speculum

spĕcŭlum, i, n. [specio; hence, that in which one sees himself].

• Lit., a looking-glass, mirror (usually made of polished metal): speculum a speciendo, quod ibi se spectant, Varr. L. L. 5, § 129 Müll.; cf.: speculum, quod in eo specimus imaginem, id. ib. 6, § 82: homines sibi habere speculum, ubi os contemplarent suom, etc., Plaut. Ep. 3, 3, 2 (383): quid opu'st speculo tibi, quae tute speculo speculum es maximum? id. Most. 1, 3, 94 (250); cf. id. Men. 5, 9, 3 (1062): speculi imago, Lucr. 4, 279; cf. id. 4, 331: speculis apparent simulacra, id. 4, 98: speculorum levitas, Cic. Univ. 14: quotiens te in speculo videris alterum, Hor. C. 4, 10, 6: ut in speculo rugas aspexit aniles, Ov. M. 15, 232: se in speculo contemplari, Ap. Apol. p. 283, 4: cava specula, id. ib. p. 284, 2 et saep.— On the material and use of mirrors, v. Plin. 33, 9, 45, § 128; 34, 17, 48, § 160; 37, 5, 16, § 64; 37, 7, 25, § 97; Stat. S. 3, 4, 94; Sen. Q. N. 1, 17.—With tanquam, ut, etc.: inspicere, tamquam in speculum, in vitas omnium, Ter. Ad. 415; 428; Cic. Pis. 29, 71; id. Fin. 5, 22, 61; id. Rep. 2, 42, 69.—
• • B Poet., transf., of the mirror-like smoothness of water: lympharum in speculo, Phaedr. 1, 4, 3.—
• II Trop., a mirror, copy, imitation (rare; more freq. connected with tamquam or ut, etc.; v. supra, I.): futuri temporis, Lucr. 3, 974; 4, 166: infantes et bestias putat specula esse naturae, Cic. Fin. 2, 10, 32; cf. corresp. with imago, Plaut. Men. 5, 9, 3 (1062): omne opus Vergilianum de quodam Homerici operis speculo formatum est, Macr. S. 5, 2 med.

speculum, ī, n. (specio), der Spiegel (bei den Alten aus glänzenden Metallplatten), I) eig.: speculorum levitas, Cic.: sp. concavum, Hohlspiegel, Plin.: inditum auro (in G. gefaßter) sp., Sen.: specula totis paria corporibus auro argentoque caelata sunt, Sen.: inter pectinem speculumque occupati, Sen.: cotidie adversum speculum (vor dem Sp.) ornari, Scipio bei Gell.: quodam modo speculi vice fungi (als Sp. dienen), Sen.: speculo placere, schön geputzt sein, Ov.: crebro semet in speculo contemplari, Apul.: faciem quaerere in speculo od. ad speculum, Macr. u. Hieron.: speculum suum consulere, Ov.: speculum in visere, Apul.: se speculo videre alterum, Hor.: hoc facinus speculo videre, Mart. (vgl. Lachm. Lucr. p. 219): Demosthenes grande quoddam intuens speculum componere actionem solebat, Quint.: inspicere tamquam in speculum in vitas omnium, Ter.: iis (libidinibus etc.) posse istius tamquam in speculo vitam intueri, Cic.: indicant pueri, in quibus ut in speculis natura cernitur, Cic. – vom Spiegel des Wassers, lympharum, Phaedr. 1, 4, 3. – II) übtr., der Spiegel = das Abbild, morum, Sittenspiegel, Plin. ep.: speculum video, Plaut.: quae (parvos et bestias) putat esse specula naturae, Cic.: opus Vergilianum de quodam Homerici operis speculo formatum est, Macr. – ➳ vulg. Nbf. speculus, ī, m., Ps. Cypr. de monte Sina et Sion 13 (zweimal).

