United States"
- 📝 What uniform are these gentlemen wearing?
- 📝 Instances of the UN defusing serious crises
- 📝 Which is more correct, Carlos I or Carlos V?
- 📝 Did Abraham Lincoln have a duel with cannons?
- 📝 How did one get accepted into university in 19th century England?
- 📝 European painting of a man standing on a dragon with his sword drawn, who painted it/what century is it from?
- 📝 What name was given to this ancient Roman custom involving a broken pot to show a pact between individuals?
- 📝 Identify two Medieval Indian coins
- 📝 Who were the Wright brothers' competitors?
- 📝 What factors contributed to the rise of national monarchies in the high middle ages?
- 📝 Why did the Allies Invade French North Africa?
- 📝 British Slave Inventory
- 📝 Were the 19th century decades referred to as 40s, 50s back then?
- 📝 Would a WW2 submarine have any way to fake death, how, and would it be useful?
- 📝 Why couldn't the Arabs invade Palestine before the end of the British Mandate?
- 📝 What was the process for the Japanese to sign up for the Kamikaze suicide program?
- 📝 Was the earliest precursor of chess part of Indo-European culture?
- 📝 Is there a name for the WPA Art Style?
- 📝 Has an encirclement ever succeeded with numerically inferior cavalry?
- 📝 Help for identifying a shell
- 📝 What is this illustration portraying?
- 📝 Why did people not tend to keep records or consider future consequences until very recently?
- 📝 Had any 20th century navies used damage-control specialized vessels in battle fleets?
- 📝 Why did some regions end their prehistory much before others?
- 📝 When was Susa first mentioned in written documents?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What ancient Roman(s) wished houses were made of transparent walls?
- 📝 What were the thoughts of the Celts, Romans and other ancient European people about the standing stones which survive from prehistoric times?
- 📝 Did Ancient Romans use metal thimbles? What were they like?
- 📝 Did women in ancient Rome wear corsets, and if so, what were they made of?
- 📝 What made the Russian Navy suspect Japanese torpedo boats were in North Sea in 1904?
- 📝 What were shoe soles made from in previous ages?
- 📝 What did ancient Romans use instead of shampoo?
- 📝 Where were ancient Romans supposed to dispose of their waste and garbage?
- 📝 What were Greek and Roman sails made from?
- 📝 How exactly were beer/bread made in Ancient Egypt?
- 📝 What were the ethnic backgrounds of the slaves in Ancient Greece?
- 📝 What were the requirements for Ancient Greek colonist groups?
- 📝 What evidence do we have to claim the Ancient Romans kept African grey parrots as pets?
- 📝 Were there bows employed by tribes living in the desert, and if so, what were they made of?
- 📝 What specific changes were made to political ideologies around during and before World War I?
- 📝 Has anyone scanned ancient structures with x-rays or similar? And if so, were any major discoveries made by doing so?
- 📝 What did ancient Romans wear when sleeping?
- 📝 What happened when the Çatalhöyük burial holes were full and the houses had no more room?
- 📝 What attempts were made to limit Roman-era water pressure/flow 'theft' by code, pipe length, and expanders and by whom?
- 📝 What were the business models of real estate development in ancient Rome?
- 📝 What are other ancient encyclopaedic texts like Pliny's "Naturalis Historia" were available to medieval people?
- 📝 What changes were made to address the Junkers 88 initial high accident losses?
- 📝 What were the grooves in the side of the walls at the rear entrance of Harlech and Beaumaris gatehouses for?
- 📝 What were the key difficulties for the Romans in the conquest of Germanic tribes?
- 📝 Did China's life expectancy at birth rise 30.5 years from 1960 to 1980? If so, what were the particular changes made to their society's structure?
- 📝 What were the types of currency used in ancient Mesopotamia?
- 📝 What were the demographics of the ancient Greek colonies of Cyprus (any population estimates from 500BCE to 1BCE will do)?
- 📝 What were the names of these two Ancient Greek boxing/pankration legends?
- 📝 What kings were considered to be divine by Ancient Egyptians, according to DIODORUS SICULUS?
- 📝 What were the efforts made by the U.S. government to conserve forests?