Latin Texts & Translations

Topazos ^[Note] is a stone that is still held in very high estimation for its green tints: indeed, when it was first discovered, it was preferred to every other kind of precious stone. It so happened that some Troglodytic pirates, suffering from tempest and hunger, having landed upon an island off the coast of Arabia known as Cytis, ^[Note] when digging there for roots and grass, discovered this precious stone: such, at least, is the opinion

expressed by Archelaüs. Juba says that there is an island in the Red Sea called "Topazos," ^[Note] at a distance of three hundred stadia from the main land; that it is surrounded by fogs, and is often sought by navigators in consequence; and that, owing to this, it received its present name, ^[Note] the word "topazin" meaning "to seek," in the language of the Troglodytæ. He states also, that Philon, the king's præfect, was the first to bring these stones from this island; that, on his presenting them to Queen Berenice, the mother of the second Ptolemæus, she was wonderfully pleased with them; and that, at a later period, a statue, four cubits in height, was made of this stone, ^[Note] in honour of Arsinoë, the wife of Ptolemæus Philadelphus, it being consecrated in the temple known as the "Golden Temple."

The most recent writers say that this stone is found also in the vicinity of Alabastrum, a city of Thebais, and they distinguish two varieties of it, the prasoïdes ^[Note] and the chrysopteron; ^[Note] which last is similar to chrysoprasus, ^[Note] all the shades of it tending, more or less, to resemble the colouring principle of the leek. Topazos is the largest of all the precious stones, and is the only one among those of high value that yields to the action of the file, the rest being polished by the aid of stone of Naxos. ^[Note] It admits, too, of being worn by use.