speculum [CL] 1 mirror, looking-glass (also fig.); b (dist. acc. curvature); c (~um comburens, for causing ignition). d instrument or device for allowing or assisting vision (also fig.). 798 Deus ‥ in imagine per ~um cernitur [cf. I Cor. xiii 12] Alcuin Ep. 156; an sit in ~o quod per ~um videtur Balsh. AD rec. 2 134; irradiatio ad totum corpus a cerebro tanquam a ~i superficie resultat Alf. Angl. Cor 10. 14; tanquam a ~is politis Bacon Tert. 227; 1285 pro uno ~o eboris ibidem empto ad opus ‥ regine xx s. KR Ac 351/12 m. 7.  b concursus radiorum ascendentium per reflexionem factam sicut a ~o concavo Gros. Com. 22; in ~is concavis ad solem positis ignem generari Peckham Persp. II 55 tit..  c facere ~um comburens pertinet ad geometriam Bacon Tert. 45; in libro de ~is comburentibus Peckham Persp. II 55.  d conscientia quippe quasi ~um anime est Ailr. Serm. 399C; expressam ‥ Hibernie topographiam hoc opusculo quasi ~o quodam dilucido representare Gir. TH intr. p. 7; quid nisi ~um sacra lectio est, cui dum intendimus, tam nostra, quam aliorum et bona, et mala inspicimus Ad. Scot OP 578B; est igitur ratio speculum, quo cuncta videntur J. Sal. Enth. Phil. 657; ~o ‥ utitur ad contemplandam faciem dilecti sui J. Ford Serm. 85. 4; faciem ‥ per sacre scripture ~um quasi per quemdam nitorem argenteum propriis oculis conspiciendam reddunt Ib. 113. 9. 2 observation point, watch tower (also fig., w. ref. to position of bishop); b (as gl. on Sion). hoc defuncto emicuit in pontificale ~um Egbertus W. Malm. GP III 112; super ~um Domini ego sum stans jugiter per diem [Is. xxi 8] G. Hoyland Ascet. 253B (cf. ib.: in Domini specula); 1308 Christus ad hoc nos voluit in ~o eminenti apostolatus assumi (Bulla Papae) W. Guisb. 387; praeclarum construxit omnibus regni decanis secularibus ~um et munitissimum contra quod ecclesiae inimici praevalere non poterant Myln Dunkeld 55.  b  in Sion, id est, in ~o perpetuae quietis Alcuin Dogm. 54A. 3 sight, spectacle. b image, reflection, appearance. c shining or outstanding example, exemplar, epitome. bonum est ~um, sed melius est osculum G. Hoyland Ascet. 255C; planta pedis non nuda tui cuiquam speculum sit D. Bec. 1110; s1306 [conjuratrix] suspendatur ut sit data in vita et post mortem ~um viatoribus et opprobrium sempiternum Flor. Hist. III 324.  b sapientia ejus a cuncto laudata sit populo, quae ‥ in superficie corporis et ~o vultus eluxerit Alcuin Exeg. 699A; ibi [sc. Sion] qui sunt, te contemplantur in specula. nam nos quid nisi in ~o, in ~o creaturarum, et scripturarum enigmate [cf. I Cor. xiii 12]? G. Hoyland Ascet. 260A; hec mihi Domini mei species ‥ ~um familiare est J. Ford Serm. 35. 5; vocantur angeli ‥ agalmatha, id est ~a clarissima, divini luminis receptacula. ‥ angelus est ymago Dei ‥ ~um purum splendidissimum ‥ recipiens totam ‥ speciositatem beneformate deiformitatis Bart. Angl. II 2; possunt figurari perspicua ~a ut unum appareat multa ‥ et plures et quot volumus soles et lune appareant Bacon NM 534; s1309 ecce! nunc qualiter seculum ejus amatoribus est ~um circumspecte volentibus intueri G. Ed. II Bridl. 35.  c speculum vitae monstravit alumnis Aldh. VirgV 326; severitatis exemplar, ~um honestatis V. Birini 2; his [monachis] Gundulfus vivendi ~um ‥ factus est V. Gund. 17; culpas depone, Christum speculum tibi pone Walt. Wimb. App. 2. 28; hypocritarum ~um ‥ Johannes de Wiclif Wals. HA II 119; religiosi mendicantes in Anglia debent reliquis religiosis humilius, simplicius, et a mundo elegancius vivere in voluntaria et altissima paupertate ita quod sint laicorum ~um in omni sanctitate Concl. Loll. XXXVII 29. 4 overview, summary. b (in description or title of book) survey, compendium. ecce igitur ~um de regibus libri terminati H. Hunt. HA VI 42.  b ~um caritatis Ailr. Spec. Car. tit.; a1332 ~um medicorum Libr. Cant. Dov. 60; in titulum ~i evidencialis Elmh. Cant. 294 (v. evidentialis); in lxxxxiiio folio libri dicte civitatis vocati ‘~um’ MGL I 61; libri historiales ‥ item ~um historiale abbreviatum Heete Catal. Coll. Wint. 67; 1443 item secunda pars Vincentii in ~o naturali ‥ item ~um doctrinale (Catal. Libr.) MunAcOx 768. 5 visual perception, ability to see (in quot. fig.). quomodo ‥ cordis inconparabili ~o oculorum nostram providendo propagavit ad Deum conversionem V. Greg. p. 84.

