The Chamber of the Four Ages
This small, round chamber, located near the location of the Chamber of Saturn, contains four statues, of human beings: gold, silver, bronze and iron. These are detailed to represent the four ages of mankind.
With regard to these various ages and races, let us pause a moment to add a few remarks. Nigidius (De Diis, iv) writes: 'Certain divide the Gods and their orders into periods and ages, and among these Orpheus; and these ages are first of Saturn, then of Jupiter, next of Neptune, then of Pluto, and some also, for instance the Magi, speak of the reign of Apollo.' And Servius (on Ecl., iv.4) says: 'The Cumean Sibyl divides the ages according to the metals; she also tells us which is to be ascribed to each metal, the last being that of the Sun, meaning by that the tenth. . . . She said also that when these ages had all run their course they were again renewed.' This period was called the Great Year (Magnus Annus). And Censorinus (xviii) says: 'The mid-winter of this Great Year is a destruction by water, but the mid-summer a destruction by fire.'
This period was said to be marked by the stars apparently returning to the starting points of their respective courses. And Proclus cites an opinion based on Orpheus that the end of the Great Year is marked by 'Kronos squaring the account of the Gods and taking his kingdom again; or in other words, he assumes dominion of that most primeval darkness, the zodiacal cycles that control the stars' (Lobeck, op. sit., p. 793). And Pliny (VI.xxi) calls it 'that eternal and final night that impends over the world'.
The account of Hesiod differs considerably from that of Orpheus:
The men of the Golden Age lived exempt from suffering and care, the earth fed them spontaneously; they never grew old, and when death finally came upon them, they fell peacefully asleep. After their death they became the guardians, who 'wrapped in clouds' (Nirm,nak,yas) winged their flight over the earth and watched over its inhabitants.
The men of the Silver Age are far inferior to the former. They die in youth, are impious and revilers of the Gods. After death they too become Genii, but evil instead of beneficent, and so they are plunged in subterranean abodes. They are the 'race of sorcerers,' they of the Black Path.
The men of the Age of Bronze are strong and violent; their heart has the 'hardness of steel.'
The fourth period is the Age of Iron; its men are, or rather will be, 'virtuous and just,' for the Age of Iron is still in progress.
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Last modified: Wed Nov 18, 1998 / Jeremiah Genest