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 Gbautauqua iRcaDtmi Circle literature 
 
 ROMAN LIFE 
 
 IN 
 
 PLINY'S TIME 
 
 BY 
 
 MAURICE PELLISON 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 
 
 BY MAUD WILKINSON 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY FRANK JUSTUS MILLER 
 
 Professor in The University of Chicago 
 
 MEADVILLE PKNNA 
 
 FLOOD AND VINCENT 
 
 Cfte l).uitam]u.i nitun.i press 
 
 NKW YORK : CINCINNATI: CHICAGO: 
 
 150 Fifth Avenue. 222 \V. Fourth St. 57 Washington St. 
 
 I8 97
 
 The required books of the C. L. S. C. are recommended by 
 a Council of six. It must, however, be understood that 
 recommendation does not involve an approval by the Coun- 
 cil, or by any member of it, of every principle or doctrine 
 contained in the book recommended. 
 
 Copyright, 1897 
 By FLOOD & VINCENT 
 
 The Chaufauqua- Century Press, Meadville, Pa., U. S. A. 
 Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by Flood & Vincent.
 
 MCI 
 
 UK 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 INTRODUCTION .... ........ 9 
 
 I. EDUCATION .............. 19 
 
 II. WOMEN AND MARRIAGE ........ 37 
 
 III. THE ROMAN HOUSE .......... 58 
 
 IV. THE SERVANTS ............ 80 
 
 V. THE TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS ..... 1 1 1 
 
 VI. THE BAR ............... 136 
 
 VII. SOCIETY ............... 151 
 
 VIII. AMUSEMENTS ............. 186 
 
 IX. TRAVELING .............. 228 
 
 X. RETIREMENT FROM ACTIVE LIFE, DEATH, 
 
 AND BURIAL ............. 271 
 
 XI. PLINY'S CORRESPONDENCE ....... 295
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Morning Reception Frontispiece. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Young Roman Boy. Rome 25 
 
 Boy Fishing. Museum of Naples 27 
 
 A Pompeiian Court. From a painting by L. Bazzani ... 34 
 Faustina, Wife of Marcus Aurelius. Museum of Naples . . 38 
 
 Relief Representing a Sacrifice . . 42 
 
 Lucretia and Her Maids. From a painting by J. Coomans. 45 
 
 Woman's Head. Farnesian Palace, Rome 49 
 
 Woman's Head said to be Julia, Wife of Titus. Museum 
 
 of Naples 51 
 
 Woman's Head 55 
 
 Remains of a House at Pompeii 60 
 
 Pompeiian House-Fountain. Museum of Naples 61 
 
 Atrium of the Pompeiian House at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect , 62 
 
 Stucco Wall or Ceiling Decoration 64 
 
 Atrium of the Pompeiian House at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect 66 
 
 Candelabrum 69 
 
 Peristyle of the Pompeiian House at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect 73 
 
 Mars and Venus. Wall Decoration. Pompeii 74 
 
 Tables 77 
 
 Candelabrum 78 
 
 Door Knocker 82 
 
 Door Knocker 85 
 
 Bronze Hames (Horse Harness) 87 
 
 Horse Bit 88 
 
 Heater. Naples 97 
 
 Key 99 
 
 Cooking Utensils 104 
 
 Key 108 
 
 Cup 117
 
 vi Illustrations. 
 
 Ostia 120 
 
 Shop of an Oil Merchant at Pompeii 124 
 
 Vase 129 
 
 An Orator. Museum of Naples 137 
 
 Capitoline Hill, Forum, and Surrounding Buildings .... 145 
 
 A Roman Matron 152 
 
 Atrium of the Pompeiian House at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect 156 
 
 The Appian Way. From a painting by Gustav Boulanger.i6a 
 Peristyle of the Pompeiian House at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect 165 
 
 Winter Dining-Room of the Pompeiian House at Saratoga 
 
 Springs, N. Y. Franklin W. Smith, architect 170 
 
 The Vintage Festival. From a painting by L. Alma- 
 
 Tadema 174 
 
 Peristyle of the Pompeiian House at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 
 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect 177 
 
 Woman's Head. Vatican Museum, Rome 181 
 
 Amphitheater in Pompeii 187 
 
 Circus Maximus. From a painting by Gerome 190 
 
 Charioteer. Vatican 194 
 
 The Colosseum at Rome 199 
 
 Gladiator in Mosaic. National Museum, Naples 202 
 
 " A ve, Caesar, Imperator." From a painting by Gerome . .208 
 
 " Pollice Verso. " From a painting by Gerome 210 
 
 Greave 214 
 
 Theater at Herculaneum. Restoration 218 
 
 Gladiator's Helmet 222 
 
 Shield 225 
 
 Fortune. Museum of Naples 230 
 
 Bridge over the Anio, a few Miles from Tibur 235 
 
 Vesuvius in Eruption 239 
 
 The Judgment of Paris. Pompeiian Fresco 246 
 
 Street of Fortune, Pompeii 248 
 
 Candelabrum 250 
 
 The Vatican Library 253 
 
 Naples 257 
 
 Pompeii 261 
 
 Portrait Statue. Vatican 265 
 
 Tibur (Modern Tivoli) 272 
 
 Falls at Tibur (Modern Tivoli) 275
 
 Illustrations. vii 
 
 Roman Priest. Vatican 278 
 
 Altar at Ostia 281 
 
 A Shrine in a Roman Private House 283 
 
 yEsculapius. Museum of Naples 285 
 
 Tomb at Pompeii 290 
 
 Columbarium at Rome 293 
 
 A Roman Woman 300 
 
 A Vestal Virgin. Rome 302 
 
 A Sacrifice 304
 
 C. L. S. C. MOTTOES. 
 
 WE STUDY THE WORDS AND THE WORKS 
 
 OF GOD. 
 LET us KEEP OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IN 
 
 THE MIDST. 
 
 NEVER BE DISCOURAGED. 
 LOOK UP AND LIFT UP.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE story of growth from a group of unconnected 
 hill-top settlements upon the Tiber to a political organ- 
 ization with world-wide dominion seems hardly to belong 
 to sober history. Great national development has 
 mostly come from the union of nations already existing, 
 or from the powerful impetus contributed by parent 
 nations to colonial stocks. But the Roman Empire was 
 unique in this. It sprung from a single city which, Roman history 
 though it extended its sway over the whole known chy* ' 
 world, never ceased to be not alone the seat of govern- 
 ment, but the government itself. Rome was the nation. 
 From her forum radiated to every land those military 
 roads, the highways of commerce and dominion, that 
 made her rule a vital thing wherever her conquering 
 legions found their way. This masterful city not only 
 absorbed all real power, but gathered up all the learning, 
 the art, the customs and religions of the nations and 
 made them her own ; until to be a Roman came to 
 mean to be a citizen of the world, and Roman citizen- 
 ship was a coveted prize to be attained at any cost of 
 blood or treasure. 
 
 This wide dominion was attained by gradual and 
 natural growth, extending over hundreds of years. The 
 separate settlements on the hill-tops by the Tiber early Roman do- 
 
 * minion acquired 
 
 joined for self-defense in one community, with common by gradual 
 
 extension. 
 
 cause and common government. Because of this union 
 they were able to master one by one all the isolated 
 communities by which they were surrounded, and grad- 
 ually, after many hard-fought wars, their sway extended
 
 Introduction. 
 
 The conquest 
 of Greece. 
 
 Rome's wise 
 colonial policy. 
 
 over Italy. Soon Rome had occasion to champion the 
 cause of Italy against foreign invasions, and Carthage, 
 her nearest and greatest rival, was subdued in three 
 great wars. In the course of these struggles, Sicily, 
 Sardinia, and Corsica, together with Northern Africa 
 and Spain, were added to Roman territory, the first 
 extension of dominion beyond the bounds of Italy. In 
 these struggles also for the first time Rome learned and 
 the world learned that Roman arms were the match for 
 the strongest foreign foe. The impetus of conquest 
 extended next to Greece, and that proud land, which 
 was full grown in civilizing arts when Rome was in her 
 infancy, became a Roman province. Still farther east 
 the Roman boundary was pushed until it included Asia 
 Minor, and, at least in nominal sway, vast tracts of 
 Asia. Meanwhile, in the north and west, Gaul, Ger- 
 many, and Britain were subdued. No land was too 
 barren or remote to escape her notice. If its people 
 were wealthy they attracted her greed of gain ; if poor 
 but brave, her greed of conquest. 
 
 This vast and heterogeneous domain was welded 
 together into one composite whole by a wise provincial 
 and colonial policy. Each conquered land was organ- 
 ized into a Roman province, with limited home rule, 
 often under the nominal sway of some trusted native 
 prince, but really tributary to Rome ; under Roman 
 governors and Roman fiscal agents golden streams 
 of wealth were kept constantly flowing to the imperial 
 city. Rome's power was further strengthened at re- 
 mote points by her colonial system, which planted 
 colonies of her own citizens, largely veteran soldiers, 
 in the newly conquered lands ; in this way Rome dis- 
 tributed her very self throughout the world. 
 
 How was this mighty growth accomplished ? What
 
 Introduction, xi 
 
 elements in the Roman race predestined her to wide 
 
 dominion, and made her the favored nation of the 
 
 earth ? Right answers to these questions would reveal greatness. 
 
 all that is most vital in the national history. For the 
 
 history of a nation, as of a man, is but the account of 
 
 the working out of those forces which lie at the basis 
 
 of national and individual life. 
 
