Brewer's: Treasures

These are my treasures; meaning the sick and poor. So said St. Lawrence when the Roman praetor commanded him to deliver up his treasures. He was then condemned to be roasted alive on a gridiron (258).

One day a lady from Campania called upon Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and after showing her jewels, requested in return to see those belonging to the famous mother-in-law of Africanus.Cornelia sent for her two sons, and said to the lady, “These are my jewels, in which alone I delight.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content