spĕcŭlum, (10) ī, n. (specio), ¶ 1 miroir : Varro L. 5, 129 ; Pl. Most. 251, etc. ; aliquid tamquam in speculo intueri Cic. Pis. 71, regarder qqch. comme dans un miroir, cf. Cic. Fin. 5, 61 ; Rep. 2, 69 ¶ 2 [fig.] = reproduction fidèle, image : parvi et bestiæ, quæ putat esse specula naturæ Cic. Fin. 2, 32, les enfants et les bêtes quʼil appelle le miroir de la nature.

speculum , i. n.
鏡。像。— consulere 以鏡照面。Lympharum speculum 照物之水。淸水。Speculo placere 善扮之。

Suggest a Translation
See an image

speculum ī, n

• SPEC-, a reflector, lookingglass, mirror: speculorum lēvitas: Inspicere, tamquam in speculum, in vitas omnium, T.: quotiens te speculo videris alterum, H.: ut in speculo rugas aspexit anilīs, O.: Lympharum in speculo, i. e. smooth surface, Ph.—Fig., a mirror, copy, imitation: (infantes et bestias) putat specula esse naturae.

SPECULUM

SPECULUM(κάτοπτρον, ἔσοπτρον, ἔνοπτρον), a mirror. The mirrors of the Greeks, Romans, and Etruscans consisted almost invariably of small circular disks of metal, which could be placed upright on a table or held in the hand. Mirrors of glass are mentioned by Pliny (Plin. Nat.36.66) as being made at Sidon, and from a later source (Alex. Aphrod., Probl. 1.132 in Ideler, Physici et medici Graeci minores, 1. p. 45) we learn that glass mirrors were coated with tin, not, as with us, with quicksilver (διὰ τί τὰ ὑέλινα κάτοπτρα λάμπουσιν ἄηαν; ὅτι ἔνδοθεν αὐτῶν χρίουσι κασσιτέρῳ). No remains of such mirrors exist, however, and they were evidently little used. The usual material was bronze, i. e. an alloy of copper and tin, composed, as the analysis of various Roman mirrors has shown (Blümner, Technologie, 4. p. 192), of from 19 to 32 per cent. of the latter metal. In Imperial times, the best alloy for mirrors was made at Brundisium (Plin. Nat.33.45; 34.48). The majority of extant mirrors are of bronze, but some made of silver have also come down to us: see e.g. Bull. d. Inst., 1885, 180amirror found at Pompeii, and the silver mirror in the tomb of Seianti Thanunia (Brit. Mus.). Silver mirrors came into fashion under the Roman Republic (Pliny, Plin. Nat.33.45, says in the time of Pompey the Great), and in Imperial times were frequently used, even it is said by maid-servants (Plin. Nat.34.48; cf. 33.45). They are often mentioned in the Digest (Dig. 33, 6, 3; 34, 2, 19.8). A better reflexion was supposed to be given when the plate of silver was thick (Vitr. 7.3). At first, the silver was very pure, but metal of inferior quality was afterwards employed (Plin. Nat.33.45). Cheap imitations were manufactured, and some extant mirrors having the appearance of silver are in reality only plated with that metal, or are composed of a mixture of copper and lead (Friederichs, Berl. ant. Bildw. 2. p. 86).

There is no mention of mirrors in Homer, and the earliest Greek mirrors extant are not earlier than circ. B.C. 500. The prototype of the Greek mirror must, on our present evidence, be looked for in Egypt. The Egyptian mirrors now extant consist of bronze disks of oval or oblate form,--a shape, therefore, nearly the same as that of the Greek mirrors, though somewhat less elegant. They have, like many Greek mirrors, ornamented handles (of wood, stone, or metal), some in the form of the papyrus-sceptre or of a figure of a goddess (see the illustrations in Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, ed. Birch, vol. ii. pp. 350, 351). From the time of the Attic tragedians onwards mirrors are frequently mentioned in literature (Aesch. in Stob. Serm. 18.13; Eurip. Troad. 1107; Medea, 1161; Onet. 1112;--Xen. Cyr. 7.1, § 2, &c.), and they are often represented on the monuments. On the vase-paintings female attendants are seen holding them before their mistresses, and among the Greek terra-cottas are figures of women holding circular mirrors while arranging their hair (Gazette arch. 1878, pl. 10 = Baumeister, Denkm, art. Spiegel, fig. 1775; Gaz. arch. 1880, p. 39). On the Etruscan terra-cotta sarcophagus of Seianti Thanunia, in the British Museum (from Chiusi), is a reclining female figure holding a mirror. Before dealing with the special characteristics of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan mirrors respectively, it should be stated that wall-mirrors were little used in antiquity. Large metal mirrors were suspended n barbers' shops (Lucian, adv. Ind. 29; Vitr. 9.9, 2); and we hear, under the Roman Empire, of mirrors large enough to reflect the whole person (Senec. Quaest. nat. 1.17, 8, specula totis paria corporibus; Ulpian, Dig. 34, 2, 19.8, speculum . . . parieti adfixum; cf. Plin. Nat.36.196).