 First among these constructive elements in Roman 
 life was Roman character. This was made up of those ^ter?" 
 virtues which are easily recognized to be distinctly 
 Roman. There was ' ' dignitas ' ' that dignity or self- 
 respect which made every citizen of Rome a king, added 
 gravity to life, and forbade flippant trifling with person 
 or with fame. So sacred was the Roman dignity that 
 comedy and satire, which thrive on personalities, were 
 forced to veil their wit and moderate their sneers. Ro- 
 man literature, considered not alone for what it is, but 
 especially for what it is not, is itself a standing proof of 
 this strong sense of self-respect in the Roman character. 
 Closely allied to this virtue were " iustitia " and " con- 
 stantia," that righteousness of judgment and firmness of 
 execution which enabled the first Brutus to forget 
 paternal love and condemn his own sons for their sin 
 against the state ; which led Regulus to brave the 
 utmost tortures of Carthage that he might keep a 
 Roman's oath ; which made the Roman arms invulner- 
 able against outnumbering foes. It was such virtues as 
 these in the character of the early Romans that laid the 
 foundations of Rome's future greatness. These virtues 
 were enhanced by the simple, hardy life of those earlier 
 times, when men like Cincinnatus guided plowshare and 
 state alike ; when Cato toiled in cleansing now his rocky 
 fields and now the Roman senate ; when Manius Curius 
 spurned Samnite gold that he might rule the Samnites.
 
 xii Introduction. 
 
 Such qualities in her citizens predestine any nation to 
 dominion. 
 
 A second prominent element in Roman national life 
 was her combined spirit of conservatism and progress, 
 servatisrn "and This spirit was manifested in the tenacity with which the 
 progress. Romans held to established manners, customs, religion, 
 
 law, government, every activity of life which assumed a 
 fixed outward form. Ancestral customs, like ancestors 
 themselves, were held in reverence. If changes came, it 
 was only after evils inherent in the old had become 
 unbearable. In such a society no sudden revolution is 
 possible; customs .endure until they become national; 
 the Roman toga becomes the symbol of Roman citizen- 
 ship ; the eagles of Rome the emblems of victory and 
 dominion ; life, persistent in its manifestations, becomes 
 embedded in the very language ; and the state itself, the 
 government, endures from generation to generation, 
 changing with the needs of advancing civilization, but 
 free from destructive upheavals. This spirit of resist- 
 ance to the new was most strikingly attested by the 
 bitter struggle which the old religion maintained to the 
 last against the fresh and irresistible power of the 
 young Christianity. 
 
 But Rome's conservatism did not prevent her accept- 
 ing, from any source, whatever promised any real 
 advantage. Her receptive and digestive powers were 
 enormous, she borrowed and imitated freely from every 
 hand, and every nation subdued by Rome left a material 
 impress upon Roman civilization. While statecraft, 
 law, and war, together with the development of domestic 
 economy and life, were all her own, her literature, 
 religion, philosophy, and arts were deeply influenced 
 by addition and imitation from many outside sources, 
 especially from the Greeks. Such a cosmopolitan cul-
 
 Introduction. xiii 
 
 ture, joined to native strength, contributed much to 
 Rome's preeminence. 
 
 Great weight must also be given in considering the 
 elements of Rome's greatness, to her amazing genius for 
 law and statecraft. These, as has just been said, were 
 all her own. So keen was her legal instinct, so wise her . 
 
 Genius for law 
 
 legislation, and so sound the development of her consti- and statecraft, 
 tution, that Rome may justly be said to have laid the 
 foundations of law and order for the whole civilized 
 world. This genius was closely related to the Roman 
 characteristic of justice which proceeded with such calm- 
 ness of judgment and clearness of vision with reference 
 to right. It was related to Roman conservatism also, 
 in that the presumption was always in favor of estab- 
 lished law or custom, and every advance was the result 
 of growth. None but the Roman genius could have 
 established a home government that should endure with 
 little change for so many centuries ; none could have 
 maintained even if it could have acquired so vast and 
 unwieldy an empire. At a time when transportation 
 was at best very slow, when communication of any sort 
 with distant regions was exceedingly difficult, even the 
 limited world of that time was vastly larger than the 
 complete world of to-day. And yet, in spite of this, 
 Rome's great domain was ordered and controlled in 
 every detail by Roman law. Not only her civic power 
 but even the influence of her very fashions was felt in 
 the remotest province ; the barbarous Briton vied with 
 Mede and Parthian in learning Roman arts and man- 
 ners ; those who began by proudly refusing to learn the 
 Roman language, ended by striving for distinction in 
 eloquence ; and, as has been already said, to acquire 
 the toga of citizenship was the provincial's highest am- 
 bition.
 
 xiv Introduction. 
 
 But Rome had also a marked genius for war. Even 
 
 Genius for war. ... .... 
 
 if the traditional Romulus be rejected with his military 
 establishment and government of Rome, certain it is 
 that the military and civil development of the nation 
 went hand in hand from the first. That very popular 
 assembly which had all real political power, the comilia 
 centuriata, was organized on a purely military basis. 
 "The whole people, patricians and plebeians, were 
 divided into five classes according to a property qualifi- 
 cation, and each of these five classes was subdivided 
 into a certain number of voting units. In addition to 
 these there were eighteen centuries of knights and four 
 centuries of musicians, smiths, and carpenters. The 
 people, in fact, were here looked upon as an army and 
 divided into fighting bodies. The one hundred and 
 seventy centuries of the five classes were all infantry ; 
 the cavalry was formed of the eighteen centuries of 
 knights." Founded upon a military basis, Rome long 
 continued a nation of warriors, whose every citizen by 
 virtue of his franchise was a soldier. The Roman peas- 
 antry, like the English yeomanry, were designed by 
 nature for perfect soldiers. Hardy sons of the soil, they 
 became inured by their daily life to all the hardships 
 that war could bring ; while their constant struggles 
 both in Rome's defense and for the extension of her 
 power made them a nation of veterans. It was in this 
 ' ' hard school of war ' ' that the true Roman ' ' virtus, ' ' 
 or manhood, according to their sturdy ideals, was 
 developed, a virtue which scorned peril, and looked 
 upon a life of hardship as ideal. These were the sol- 
 diers who formed the famous legions of Rome, those 
 thunderbolts of war which were well nigh irresistible on 
 countless battlefields. Nor were there worthy generals 
 wanting to a worthy army. In the long line of military
 
 Introduction. xv 
 
 heroes that the world has known, high rank has always 
 been awarded to the Scipios, the Fabii, the Caesars, the 
 Pompeys, the Agricolas of Rome. These men were not 
 merely leaders on the field ; they were masters of the art 
 of war, and established principles of military strategy 
 which have been the objects of the study of the world's 
 great captains since their day. It was such soldier- 
 statesmen as these that first acquired empire, and then 
 placed it upon stable foundations. 
 
 Closely linked with Rome's military prowess, as an 
 
 3 The effect 
 
 element of progress, was her mighty "swing of con- of conquest, 
 quest." This has a powerful effect whether considered 
 subjectively or objectively. On the one hand, the con- 
 sciousness of power begotten of long success produces 
 a belief in one' sown invincibility which compels victory ; 
 while, on the other hand, the very name and reputation 
 of success serve as an advance guard which subdues 
 enemies without a blow. So it was with Rome. The 
 consciousness of power nerved her arm to the blows of 
 battle, and the prestige of the Roman name not infre- 
 quently obviated the necessity of battle and won her 
 bloodless victories. 
 
 But not war and government alone, but letters also 
 had an important part in Rome's development. Her iftera^retet 
 first contact with Greece, which came early in the of Rom P e nient 
 advance of her conquest, started a train of Hellenizing 
 influence in Roman society which never ceased. 
 Though much more slowly and imperceptibly, still none 
 the less surely and completely did Greece master her 
 conqueror. In all matters pertaining to literature, 
 philosophy, and the arts, she was the acknowledged 
 leader. Roman poetic form was fashioned upon her 
 faultless meters ; Roman drama followed her plots ; 
 Roman oratory was based upon her models ; Roman
 
 xvi Introduction. 
 
 philosophy was but a recapitulation of her wisdom. But 
 letters, even if exotic, found in Italy congenial soil. In 
 the interval of battling for existence and conquest that 
 followed her long struggles with Carthage, Rome found 
 time to think of finer things ; and in this interval old 
 Ennius sang the annals of Rome's greatness ; while the 
 rude farces that had entertained the populace gave way 
 to Latin versions of the Greek comedians. From these 
 beginnings Roman letters grew in polish, dignity, and 
 grace, until the climax was reached in the full burst of 
 The Augus- Roman song in the golden period of the Augustan Age. 
 In this age of peace and freedom from distractions of 
 every kind the gentle arts reached their highest devel- 
 opment. Never before were men of letters so honored 
 and fostered by the leaders of the state ; never before 
 had there been such inspiration for the poetic fancy as 
 was now furnished by the power and glory and the ever- 
 increasing beauty of Rome. 
 
 And yet Rome fell. Notwithstanding the slow and 
 safely conservative nature of her growth, which should 
 have given strength even to colossal size ; in spite 
 of those sterling elements in the Roman character 
 which should have insured a sound national heart ; 
 in spite of that progressive spirit which caught and 
 assimilated all elements of good from every source ; 
 Rome's do- in spite of that genius for government which set itself 
 t i d'ecay estined the task of organizing the whole world into one mighty 
 state, and almost realized the superb dream of unifying 
 all mankind ; in spite of a military organization embed- 
 ded in the very foundations of the state, whose legions 
 were the most perfect weapons of warfare that the world 
 had known ; in spite of that generous aesthetic develop- 
 ment which refined and glorified this material strength 
 and splendor ; in spite of all this, Rome fell. Not all
 
 Introduction. xvii 
 
 at once, for no nation ever fell in one abrupt ruin, but 
 in a ruin no less complete because gradual, extending 
 over centuries of time. While she was still in the 
 height of her glory there were already plainly discern- 
 ible those elements of disintegration which were des- 
 tined to undermine her power and parcel out her vast 
 domain among the nations of the earth. 
 
