Luxury In Ancient Rome

If anything moro were wanted to give ua an idea of Roman magnificence, are oould turn our eyes from public nionüj n : ii i s, demoralizing games and grand ■ions : we could iorget the statuee s and marble, which outnumborod the living inhabitants, bo numcroüs tbat mi" hundred thousand have bei n r icoverod and still embelish Italy, and would descend into the lo#or aphere of materia] üi1,' ti thoso things whifih attest luxmy nul taste, to ornamenta, dresses, sumptuou8 living) and rich t'urniture. Tl oí ading metala and prcoioua tonea surpasa anything l;nom at the prosent time. In the deooration of hooses, in social antortaizuuents, In oookery, the Romana reinarkuble. ïlie mosaicsj signet rings, cárneos, braoeletS) bronzo, ol , mirrorSi mattressés, i . per. hair dyesi mik robos, potteries-all attest great eleganco and beauty. The tables of thugnroot, an Indian bronzo, were u expensive as the sideboarda of Spanish walnut, so muoh admired in tliu great exhibition of London. Wood and ivory wero carvod as 6Xquisitely as in Japan of China. Mirrora were made of poliflhed BÜver. Glaasoutters coukl imítate the color of jireeious stones so well that tho Portland vase, from the tomb of Aleximiter EJoverns, was long considcred a genuine Bardonyx ; could 1' ]i;nli'ti(d soastocut - The palace of Nero glittorod withgold andjewels. Perfumes and flowers weri showorod fromivoryo '■' ballsoi Heliogabulua wore huni with cloth and gold enriched with jéwelry. Hia beds were silver .'11111 his tables of gol l. Tiberius gave a million of sosturcos for a picture fot his bod-room. A banquet ili-li of Disilua weighod flve hundred pounds of silvcr. The cups of Dresns wereof gold. l'unios were embroidered with the fignresof various aniuia'.s. Paulina ore jewola, whon sho paid risits, valuad at {85,000. Drinking cips ongravod witb scènes f rom tlio poets. Lilorned .with busts aml ; of rare wood. Sofas were inluid tortoiso shell and oovored with gorpurple. The Boman gmndoos rodo in gi in marble baths, dined fi'om golden plato, drank ffom er on beds of down, reolinea on luxurious coliches, won; embroidcrod and were adorned with pre ; they i.' EMjked the earth and sea íor rari i their banquete, and orbtOUSOS Wil : 'folll n, onyx oups from Bythania, marmi Numidia, bronzes trom Corinth, Erom Athens- whatever, in short, was preoioua and ourious in most oounThe lüxuries of tlie bath alniost ex: belief, and on the walla were niagtnd paintinga, exhibiting an almostinexhai iroawstivem Landscape and mythologieal scènes.