GREEK MIRRORS. --Examples of mirrors of Greek workmanship and provenance were unknown till recent years, and the number at present discovered (at Corinth and elsewhere) is comparatively small. Like other articles of the toilet, mirrors were buried by the Greeks with the dead. They have two forms: (i.) the disk-mirror with a handle or a stand, (ii.) the box-mirror.

(i.) The disk-mirrors have one side (usually slightly convex) left plain and polished for reflexion. The other side is engraved with a design, or is left plain. The handle is often ornamented, or consists of a statuette--figures of Aphrodite being preferred. Many of these mirrors have a pedestal attached to the statuette, to enable them to be stood up-right on the table. Some of the early extant mirrors are furnished with these statuette--stands, and sometimes Erotes, animals, or other ornaments are attached to the lower part of the disk. A good example is figured in the Arch. Zeitung, xxxvii. pl. 12 = Baumeister, Denkmäler, art. Spiegel, fig. 1773.

(ii.) The box-mirror consists of two circular disks shutting into one another, and sometimes united by a hinge. The upper disk or cover is ornamented on the outside with a design relief, and its interior is polished for reflexion. The lower disk, or box itself, is adorned inside with engraved figures. The reliefs on the box-mirrors and the engraved designs found both on the box-and the disk-mirrors are among the most beautiful and interesting remains of Greek art. The best specimens may be attributed to the 4th century B.C. Good examples may be seen in the Bronze Room of the British Museum. The reliefs usually consist of subjects relating to the cycle of Aphrodite and Dionysos. The relief of Ganymede carried away by the eagle

(engraved in Collignon, Man. d'Arch. p. 351) may be cited as a fine example of this class. Among the finest examples of engravings on mirrors are the Korinthos and Leucas mirror engraved in Rev. arch., N. S., xxiii. (1872), pl. 11. p. 79, and in Monuments grecs de l'Assoc. des Études grecques, 1873, pl. iii.; the Genius of the Cock-fights mirror in the Lyons Museum (Rev. arch., N. S., xvii. (1868), pl. 13. p. 372 ff.); and the Nymph and Pan playing with astragali, in the British Museum (Classical Review; vol. 3. p. 86). (On the technique of the engraved mirrors, which were perhaps etched as well as engraved, see Blümner, Technol. iv. pp. 266, 267.)

ETRUSCAN MIRRORS. --The extant examples, many of which are figured in Gerhard's Etruskische Spiegel(continued by Klügmann and Körte), are extremely numerous. They have been found in tombs in Etruria and Latium, some in cistae, others placed on the top of vases, or lying separately. They resemble the Greek mirrors in form. Box-mirrors occur, but most of the extant specimens are simple disks with the convex side polished for reflexion and the concave side engraved, and having a handle which was made in one piece with the mirror and sometimes inserted in an outer handle--now often missing--of bone or wood. The Etruscan mirrors that have come down to us are mainly of the fourth and third centuries B.C. The subjects represented are mainly drawn from Greek mythology (especially the Trojan legends), such as the Birth of Minerva, the Birth of Bacchus, Venus and Adonis, Achilles and Thetis, Castor and Pollux, &c. Various scenes from daily life (the toilet, the bath, and the palaestra) are also represented. The names of the personages depicted are nearly always written near them in Etruscan characters (e. g. Apul = Apollo; Achle=Achilles; Atunis=Adonis). The designs are nearly always the production of Etruscan copyists of Greek models, especially the vase-paintings. The work is often rough and careless, and the space generally overcrowded with figures. The reliefs on the box-mirrors are much inferior to those on the Greek box-mirrors. Various examples may be seen in the Etruscan Room at the British Museum, among which may be noticed Ganymede carried off by the Eagle, and other figures on the cover of a mirror from Praeneste (Mon. dell' Inst. arch. viii. pl. 47, fig. 2). Among the engraved mirrors some elegant and delicately treated designs occasionally occur, such as Semele, &c. on a mirror at Berlin (Mon. dell' Inst. 1.56=Baumeister, Denkm. art. Etrurien, fig. 557); the Healing of Telephus (Gerhard, Etrusk. Spiegel, pl. 228=Baumeister, Denkm., art. Spiegel, fig. 1774); and the meeting of Helen and Menelaus after the taking of Troy (in the Brit. Mus.: Mon. d. Inst. arch. viii. pl. 33).

