DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5596#0085
CAUSES OF SUCCESS.
61
gods, and these exceeded not three feet in height;1
but even in after-ages, when a colossal size was given
to the gods, the statues of mortals were not allowed
to exceed life-size, while the heroic size, for Her-
cules, Antinous, and other heroes and demigods,
was limited to the proportion of one-third larger
than the natural size. This restriction of size as
regarded the statues of mortals formed one of the
conditions imposed in the prizes at the public
games, and the judges are described by Lucian as
being more careful of this particular, than they were
in the examination of the candidates themselves.
Even among the Romans, we find Cicero ridi-
culing his brother Quintus for having a statue so
big that it made himself appear contemptible; and
Plautus, in like manner, laughs at a statue, of seven
feet in height, erected to the memory of a common
soldier. A story is told of Alexander, that being
in Miletus, he observed several statues of unusually
large dimensions, representing conquerors in the
Olympic and Pytliic games. "Where, said he sar-
casticalty, were these, when the barbarians con-
quered the city ?
If we turn our eyes for a moment on Roman
times, and Roman cities, what a contrast do we
behold ! We find as many statues here indeed as
1 This was the size of bhe most ancient statues in the Roman
Forum.—Pliny, xxxiv. 11.
61
gods, and these exceeded not three feet in height;1
but even in after-ages, when a colossal size was given
to the gods, the statues of mortals were not allowed
to exceed life-size, while the heroic size, for Her-
cules, Antinous, and other heroes and demigods,
was limited to the proportion of one-third larger
than the natural size. This restriction of size as
regarded the statues of mortals formed one of the
conditions imposed in the prizes at the public
games, and the judges are described by Lucian as
being more careful of this particular, than they were
in the examination of the candidates themselves.
Even among the Romans, we find Cicero ridi-
culing his brother Quintus for having a statue so
big that it made himself appear contemptible; and
Plautus, in like manner, laughs at a statue, of seven
feet in height, erected to the memory of a common
soldier. A story is told of Alexander, that being
in Miletus, he observed several statues of unusually
large dimensions, representing conquerors in the
Olympic and Pytliic games. "Where, said he sar-
casticalty, were these, when the barbarians con-
quered the city ?
If we turn our eyes for a moment on Roman
times, and Roman cities, what a contrast do we
behold ! We find as many statues here indeed as
1 This was the size of bhe most ancient statues in the Roman
Forum.—Pliny, xxxiv. 11.