 What were these elements of decay ? They are to be 
 found chiefly in the perversions of the very elements pfdeca^foo 
 which fed her strength. Because of the greatness and "km o/th e 
 splendor of Rome vast numbers of citizens were attracted Itrength. 
 from the farms and towns of Italy, where had been bred 
 the strong bone and sinew of the state. Here in the city, 
 vast numbers were pauperized by the largesses of food 
 aud public entertainment furnished by the state, and 
 grew into an ever-increasing menace to the moral health 
 of the body politic. The national spirit of acquisition 
 inevitably bred a spirit of greed in individuals, and all 
 society became absorbed in the pursuit of wealth. 
 Wealth poured in in vast streams, to be followed by 
 ever-increasing luxury. Great tracts of land were now 
 diverted from useful to ornamental purposes. Small 
 farms were replaced by great estates, and the entire 
 class of farmers, the sturdy peasantry of older Rome, 
 disappeared. While from Greece came the refining and 
 elevating influences of literature and art, there came in 
 the train of these many elements of moral degradation. 
 The simple old national religion of Rome, comparatively 
 spiritual and pure, was invaded and superseded by the 
 debasing divinities that held their court on Mt. Olym- 
 pus, and by the still more bestial gods of Egypt and the 
 Orient. Meanwhile, as Rome became more cosmopoli- 
 tan, simpler fashions of life were replaced by elegance 
 and luxury, the enervating influences of which struck at
 
 xviii Introduction. 
 
 the home, the very heart of society. Governors were 
 not exempt from the national greed of gain, and pil- 
 laged the provinces which they were set to govern until 
 the name of Rome became a synonym for oppression 
 and an object of hate. The very armies were no longer 
 composed of citizen soldiers, but of aliens, who fought, 
 not for fatherland but for their daily wage. Ambitious 
 leaders struggled for the mastery and no blood or 
 treasure was sacred that stood in the way of their suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Such is the background for the study of Roman man- 
 The relation of ners at the end of the first century of the Christian era, 
 
 private life of 
 
 citizens to the a picture with its high lights of strength and growth, and 
 state. with its dark shades of weakness and decay. In a study 
 
 of the national structure, it is difficult to realize that the 
 state was built of men, and that these men had all the 
 ordinary human interests that absorb so large a part of 
 life in the present day. The ensuing chapters will assist 
 in this realization as they describe the every-day life of 
 the people. Such a study as the following chapters 
 contain will be of value not only as it increases the 
 reader's store of facts, but chiefly as it leads to a 
 clearer comprehension of the fact that all history is the 
 history of men, and that the life of a state is the com- 
 posite of the lives of all its citizens. 
 
 FRANK J. MILLER. 
 The University of Chicago, 
 June /, 1897.
 
 ROMAN LIFE IN PLINY'S TIME. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 THE age of the Antonines was characterized by a 
 
 ' The age of 
 
 number of transformations in the manners of the Ro- the Antonines. 
 mans. One of the most interesting of these was that 
 which took place in the attitude of fathers toward their 
 children. This might almost be compared with the 
 domestic revolution upon which M. Legouve" remarks 
 in his studies on education in the nineteenth century. 
 
 Children [says he] occupy to-day a much more important 
 position in the family. Their parents live more with them ; 
 they live more for them ; they attend more to their health, 
 watch more over their education, think more about their well- 
 being, listen more to their opinions. The children have almost 
 become the principal personages of the house ; and a witty man 
 expressed the spirit of this fact in a single phrase, when he said, 
 "Their highnesses the children " (Messieurs les enfants}. 
 
 If some moralist, contemporary of Trajan or of 
 Marcus Aurelius, had had the leisure and the desire to 
 study the domestic life of a Roman family, he would 
 have been struck by a very similar change. At Rome A f ather . s 
 the rights of a father of a family over his children were ft s w c "id r r en. 
 unlimited. The new-born child was laid at his feet. If 
 he wished to recognize it, he stooped and took it in 
 his arms. If he turned away from it, the child was 
 carried out of the house and exposed in the street. 
 When it did not die of hunger and cold, it belonged to 
 any one who was willing to burden himself with it, and 
 
 19
 
 2o Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 became his slave. The father always held over his son 
 the right of life and death. Doubtless but few used 
 this terrible right. We know, however, that Augustus, 
 suspecting his daughter Julia of adultery, did not hesi- 
 
 Seneca's view, tate to have her child killed. The philosopher Seneca, 
 who has written so much that is eloquent and noble, 
 finds it very natural, and quite reasonable, that crippled 
 
 Cicero's view, and deformed children should be drowned ; and Cicero, 
 who loved so fondly his dear Tullia, said brutally in the 
 Tusculan disputations : 
 
 If a young child dies, the survivors ought to bear his loss 
 with equanimity ; if an infant in the cradle dies, they ought not 
 even to utter a complaint. 
 
 Under the republic, at the dawn of the empire, there 
 affection for was, as we see, quite an absence of any tender feeling 
 children. f or childhood. It was in vain that Terence had, in 
 
 some of his writings, delightfully expressed and recom- 
 mended this sentiment. 
 
 Manners grew milder under the Antonines. The 
 Favonnus' f philosopher Favorinus, in pathetic language, besought 
 mothers to nurse their own children. 
 
 Is it not [he said to mothers] an outrage against nature, is it 
 not being only half a mother, to reject one's child just after 
 having given it life? Is it consistent to nourish with one's 
 blood, in one's body, some unknown thing, and then to refuse 
 to nourish it with one's milk, when one sees it alive, and when 
 it is a human being ? 
 
 Plutarch, about the same time, wrote a treatise on 
 t p ^hin h S * education. The pages of this book are full of affection 
 for childhood. Care should be taken, according to 
 Plutarch, not to require too much of young children ; 
 they should be refreshed by wholesome recreation, for 
 ' ' rest is the sauce of labor. ' ' The father, who must 
 put the finishing touch upon the education of his son,
 
 Education. 2 1 
 
 should freely exercise indulgence, remembering that the 
 boy is to be won to follow liberal studies by ' ' exhorta- be^ 
 tions and rational motives, and on no account to be by fathers - 
 forced thereto by whipping." This was a precept 
 which the fathers of the time of Plautus did not under- 
 stand, or at any rate practiced but little. They gave 
 their children over to masters, who, when one of their 
 pupils made a mistake in a single 'syllable of his lesson, 
 made "his skin as spotted as his nurse's gown." 
 Good fathers, according to Plutarch, will refrain from 
 such harshness. "They may occasionally," he says, 
 "loosen the reins and allow their children to take 
 some liberties they are inclined to, and again, when it 
 is fit, manage them with a straighter bridle. But 
 chiefly should they bear their errors without passion if 
 it may be." 
 
 If we wish to measure the progress which the Romans 
 had made toward a milder treatment of their children, it Marcus 
 
 Aurelius in his 
 
 will be sufficient to call to mind the family picture of family. 
 Marcus Aurelius, which M. Boissier has drawn for us 
 from the correspondence of Fronto with the emperor. 
 
 However young the children are, their ailments are the 
 anxiety of Marcus Aurelius. How sadly he speaks of the 
 croup from which his daughters are suffering, and the obstinate 
 cough of his "dear little Antoninus"! This charming little 
 brood, as he calls it, occupies him almost as much as the 
 empire. Any one who talks to him about it is sure to please 
 him, and Fronto does not fail, when he writes to him, to send a 
 greeting " to the little ladies," and kisses for "their little fat 
 feet and their pretty little hands." 
 
 This progress was not limited to the family circle ; it 
 
 ' Abandoned 
 
 was strengthened by public institutions. Formerly, children, 
 abandoned children, as we have seen, became the slaves 
 of those who picked them up ; often they were treated 
 with kindness and regarded as adopted children ; but
 
 22 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 The 
 
 comprachicos. 
 
 Trajan's 
 attempt at 
 reform. 
 
 Mistaken 
 kindness 
 toward 
 children. 
 
 Quintilian's 
 complaint. 
 
 often, too, they fell into the hands of horrible traffick- 
 ers, the comprachicos of antiquity, speculators in public 
 misery, who mutilated them in order to make beggars 
 of them. 
 
 Come [cries a rhetorician, addressing one of these wretched 
 dealers in the sufferings of children], bring on all those corpses, 
 which can scarcely drag themselves along ; show us your troop 
 of the blind, the lame, and the famished. Take me into your 
 den ; I wish to see this workshop of human calamities, this 
 morgue of children. 
 
 To Trajan belongs the honor of having been among 
 the first to put a check upon this hideous business. In 
 his correspondence with Pliny we find him interested in 
 organizing public aid for abandoned children, and from 
 his tone in speaking of the importance of this matter, 
 we feel that it lay near to his heart. 
 
 But all progress is necessarily at first accompanied by 
 difficulties and excesses. Tenderness for children was 
 often developed at the expense of the wholesome max- 
 ims which had formerly been observed in the process of 
 their education ; and often affection degenerated into 
 mere compliance with their whims, and proper indul- 
 gence into weakness. The writers of the first century 
 after Christ mourn this enfeeblement of paternal author- 
 ity. In their concert of lamentations, the voice of Quin- 
 tilian is heard the loudest : 
 
 Would that we ourselves did not corrupt the morals of our 
 children ! We enervate their very infancy with luxuries. That 
 delicacy of education, which we call fondness, weakens all the 
 powers both of body and mind. . . . We form the palate 
 of our children before we form their pronunciation. They 
 grow up in sedan-chairs ; if they touch the ground, they hang 
 by the hands of attendants supporting them on each side. 
 