ROMAN MIRRORS. --These are of little artistic importance, and are usually disk-mirrors provided with an ornamented handle, which is sometimes in the form of a figure. The back of the disk (i. e. the side not used for the reflexion) is, if engraved, usually ornamented with decorative patterns and not with a subject-design. Typical examples of various hand-mirrors found at Pompeii may be seen in Overbeck-Mau, Pompeii, 4th ed. p. 453, fig. 252.

[[Authorities.--Frerederichs, Berl. ant. Bildw. 2.18 ff.; Blümner, Technologie, iv. pp. 192, 194, 265 ff., 403; Blümner, art. Spiegel in Baumeister's Denkmäler; De Witte, Les Miroirs chez les Anciens, Bruxelles, 1873; Stephani, Compte rendu, 1870-71, p. 27; Hermann, Lehrbuch(ed. Blümner), iv. pp. 170, 171; Collignon, Man. d'Arch. grecque, p. 146 ff.; Mylonas, Ἁλληνικὰ κάτοπτρα, Athens, 1876, 8°, reviewed in Bull. Corr. hell. i. (1877), p. 108 f.; Bull. Corr. hell. viii. pp. 398, 399 (with references to earlier publications); Rev. arch. 1868, pl. xiii.; Collect. Castellani, Paris, 1884, No. 430; Collect. Gréau, Paris, 1885, No. 580. Other Greek mirrors have been published in the Bull. Corr. hell.; in the Gazette archéologique and other periodicals; E. Gerhard's Etruskische Spiegel, Berlin, 1843, &c., continued by Klügmann and Körte; Marquardt--Mommsen, Handbuch der röm. Alt. 8.669, 692, 736; and other authorities cited above in the article.]

[W--K W--H.]

Specŭlum

(ἔνοπτρον, κάτοπτρον). For mirrors the ancients used round or oval, also square, plates of polished metal, generally of copper, mixed with tin, zinc, and other materials, and often silvered and gilded. In later times they were also made of massive silver, the finest being the work of Praxiteles in B.C. 328. They were often provided with a decorated handle and ornamented on the back with engravings, mostly of mythological objects. To keep them bright, a sponge with powdered pumice-stone was usually fastened to them (Plato, Tim. 72 C). The best metallic mirrors were produced at Brundisium.

Glass mirrors were probably known in antiquity, consisting of a glass plate covered with a thin leaf of metal at the back (Pliny , Pliny H. N. xxxvi. 26). As thus prepared, however, they were not so good as the others, the modern backing of tinfoil and quicksilver being yet unknown.

The Etruscan mirrors are in some respects remarkably fine, the finest of all being represented below. Besides these hand-mirrors, there were also in the time of the emperors mirrors as high as a man (Sen. Q. N. i. 17; cf. Quintil. xi. 3, 68), which were either permanently fixed in the wall or (as in Vitruv. ix. 8, 2) let up and down like a sash.

Greek mirrors were unknown to archaeologists until 1867, when the first specimen was discovered at Corinth. In design they are even more beautiful than those of Etruria. They are of two kinds: (a) disc mirrors, like the Etruscan mirrors, and generally round, consisting of a single disc with a polished convex front, to reflect the face, and a concave back, ornamented with figures traced with the engraver's burin. This variety had a handle in the form of a statuette resting on a pedestal. (b) Another variety (“box-mirrors”), especially frequent in Greece, consists of two metallic discs, one enclosed within the other, and sometimes held together by a hinge. The cover was externally ornamented with figures in low-relief, and was internally polished and silvered to reflect the face. The second disc, forming the body of the case, was decorated internally with figures engraved with a sharp point. In the British Museum is a mirror from Corinth, representing Pan playing at the game of “Five Stones” with a Nymph attended by Eros. There is no mention of mirrors in Homer; and the oldest Greek mirrors now extant do not antedate the sixth century B.C. See Blümner, Technologie, iv. pp. 192, 194, 265 foll., 403; E. Gerhard, Etruskische Spiegel (Berlin, 1843); and De Witte, Les Miroirs chez les Anciens (Brussels, 1873).