Book 37 Chapter 2 The Jewel of Polycrates
The items used to demonstrate Chapter 2 of Pliny's book are an ancient Roman hairclip and an ancient Roman ring with an engraved gem. Chapter 2 The Jewel of Polycrates discusses royalty and tyrants that possessed the ring and their insurmountable wealth relative to the time. Polycrates even throws the ring overboard his ship into the sea, where a fish swallows it up and is caught. The ring is then reclaimed at the dinner table and passed along two several other kings. This chapter describes that objects of great wealth, such as stones, are meant for rulers. Precious stones are symbols of luxury, access, status, and wealth.
Pliny the Elder believed that knowledge about the natural world could be translated into power, and therefore wealth. In addition, Pliny the Elders book, especially book 37 emphasizes how humans assign a monetary value to natural good. Humans then can create an economy with the knowledge of natural goods and a system of monetary value for such goods. These precious stones which were natural creations were a sign of great wealth. The precious stones were items of great luxury which is an issue Pliny addresses in his writing. While Pliny engages in luxury himself his writing does insinuate rhetoric surrounding the topic. Chapter 2 of Pliny's book emphasizes the want for material goods and those of value and the knowledge that is needed to achieve this. This chapter discusses a large jewel belonging to Polycrates which was a sign of wealth and the stone itself was a luxury good (Gibson, 35-36).