 We are delighted if they utter anything immodest. Ex- 
 pressions which would not be tolerated even from the effemi-
 
 Education. 23 
 
 nate youths of Alexandria, we bear from them with a smile and 
 a kiss. Nor is this wonderful : we have taught them ; they 
 have heard such language from ourselves. They see our mis- 
 tresses, our male objects of affection ; every dining-room rings 
 with impure songs ; things shameful to be told are objects of 
 sight. From such practices springs habit, and afterward 
 nature. The unfortunate children learn their vices before they 
 know that they are vices. 
 
 It is against such excesses that Juvenal wrote his Juvenal's 
 
 J warning. 
 
 Fourteenth Satire : 
 
 So Nature prompts ; drawn by her secret tie, 
 We view a parent's deeds with reverent eye ; 
 With fatal haste, alas ! the example take, 
 And love the sin, for the dear sinner's sake. 
 
 O fatal guides ! this reason should suffice 
 To win you from the slippery route of vice, 
 This powerful reason ; lest your sons pursue 
 The guilty track, thus plainly marked by you ! 
 For youth is facile, and its yielding will 
 Receives, with fatal ease, the imprint of ill. 
 
 Swift from the roof where youth, Fuscinus, dwell, 
 
 Immodest rites, immodest sounds expel ; 
 
 The place is sacred ; far, far hence, remove, 
 
 Ye venal votaries of illicit love ! 
 
 Ye dangerous knaves, who pander to be fed, 
 
 And sell yourselves to infamy for bread ! 
 
 Reverence to children, as to heaven, is due. 
 
 Admirable words ! They express the true principles 
 of early education to love your child, that he may not 
 cease to be lovable and happy, but to respect him also, 
 remembering that to-morrow he will become a man and 
 a citizen. 
 
 It was at this epoch, when questions of education public instruc- 
 were receiving the attention of noble minds, that public tlon ' 
 instruction was first provided for. While in Greece
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Encourage- 
 ment by the 
 emperors. 
 
 Vespasian. 
 
 Hadrian. 
 
 Antoninus 
 Pius. 
 
 Marcus 
 Aurelius. 
 
 Pliny's 
 interest in a 
 public school of 
 his native 
 town. 
 
 legislators had always been active in establishing 
 schools, at Rome the state had taken no responsibil- 
 ity in the matter of education. Polybius and Cicero 
 expressed much surprise at this negligence. But under 
 the Antonines the emperors interested themselves in 
 the establishment of schools. Vespasian was the first 
 to give pay to the Greek and Latin rhetoricians. He 
 allowed Quintilian a salary equivalent to about $5,000 
 in our money. M. Boissier says, in his work entitled 
 "The Religion of the Romans from Augustus to the 
 Antonines" : 
 
 The biographer of Hadrian tells us that this emperor be- 
 stowed honors and riches upon professors in every branch 
 of learning, and that when he found that they were incapable of 
 discharging their duties, he dismissed them from their chairs 
 after having paid them well. He established at Rome, in the 
 capitol itself, a sort of university or academy, called the Ath- 
 enaeum, where people flocked to heaTr the orators and poets of 
 renown. Antoninus Pius granted many privileges to the phi- 
 losophers and rhetoricians of all the provinces, and provided 
 them with salaries. Finally, Marcus Aurelius established and 
 endowed four chairs of philosophy in Athens. Each of the 
 four masters who filled these chairs was to teach the principles 
 of a different school of philosophy, and each master received a 
 salary of 10,000 drachmae [about fi,ooo] from the public 
 treasury. 
 
 This movement at Rome, encouraged by the em- 
 perors, soon extended to the smaller towns. Pliny, 
 who was so much interested in intellectual matters, 
 exerted himself to the utmost to found a public school 
 at Comum, his native town. He did not think it be- 
 neath him, although a renowned man of letters, an 
 illustrious advocate, an official orator, to spend his time 
 seeking teachers for his young fellow-townsmen. What 
 is more, he besought even Tacitus to aid him in his 
 attempts, so keen was the interest which he felt in this
 
 Education. 
 
 enterprise. Moreover, the enthusiasm which he ex- 
 hibited in this undertaking was not of a purely Platonic 
 character, for he contributed money toward the carrying 
 on of the work. 
 
 Now I have no children myself at present [he said to an 
 inhabitant of Comum], and I will willingly contribute to a contribution, 
 design so beneficial to my 
 country, which I look upon 
 in the light of a child, or a 
 parent, a third part of any 
 sum you may think proper 
 to raise for this purpose. I 
 would take upon myself 
 the whole expense, were I 
 not apprehensive of my 
 benefaction being hereafter 
 abused and perverted to 
 private ends, as I have 
 observed to be the case 
 in several places where 
 teachers are engaged at 
 the public expense. The 
 only way of meeting this 
 evil is to leave the choosing 
 of the professors solely in 
 the hands of the parents, 
 whose obligation to make 
 a proper choice will be 
 enforced by the necessity 
 of having to pay toward 
 the professors' salaries. 
 
 Schools thus founded 
 were not open only for 
 those whom fortune had 
 favored with wealth. YOUNG ROMAN BOY. Rome. 
 
 So strong was the con- 
 viction that education is beneficial, that efforts were Assistance for 
 
 students of 
 
 made to help those who, on account of limited means, limited means.
 
 26 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Public or 
 private 
 
 Quintilian's 
 conception of 
 education. 
 
 Nurses. 
 
 The alphabet. 
 
 would otherwise be unable to attend school. Trajan 
 was the first to establish funds to be expended in the 
 education of poor but promising young persons. And 
 Pliny followed at Comum the example which the 
 emperor set in the capital. Student aid funds, we see, 
 are of ancient and illustrious origin. 
 
 From this time the respective advantages of private 
 and of public education were discussed by the thinkers 
 of the day. Quintilian devoted a chapter to this sub- 
 ject, and being in the question both judge and pleader 
 he decided emphatically in favor of public instruction. 
 Many parents, however, wished to keep their children 
 near them ; and such parents often took the greatest 
 pains to cultivate the minds of their sons and to give 
 them all possible advantages for acquiring knowledge. 
 Pliny, as we learn from his letters, was several times 
 commissioned to choose tutors for the children of his 
 friends, and he was much impressed with the serious- 
 ness of his responsibility, and evidently felt honored that 
 parents should trust him with a matter of such grave 
 importance in their eyes. 
 
 What, then, was the nature of this education whose 
 progress had become the object of general attention ? 
 The first books of Quintilian give us valuable infor- 
 mation on this subject. 
 
 Quintilian held that education should begin from the 
 cradle. For this reason he thought that nurses should 
 be cultivated women. But Quintilian, carried away 
 by his subject, is not always free from exaggeration. 
 Doubtless parents thought his advice hard to follow, 
 and probably the instruction of children began at about 
 the age of seven. The alphabet was the first thing 
 to be learned. As long ago as this, care was taken to 
 make study attractive, and the little learner was fur-
 
 Education, 
 
 nished with ornamented ivory letters, which he enjoyed 
 using, and which he regarded as toys. Next came 
 writing. The writing masters, who were as skilful as Writing. 
 those of our day, would place in the hands of their 
 pupils tablets, where, in the wax, grooves were traced 
 to guide the pencil of the beginner. The models set to 
 be copied were chosen with care, and contained maxims 
 of morality 
 rather than idle 
 phrases. When 
 these first steps 
 were accom- 
 plished, the 
 child was passed 
 on to the gram- 
 marians. It 
 seems that the 
 study of gram- 
 mar, which we 
 so justly regard, 
 as important, 
 was not held in 
 very high es- 
 teem by the 
 Romans of this 
 time. This may 
 probably be accounted 
 
 the subject was then taught. For, if we 
 Quintilian, the instruction given in grammar was not 
 free from pedantry and was characterized by much 
 subtlety. As soon as the child understood the art of 
 speaking correctly and knew how to explain the poets 
 (these were the two results which the study of grammar 
 sought) , he was taught the principles of reading aloud, Reading aloud. 
 
 Grammar. 
 
 Bov FISHING. Museum of Naples. 
 
 for by the manner in which 
 may trust
 
 28 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Rhetoric, 
 philosophy, 
 and music. 
 
 Object of the 
 
 Roman 
 
 education. 
 
 by which, says Quintilian, "a boy may know when to 
 take breath, where to divide a verse, where the sense is 
 concluded, where it begins, when the voice is to be 
 raised or lowered, what is to be uttered with any 
 particular inflection of sound, or what is to be pro- 
 nounced with greater slowness or rapidity, with greater 
 animation or gentleness than other passages. ' ' 
 
 So the principles in the art of reading aloud which 
 M. Legouve 1 teaches were taught long ago in the 
 Roman schools. 
 
 When the child becomes a youth, more advanced 
 studies are entered upon philosophy, music, and rhet- 
 oric, which comprises oratory. Quintilian holds that 
 these three branches should be carried on simultane- 
 ously : 
 
 Ought we to attend to the teacher of grammar only, and 
 then to the teacher of geometry only, and cease to think, 
 during the second course, of what we learned in the first? 
 Should we then transfer ourselves to the musician, our pre- 
 vious studies being still allowed to escape us ? . . . Why, 
 then, do we not give similar counsel to husbandmen, that they 
 should not cultivate at the same time their fields and their 
 vineyards, their olives and other trees, and that they should 
 not bestow attention at once on their meadows, their cattle, 
 their gardens, and their beehives ? 
 
 But do not be misled by this variety of subjects into 
 supposing that the Roman schools, like ours, prepared 
 men to be specialists, that they turned out geometri- 
 cians or musicians. No, these various sciences were 
 taught only for the sake of the more perfect acquisition 
 of the art which crowned them all the art of oratory. 
 
 Although the empire had succeeded in quieting the 
 forum, and in excluding eloquence from the domain of 
 politics, the art of public speaking continued to be 
 cultivated as much as ever at Rome. This was due to
 
 Education. 29 
 
 the influence of tradition and to inherited taste. Under 
 the republic, when eloquence was the gate to every ^fn?n iC unde 
 sphere of distinction, the young Romans trained them- the republic, 
 selves in oratory by listening, at the forum, day after 
 day, to some important politician or some illustrious 
 advocate, and they completed their preparation in the 
 privacy of their own houses, by an exercise called 
 declamation. They would invent, for instance, a diffi- 
 cult law case, or perhaps imagine some political ques- 
 tion, worthy of exciting the passion of an assembly, 
 and alone, in the quiet of a secluded study, they would 
 seek for ingenious arguments or stirring appeals. 
 
 But under the empire the public square became silent, 
 the debates of the court dwindled into insignificance. 
 No matter ; the young men continued to prepare them- 
 selves for struggles which could no longer exist, and 
 declamation, which formerly was only a means, became Declamation 
 
 3 J under the 
 
 an end in itself. What seems surprising at first thought empire, 
 is that political subjects were most eagerly selected for 
 treatment, and seemed most attractive to the rhetorical 
 professors of the day as exercises for their pupils. Ju- 
 venal, at forty years of age, was perhaps still, with a 
 great array of antitheses and apostrophes, advising 
 Sully to lay down his power ; tyrants long ago pros- 
 trate were being executed by entire classes of students 
 in speeches as brilliant as harmless. Men were glad to 
 revive from the past occasions for expressing the senti- 
 ments which they were forced to stifle in regard to the 
 present. They found this a certain relief in the extreme 
 servitude to which they felt themselves subjected by 
 some of the emperors. And the rulers themselves un- 
 derstood, without doubt, that it was for their own 
 advantage to allow the young men to spend thus their 
 noble impetuosity ; for we find no example of a school
 
 30 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 of oratory being closed, or the professors persecuted by 
 governmental authority. The princes thought that 
 practical experience would impress its own lesson upon 
 these heated imaginations, and that life, in teaching 
 these great scholars to endure life, would cool their 
 ardor for things long past and their noble rage over 
 forgotten wrongs. Skeptics, moreover, were not want- 
 criticisms ing to laugh at these oratorical triumphs won in the ob- 
 
 passed upon o o r 
 
 schoolroom scurity of the classroom, to make fun of these college 
 
 drill in oratory. 
 
 conspirators, and to point out the artificial and puerile 
 character of these impromptu speeches, which required 
 fifteen days of preparation, of these orations which were 
 supposed to be addressed to a nation, but which had for 
 hearers only beardless youths and a poor stick of a 
 pedant. 
 
 What madmen [said Petronius] are these declaimers, who 
 cry out, "These wounds I received in defense of the public 
 liberty. This eye was lost in your service ! Give me some 
 helpful hand to lead me to my children, for my severed hams 
 can no longer support me." In my opinion, the reason why 
 young people are made such blockheads in the schools is that 
 they neither hear nor see any of those things which belong 
 to the common usage of life. 
 
 The criticism is keen and discriminating. But after 
 all, if these students and their teachers were wrong 
 sometimes in living aloof from the spirit of their age, 
 they were often right in so doing. 
 
 "In studying antiquity," said Livy, "my soul be- 
 comes ancient. ' ' So with some of these professors and 
 learners the imaginary resurrection of the past en- 
 riched their minds. Pliny speaks of a certain Isaeus, 
 who all his life had been a rhetorician, adding : 
 
 I know no class of men more single-hearted, more genuine, 
 more excellent than this class.
 
 Education. 31 
 
 Marcus Aurelius wrote to Fronto : 
 
 Fronto's influ- 
 
 I send you my decree of to-day, and my reflection of yester- ence over Mar- 
 day. But [he said to him also] you do not cease to set me cus Aurellus - 
 in the way of truth, and to open my eyes. You teach me what 
 envy, duplicity, and hypocrisy may lurk in a tyrant's heart, and 
 how many great lords have never experienced sentiments of 
 affection. 
 
 Fronto all his life corresponded with the emperor, 
 who always heeded his counsels, and often even asked 
 for them. It might truly be said that Fronto exercised 
 an influence over the spirit and the character of the best 
 ruler which the empire had known. Was not that 
 a beautiful triumph for a professor of rhetoric ? 
 
 The study of rhetoric or oratory, which crowned and Oratory an 
 
 outlet for 
 
 completed the education of a young Roman, had, we sentiments of 
 
 J . independence. 
 
 must own, more than one ridiculous aspect. But it had 
 
 also its redeeming advantages, since it furnished an 
 
 opportunity for expressing the claims of justice and 
 
 for declaring rights too often scorned. Unfortunately, 
 
 most young men, after entering into life, took at once 
 
 the humorous view of their drill in oratory and lost 
 
 sight of the considerations that made the ridiculous 
 
 aspects of their study excusable, and even touching. 
 
 Some, Persius for instance, placed themselves under 
 
 the guidance of a philosopher, who developed in their g U P d h a i | 1 c s e opher ' s 
 
 souls the first germs of a high morality. In his Fifth 
 
 Satire Persius tells us : 
 
 When first I laid the purple by, and free, 
 
 Yet trembling at my new-felt liberty, " * 
 
 Approached the hearth, and on the Lares hung 
 
 The bulla, from my willing neck unstrung ; 
 
 When gay associates, sporting at my side, 
 
 And the. white boss, displayed with conscious pride, 
 
 Gave me, unchecked, the haunts of vice to trace, 
 
 And throw my wandering eyes on every face ;
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 Cornutus. 
 
 The low 
 morality of 
 Roman youths. 
 
 The influence 
 of society. 
 
 When life's perplexing maze before me lay, 
 And error, heedless of the better way, 
 To straggling paths, far from the route of truth, 
 Woo'd, with blind confidence, my timorous youth, 
 I fled to you, Cornutus, pleased to rest 
 My hopes and fears on your Socratic breast, 
 Nor did you, gentle sage, the charge decline ; 
 Then, dextrous to beguile, your steady line 
 Reclaimed, I know not by what winning force, 
 My morals, warped from virtue's straighter course ; 
 While reason pressed incumbent on my soul, 
 That struggled to receive the strong control, 
 And took, like wax, tempered by plastic skill, 
 The form your hand imposed, and bears it still ! 
 
 Very few, however, after escaping from rhetoric, 
 found the refuge and the harbor of philosophy. These 
 young people of seventeen years, who, at the festival of 
 the Liberalia, had deposited before the Lares of their 
 homes the emblems of childhood, the toga prcetexta, 
 and the bulla worn about the neck, who had put on the 
 straight tunic and the toga virilis, who had been con- 
 ducted by parent or guardian to the record-office of the 
 capitol to be enrolled upon the list of citizens these 
 youths, so suddenly transformed into men, did not 
 dream of being frightened at their new liberty and of 
 committing it into the hands of a Cornutus. " Life's 
 perplexing maze," which lay before the poet Persius, 
 did not long perplex the majority of the Roman youths. 
 Is there any need of stating what course they chose ? 
 Their goal was languid pleasure, riches speedily ac- 
 quired, and power easily won. But must we conclude 
 that this choice was the fruit of the education which they 
 had received from their teachers ? Was it not rather due 
 to the influence of the society into which the youths en- 
 tered ? What of the family example, that powerful and 
 decisive example, the thought of which inspired Juvenal
 
 Education. 33 
 
 with one of his finest satires should this count for 
 nothing ? 
 
 After a careful consideration, we have formed the 
 opinion that even in the time of the Antonines, when Moral tenden- 
 
 ' cies under the 
 
 there was an interruption in the decadence of Roman Antonines. 
 society, the underlying tendencies were more powerful 
 than the outward attempts at morality ; that many a 
 father, while his son was a child, adopted measures to 
 make a good man out of him, but afterward, by his 
 conduct and his counsels, killed the germs which he 
 had previously tried to nourish. And, in short, it 
 seems to us that although suitable instructors were 
 provided for the child, for the youth there were no 
 guides, because his natural educators abandoned their 
 duty. 
 
 We have attempted to follow the Roman boy up to IT 
 
 * r Unsatisfactory 
 
 his entrance into life. It is not so easy to present a information in 
 
 J regard to a 
 
 picture of the early years of the girl who is to become s irl ' s earl y Hfe - 
 one day his companion. The information which the 
 ancient writers have left us concerning women is scanty 
 and far from satisfactory. Let us try, however, to make 
 the most of it. 
 
 A girl has just been born. The anxiety of the mother Her i n f ancy . 
 is expressed by a thousand precautions, a thousand 
 superstitious practices. Amulets are hung about the 
 neck of the child, to preserve her from accidents and 
 from suffering. Prayers are offered in the temples to 
 the gods, that the child may -be blessed with beauty. 
 When intelligence begins to dawn in her young mind, 
 her nurse or governess is at hand to narrate to her 
 those marvelous stories which, from the earliest times, 
 have fascinated and terrified children stories about 
 ghosts and specters, about the Lamiae, the Gorgon, 
 hobgoblins, and about Gelo, the witch, the kidnapper
 
 34 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Her manual 
 training. 
 
 Her 
 
 intellectual 
 
 education. 
 
 of children, known at Lesbos from the time of Sappho. 
 Soon it becomes necessary to arrange for the educa- 
 tion of the little girl. The first thing is to teach her to 
 perform the duties belonging to her sex especially to 
 weave and to spin. These manual employments con- 
 stituted an essen- 
 tial part of every 
 good education, 
 even in the most 
 aristocratic fami- 
 lies. We learn 
 from Suetonius 
 that Augustus 
 wore no clothes 
 except those 
 made by the 
 women of his 
 family his 
 daughters, his 
 g r a nddaughters, 
 his wife, or his- 
 sister. The in- 
 scriptions upon 
 the tombs of the 
 high-born ladies 
 of the empire 
 rarely fail to 
 record among 
 their merits that they could spin wool. As for mental 
 culture, the young girls of middle rank received it in 
 the public schools, in company with the boys. Martial 
 tells us of a teacher who is the terror of his pupils 
 of both sexes. The French revolutionists, who were 
 full of the spirit of classic antiquity, remembered, no- 
 
 A POMPEIIAN COURT. 
 From a painting by L. Bazzani.
 
 Education. 35 
 
 doubt, this method of coeducation which the Romans 
 practiced. Condorcet, in the proposal which he pre- 
 sented to the Legislative Assembly for the organization 
 of a national system of education, suggested that boys 
 .and girls should be taught the same things together in 
 the same schools. 
 
 At Rome the mental training of the women consisted 
 especially in the reading of the poets, in the study of 
 music, and in dancing lessons, or training in poise and Girls are pre- 
 
 f or- pared for social 
 
 carriage, such as is given to-day in boarding-schools for H fe. 
 young ladies. The families of rank were not satisfied 
 with this. From the end of the republic, as we shall 
 show later, women occupied an important place in the 
 social world. They had obtained for themselves an 
 influence which, under the empire, was felt sometimes 
 in politics. It was natural, then, that a mother should 
 aspire to make her daughter one of those persons, 
 distinguished for their brilliancy, who establish the tone 
 in social circles, and who sometimes issue commands to 
 the world. So patrician girls, brought up at home, 
 often received a very complete education. This fact 
 may be inferred from the following letter of Pliny : 
 
 I write this to you in the deepest sorrow. The youngest The daughter 
 -daughter of my friend Fundanus is dead ! I have never seen ofFundanus. 
 a more cheerful and more lovable girl, or one who better 
 deserved to have enjoyed a long, I had almost said an im- 
 mortal, life ! She was scarcely fourteen, and yet there was in 
 her a wisdom far beyond her years, a matronly gravity united 
 with girlish sweetness and virgin bashfulness. With what an 
 -endearing fondness did she hang on her father's neck ! How 
 affectionately and modestly she used to greet us, his friends ! 
 With what a tender and deferential regard she used to treat 
 her nurses, tutors, teachers, each in their respective offices ! 
 What an eager, industrious, intelligent reader she was ! She 
 took few amusements, and those with caution. How self- 
 controlled, how patient, how brave she was, under her last
 
 36 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 illness ! She complied with all the directions of her physi- 
 cians ; she spoke cheerful, comforting words to her sister and 
 her father ; and when all her bodily strength was exhausted, 
 the vigor of her mind sustained her. That indeed continued 
 even to her last moments, unbroken by the pain of a long 
 illness or the terrors of approaching death ; and it is a reflec- 
 tion which makes us miss her, and grieve that she has gone 
 from us, the more. 
 
 A fortunate disposition could not have availed to 
 give so many good qualities to a young girl who was 
 almost a child. We must agree that only an excellent 
 education, added to natural tendencies, could have 
 rendered a person so accomplished. Moreover, a 
 Roman youth, finding in the daughter of Fundanus so 
 many attractions joined to such intellect and virtue, was 
 on the point of making her his wife. The Roman 
 girls, in fact, completed their education at about the 
 age of fourteen, when they were ready for marriage. 
 
 We shall next speak of their condition after leaving 
 the paternal home to enter the home of a husband.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WOMEN AND MARRIAGE. 
 
 AMONG the Romans sentiment had no place in the Lack of 
 
 r TM i 11- sentiment in 
 
 arrangement or a marriage, ihe excessively delicate regard to 
 and refined Madelon would have been ill contented 
 with the management of love affairs in Rome. 
 
 The idea [exclaims Madelon, in Moliere's play, " Les 
 Pre'cieuses Ridicules"] of coming pointblank to conjugal 
 union, of only making love in making the marriage contract, 
 of jumping to the end of the romance at once ! I tell you, 
 father, there can be nothing more tradesmanlike than such a 
 proceeding. The very thought of such a thing makes me sick. 
 
 But the Roman maidens were not over-refined, and 
 they did not require, like Madelon, that their future 
 husbands should ' ' know how to utter sentiments that 
 were sweet, tender, and passionate. ' ' 
 
 Under the republic people married for the sake of 
 having children. Parents usually had a good many, 
 and were probably happy. Under the empire the object 
 of marriage was different. Then people entered into 
 matrimony because they wished to establish a house, to 
 have a recognized position, to settle down in life. The 
 choice of a husband or of a wife was determined solely 
 by considerations of convenience, of rank, and of for- 
 tune. There was in all this nothing romantic, and the 
 novelists and ballad-makers, whose business it is to 
 marry the lover and the innocent girl, in spite of the op- 
 position of a savage father and the plots of an odious 
 rival, would have been reduced to silence at Rome. 
 
 37
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 The marriage- 
 able age. 
 
 Parents are 
 the match- 
 makers. 
 
 Ulpjan's 
 testimony. 
 
 The early age at which girls were married did not 
 allow them time to have a preference. They were too 
 young to choose. Law fixed the marriageable age 
 at twelve years, and custom made it fourteen. When a 
 girl passed her nineteenth year she was no longer con- 
 sidered, under ordinary circumstances, eligible for 
 marriage. Parents, we see, were the ones to arrange 
 
 for the marriage of a 
 daughter. It was their 
 place to pick out her 
 future husband, usually 
 a man of at least thirty 
 years. We know of no 
 examples of resistance to 
 the paternal will. And 
 law confirmed the 
 proverb ' ' Silence gives 
 consent. ' ' 
 
 ' ' The daughter, ' ' said 
 Ulpian, a celebrated 
 Roman jurist, ' ' who does 
 not object, is regarded 
 as consenting." And he 
 adds, "She has, more- 
 over, no right to resist 
 her father, unless he tries 
 to give her a dishonored 
 or deformed husband. ' ' 
 In this delicate matter, what motives influenced the 
 parents ? What qualities did they seek in a son-in-law? 
 Pliny shall tell us. His friend, Junius Mauricus, had re- 
 quested him to suggest a suitable match for the daughter 
 of a brother, Rusticus Arulenus. Let us see how Pliny 
 performs his commission : 
 
 FAUSTINA, WIFE OF MARCUS 
 
 AURELIUS. 
 Museum of Naples.
 
 Women and Marriage. 39 
 
 You desire me to look out a proper husband for your niece. A desirable 
 . . . I should be long in determining a choice were I not 
 acquainted with Minucius Acilianus, who seems formed for our 
 purpose. . . . He is a native of Brixia, one of those prov- 
 inces in Italy which still retain much of the old modesty, frugal 
 simplicity, and even rusticity of manner. He is the son of 
 Minucius Macrinus, whose humble desires were satisfied with Ancestry, 
 standing at the head of the equestrian order ; for though he 
 was nominated by Vespasian in the number of those whom 
 that prince dignified with the praetorian office, yet, with an in- 
 flexible greatness of mind, he resolutely preferred an honorable 
 repose to the ambitions, shall I call them, or exalted pursuits 
 in which we public men are engaged. His grandmother on his 
 mother's side is Serrana Procula, of Patavium ; you are no 
 stranger to the character of its citizens ; yet Serrana is looked 
 upon, even among these correct people, as an exemplary 
 instance of strict virtue. ... In short, you will find nothing 
 throughout his family unworthy of yours. Minucius himself Character. 
 has plenty of vivacity, as well as application, together with 
 a most amiable and becoming modesty. He has already, with 
 considerable credit, passed through the offices of quaestor, trib- 
 une, and praetor ; so that you will be spared the trouble of 
 soliciting for him those honorable employments. He has a fine, p ersona i 
 well-bred countenance, with a ruddy, healthy complexion, appearance, 
 while his whole person is elegant and comely, and his mien 
 graceful and senatorian advantages, I think, by no means to 
 be slighted, and which I consider as the proper tribute to 
 virgin innocence. I think I may add that his father is very rich. 
 When I contemplate the character of those who require 
 a husband of my choosing, I know it is unnecessary to 
 mention wealth ; but when I reflect upon the prevailing Wealth - 
 manners of the age, and even the laws of Rome, which rank 
 a man according to his possessions, it certainly claims some 
 regard ; and, indeed, in establishments of this nature, where 
 children and many other circumstances are to be duly 
 weighed, it is an article that well deserves to be taken into 
 the account. 
 
 Good moral character, noble family, a career bril- 
 liantly commenced, attractive personality, large fortune 
 all these qualifications, according to Pliny, were
 
 40 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 united in Minucius Acilianus. He was a suitor that 
 could be recommended without hesitation, and the 
 daughter of Rusticus Arulenus would have been hard 
 to please if she had not liked him. Doubtless many 
 young girls had to put up with less ; doubtless many 
 families did not find, nor perhaps even seek, sons-in-law 
 as accomplished as Minucius Acilianus. But we have 
 attempted to speak only of the aristocracy. For we 
 have scarcely any information in regard to the domestic 
 life of the lower classes. 
 
 What we know of the education of girls indicates the 
 Advantage of intellectual and moral qualities desired in them by those 
 
 beauty to a . . . . 
 
 girl. who sought them in marriage. It is evident that beauty 
 
 was one of the chief attractions to a suitor, since, ac- 
 cording to Juvenal, it was the first thing a mother 
 desired for her child. 
 
 When'er the fane of Venus meets her eye, 
 
 The anxious mother breathes a secret sigh 
 
 For handsome boys ; but asks, with bolder prayer, 
 
 That all her girls be exquisitely fair. 
 
 Nor did a mother neglect to set off a daughter's 
 
 Health sacri- 
 ficed to beauty, beauty by every art in her power. If a daughter was a 
 
 coquette the mother would help her to make her form 
 more slender and to dress as becoming as possible. 
 From the time of Terence great value was set upon 
 beauty, and even the health of a girl was exposed for its 
 sake. 
 
 The girl isn't like our girls [says a character in Terence's 
 " Eunuch"], whom their mothers are anxious to have with 
 shoulders kept down and chests well girthed, that they may 
 be slender. If one is a little inclined to plumpness, they 
 declare that she's training for a boxer, and stint her food ; 
 although their constitutions are good, by their treatment they 
 make them as slight as bulrushes.
 
 Women and Marriage. 41 
 
 But the most important equipment for a girl was her 
 dowry. The Romans were a people above everything i mportanceo f a 
 else practical, and they had very little disinterestedness. dowf y- 
 When Lucretius, that admirable poet whose thought is 
 so high and noble, counsels young men to avoid illicit 
 love, to what motive does he appeal ? He touches 
 lightly upon the dangers of those sad passions, suggest- 
 ing that they ruin the health, degrade the mind, and 
 destroy self-respect, but he dwells with special emphasis 
 upon the fact that young men waste their fortunes 
 by self-indulgence. 
 
 And all the wealth their good sires toiled to gain 
 
 Changes to head-gear, and rich anadem, 
 And Cean robes with trailing sweep of train, 
 
 And feasts, and goblets thick with many a gem. 
 
 A young man of serious mind avoided expensive 
 women ; but that was not all he sought women who 
 might bring him wealth. In the time of the ancient 
 virtues, there was a tendency in this direction. Even 
 then, the dowry took the place of beauty, of youth, of 
 birth, or of honor itself. "If only she has a dowry," 
 says one of Plautus's characters, " she has no vice." 
 
 In the refined and corrupt civilization of the first two 
 centuries of the empire, considerations of self-interest, it 
 is easy to believe, were no less powerful. Girls without 
 dowry frightened away eligible young men. Pliny 
 was not ignorant of this when he generously made a 
 present of fifty thousand sesterces (about $2,125) to Pliny's gift to 
 his friend Quintilian's daughter. The following is the daughter, 
 letter which accompanied the gift : 
 
 Though your desires, I know, are extremely moderate, and 
 though you have brought up your daughter as became a 
 daughter of yours and the granddaughter of Tutilius, yet as 
 she is going to be married to a person of such distinction as
 
 4 2 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' 's Time. 
 
 Letter from 
 Pliny to 
 Quintilian. 
 
 The betrothal. 
 
 Nonius Celer, whose civil employment necessarily imposes 
 upon him a certain style of living, her wardrobe and estab- 
 lishment should be enlarged according to the rank of her 
 husband ; circumstances which, though they do not augment 
 our real dignity, yet certainly adorn and grace it. But as I am 
 sensible the wealth of your revenue is not equal to the wealth 
 of your mind, I claim to myself a part of your expense, and, 
 
 RELIEF* REPRESENTING A SACRIFICE. 
 
 like another father, present our young lady with fifty thousand 
 sesterces. The sum should be larger but that I am well per- 
 suaded the smallness of the present is the only consideration 
 that can prevail with your modesty not to refuse it. 
 
 Fortunate daughter of Quintilian ! Many girls had 
 no such windfalls, and not being marketable, as Plau- 
 tus's miser would say, were doomed to maidenhood. 
 
 When the two families agreed, the young people 
 were betrothed. The occasion of a betrothal was 
 celebrated with much pomp. All the friends received 
 invitations, which etiquette required them to accept. 
 The young man made several presents to his fiancee,
 
 Women and Marriage, 43 
 
 and among other things he gave her an iron ring as a 
 pledge of his fidelity. But this ceremony led to no 
 change in the relation between the two young people. 
 Their engagement gave them no right to seek to be- 
 come better acquainted with each other. For what we 
 call " courting " was an unknown thing among the Ro- "Courting" 
 
 unknown. 
 
 mans. It was a long time before any one was surprised 
 that two beings, who were to bind themselves to live 
 a common life together, should do so when they were 
 strangers to each other. It was only under the influence 
 of Christianity that this thing was considered strange. 
 
 Before a man buys an ox, a horse, a slave [said Saint Je- 
 rome], he tests them; but his future wife he is not even allowed 
 to see, for fear that she may displease him before the marriage. 
 
 The spiritual director of the Roman ladies of the 
 fourth century, when he said that, failed in courtesy 
 toward the fair sex. 
 
 The ceremony of betrothal over, it was time to think Preparations 
 
 r i 11- r- ^ 1 i r 1 i for marriage. 
 
 of the wedding outfit. Custom made it the father s 
 place to purchase jewels and provide the trousseau for 
 his daughter. He also selected the servants who 
 should follow the young wife into her new dwelling. 
 When all these preparations were over, he had the 
 pleasure of seeing his daughter dedicate her doll and 
 her other toys to the divinities which had protected her 
 childhood. Then came the wedding day. 
 
 Early in the morning the houses of the betrothed were The wedding, 
 decorated. The throng of friends and relations filled 
 the atrium of the bride's house. This room was 
 brilliantly lighted and trimmed with green branches. 
 The recesses in the wall were thrown open to display 
 the images of the family ancestors. Soon the bride ap- 
 peared. On her head she wore a flame-colored veil, 
 flowing at the back and at the sides, so that only her
 
 44 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 face showed. A girdle with a jasper buckle encircled 
 !ttire ride ' s her wa i st - Precious stones sparkled in her hair, and 
 she wore about her throat a necklace of gold, and pearls 
 in her ears. When the ten required witnesses had 
 placed their signatures below the contract, a matron 
 chosen for the purpose led the bride up to the bride- 
 groom and joined their right hands. The couple then 
 offered a sacrifice upon the family altar, after which, 
 conducted in festal procession, they set out for their 
 new home. They had to pass through a crowd who 
 were mingling cheers with the music of flutes and with 
 gay songs, and who did not disperse until they had 
 seen the bridegroom lift the bride over the threshold of 
 her new dwelling. It was thus that the husband sym- 
 bolized his right of possession. Finally, the festivities 
 were ended by a feast given in the husband's house, 
 when husband and wife sat side by side. We have 
 reason to believe that much money was lavished upon 
 this repast, for Augustus sought to limit by law the ex- 
 penditures upon such occasions. Moreover, when a 
 Origin of the couple wished to avoid this showy entertainment, they 
 
 wedding tour. , . . ,. . 
 
 went to get married in some country house. Ims was 
 the course that Apuleius adopted when he married 
 Pudentilla. 
 
 We wished [said he] to escape from the eager crowd, who 
 would have claimed our hospitality, . . . and to avoid also 
 those numerous and wearisome feasts which custom imposes 
 almost always upon a newly married couple. 
 
 Here we find the origin of the wedding tour, and 
 although this beginning of married life is sometimes 
 condemned on grounds of health, it will never lose 
 its charm until young married people shall cease to wish 
 for solitude so favorable to intimacy and love. 
 
 Roman law at first was very severe for the wife.
 
 Women and Marriage. 
 
 45 
 
 Our ancestors [said Livy] required that women, even in Thecondition 
 their private affairs, should always be under the guardianship 
 of some man father, brother, or husband. 
 
 But custom was less rigorous than law. From the 
 earliest period in Roman history the wife, enthroned 
 near the family hearth, was queen in the atrium. Gide, 
 in his study upon the condition of the wife, says : 
 
 The atrium was not, like the gynseceum in a Greek house, a 
 secluded apartment, an upper floor, a hidden and inaccessible 
 retreat. It was the very center of the Roman house, the com- 
 mon hall where the whole family assembled, where friends and 
 
 LUCRETIA AND HER MAIDS. From a painting by J. Coomans. 
 
 strangers were received. There near the hearth was the altar 
 of the Lares, and around this sanctuary were gathered all the 
 most precious and sacred possessions of the family, the nuptial 
 bed, the images of the ancestors, the web and spindle of the 
 mother, the chest containing the family records and the money. 
 All these treasures were placed under the guard of the wife. 
 She, as head of the family, offered herself the sacrifices to the 
 Lares. She presided over the domestic labors of the slaves. 
 She directed the education of the children, who even after they 
 
 The family 
 hearth.
 
 46 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 passed out of childhood continued to submit to her authority. 
 In short, she shared with her husband the administration of 
 the property and the rule of the house. 
 
 We see that from very early times the wife, who 
 The freedom legally was in wardship, was in fact emancipated. She 
 obtained still greater independence under the empire, 
 through important modifications in the laws, which no 
 longer secured to the husband his former power over his 
 wife. It ceased to be true that ' ' the personality of the 
 wife was absorbed by the husband, and that all her 
 property inevitably belonged to him, as if she had be- 
 come his daughter." 
 
 The ancient religious form of marriage, by which the 
 wife with her property came under the absolute do- 
 minion of her husband, having fallen into disuse, a form 
 called free marriage prevailed, by which the dowry 
 brought by the wife for her support after marriage was 
 reserved and secured for this use. She retained the 
 wiv C esf ranny independent ownership of all her other property, per- 
 sonal as well as real, and the husband had not legally 
 the right even to use the interest coming from it. 
 Under such provisions the women were not satisfied 
 with being no longer slaves they wished to be mis- 
 tresses. And ordinarily they exercised their power with 
 tyranny. The tables were turned, and, if we may trust 
 Juvenal, it is the husband now whom we should pity : 
 
 Naught must be given, if she opposes ; naught, 
 If she opposes, must be sold or bought ; 
 She tells him where to love, and where to hate, 
 Shuts out the ancient friend, whose beard his gate 
 Knew, from its downy to its hoary state ; 
 "* And when pimps, parasites, of all degrees 
 Have power to will their fortunes as they please, 
 She dictates his, and impudently dares 
 To name his very rivals for his heirs !
 
 Women and Marriage. 47 
 
 To maintain the rights of women married under the stewards. 
 later law of freedom, and even to suggest to them 
 exorbitant demands, a curious class of men arose 
 business managers for ladies, stewards, as they were 
 called. When these stewards were young and hand- 
 some bachelors, they easily left their role of business 
 counselor and became the professed admirers of their 
 clients. Seneca speaks somewhere of the gallant stew- 
 ard, the steward with curled hair. Husbands, to take 
 revenge, declared such men ' ' absurd and insipid in the 
 society of men," as Cicero described for us Ebutius, 
 business manager of the widow Cesennia. But never- 
 theless, husbands, in more than one way, were the 
 dupes and the victims of these schemers and unscrupu- 
 lous experts in handling the law. 
 
 However cautious we may be in drawing conclusions The institution 
 from the exaggerations of the pessimistic moralists and undermintd. 
 the thrusts of the satirists, we are forced to recognize 
 that the institution of marriage was, in the second 
 century after Christ, singularly undermined. Augustus, 
 alarmed at the disturbance which the civil wars had 
 produced in the morals of society, frightened at the 
 increase of celibacy and at so many illegitimate births, 
 had caused two laws to be passed the Julian Law and The Julian and 
 the Papia Poppaean Law designed to check the evil. Po w x&n Laws - 
 According to these laws society was divided into two 
 distinct classes. By the Julian Law these two classes 
 were celibates and those who were married ; by the 
 Poppaean Law, childless persons and parents. Against 
 celibates and those without children severe regulations 
 were enacted, while privileges and immunities were 
 granted to married persons and parents. Let us add 
 that the name of celibate applied to any one who was 
 not married, whether a widower or a man who had
 
 48 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 been divorced. Hence, in order to avoid the penalties 
 of the Julian Law, it was necessary, upon the dissolution 
 of one's marriage by death or by law, to remarry at 
 once. Women alone were allowed a certain interval 
 between two marriages one year after the death of a 
 husband and six months after a divorce. These inter- 
 vals the Poppaean Law increased respectively to two 
 years and to eighteen months. 
 
 But, after all, few laws can effect a change in moral 
 Divorces. tendencies. At any rate, the laws of Augustus did not 
 
 succeed in this. We may even say that they produced 
 a new difficulty. Divorce was granted very easily, and 
 the necessity resting upon divorced parties of entering 
 into new unions resulted in legalizing a certain loose- 
 ness of life. Seneca claims that there were women who 
 reckoned years not by consulships, but by their hus- 
 bands. Juvenal, in one of his satires, goes still further : 
 
 Thus the virago triumphs, thus she reigns. 
 
 Anon she sickens of her first domains, 
 
 And seeks for new ; husband on husband takes, 
 
 Till of her bridal veil one rent she makes. 
 
 Again she tires, again for change she burns, 
 
 And to the bed she lately left returns, 
 
 While the fresh garlands, and unfaded boughs, 
 
 Yet deck the portals of her wondering spouse. 
 
 Thus swells the list ; eight husbands in five years 
 
 A rare inscription for their sepulchers ! 
 
 How far removed from the time when the Romans con- 
 sidered marriage as the union of two lives ! 
 
 In spite of the opportunities which the facility of 
 
 the^lmage obtaining divorce gave to those who had a taste for 
 
 vows - variety, open immorality was very common. The 
 
 writers of the time blamed the wives for this state of 
 
 things. The husbands, however, must bear their share 
 
 of the responsibility. Under the ancient system of
 
 Women and Marriage. 
 
 49 
 
 slavery they always had the leisure to form seraglios, 
 
 and they doubtless often formed them. There were 
 
 also the pretty freed-girls and the elegant courtesans of 
 
 the voluptuous Subura. Infidelity in the husband was 
 
 made more frequent by the fact that the enjoyments of 
 
 domestic life for men 
 
 were few, and that the 
 
 irregularities of men 
 
 entailed no responsi- 
 
 bilities. So that 
 
 probably it was not 
 
 uncommon for hus- 
 
 bands to break their 
 
 marriage vows, and 
 
 at the epoch of which 
 
 we are writing in- 
 
 stances of such mis- 
 
 demeanors must have 
 
 been very numerous. 
 
 Formerly, infidelity 
 
 in the wife alone was 
 
 punished, but the 
 
 emperor Antoninus, 
 
 thinking that this 
 
 gave encouragement to fickle husbands, abolished this 
 
 difference, and immorality was punished in husbands as 
 
 well as in wives. 
 
 From the close of the republic, the type of the 
 matron of old times, ' ' who remained at home and spun 
 wool," had ceased to be the ideal toward which the 
 women of Rome aspired. A taste for elegant corrup- 
 tion had been introduced from Greece. Lawful wives 
 felt that they would lose their influence over their 
 husbands if they clung to the austere and cold virtue of 
 
 Immorality 
 of husbands. 
 
 WOMAN'S HEAD. 
 Farnesian Palace, Rome. 
 
 How women
 
 50 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 the matron, and did not endeavor to acquire more 
 fascinating attractions. Many criticisms were passed 
 upon the first women who departed from the old tra- 
 
 i're 1< ard S ditions and tried to excel in dancing or music. Sallust, 
 
 to women. stricter in his writings than in his conduct, thought that 
 Sempronia ' ' danced better than became a virtuous 
 woman." But soon such prejudices disappeared. The 
 stanch defenders of old-fashioned education were re- 
 duced to silence. And at the time of Trajan the poet 
 Statius, too poor to give his daughter a dowry, de- 
 pended upon her charms and accomplishments to win 
 
 Social activity ner a husband. At this time women began to appear 
 in society, and to play a part there. When husbands 
 were invited out to dinner their wives accompanied 
 them. On such occasions the etiquette was the same 
 for both sexes, except that the ladies sat in chairs, 
 according to the ancient style, while the men adopted 
 the Greek custom of reclining at table. There was no 
 more seclusion for women. They became acquainted 
 with life, tasted its charms, but, unfortunately, found 
 pleasure in its intrigues. And, happy in the liberty 
 that they had acquired, in the homage which they had 
 compelled men to render them, they often abused their 
 privileges. 
 
 From the time of Augustus women indulged much in 
 
 Coquetry in coquetry. This excited the indignation of the rheto- 
 
 women. ... . . 
 
 ncian Porcius Latro, who, not confining himself to his 
 rhetoric, traced for us the following true picture of 
 Roman manners : 
 
 When a matron wishes to be secure against the advances of 
 the bold, she ought to dress just well enough not to appear 
 slovenly. She ought to surround herself with servants of a re- 
 spectable age, whose aspect alone will repel undesirable ap- 
 proaches of gallantry. She should walk always with lowered
 
 Women and Marriage. 
 
 eyes. When she encounters one of those eagerly attentive men 
 who bow to all the women that they meet, she had better p rcius Latro's 
 appear impolite than pleasantly responsive. If she cannot women nt f 
 avoid returning his greeting, let her return it with confusion 
 and a blush. Let her attitude be such that if one is tempted to 
 make her improper proposals, her face will say no before her 
 voice. These are the measures by which women should pro- 
 tect themselves. But, on the contrary, see them seeking by 
 their expressions of countenance to draw attention to them- 
 selves, only half dressed, with language so playful, such a 
 caressing manner, that any ><T~ --^ 
 
 one and every one feels .-. *<. ^4 
 
 free to approach them. And 
 then when they reveal their 
 shameful desires by their 
 dress, their walk, their 
 words, their faces, are you 
 surprised that there are 
 people who cannot escape 
 from these shameless 
 creatures who fall upon 
 them? 
 
 With the conquest of 
 the world Roman com- 
 merce had become more 
 extended. From distant 
 countries merchants im- 
 ported rich and beau- 
 tiful stuffs, precious 
 stones, rare and curious 
 jewels. Women then 
 began to spend a great 
 deal of time upon their dress. Though they were Luxury i n 
 unacquainted with our extravagances in gloves, hats, dress - 
 and coiffures, they delighted in the delicate textures 
 from the East Indies or from China ; though fur was 
 used by them only in moderation, they indulged a 
 
 WOMAN'S HEAD SAID TO BE JULIA, 
 
 WIFE OF TITUS. 
 Museum of Naples.
 
 52 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time, 
 
 fancy for garments of brilliant color a rather ex- 
 pensive fancy, when you consider that the double-dyed 
 purple wool which came from Tyre cost more than one 
 thousand deniers, or about $167, a pound. Pompey's 
 triumph over Mithridates had introduced into Rome the 
 
 ofjewds"" 8 oriental luxury of precious stones. People went wild 
 over them. The diamond seems to have been little em- 
 ployed for ornament, except to be set in rings. But 
 people were passionately fond of the emerald, the aqua- 
 marine, the opal, the sardonyx, and especially of pearls. 
 They trimmed the lacings and buckles of their shoes 
 with pearls. They even covered their slippers with 
 them. Luxury had become for women an absolute 
 necessity. 
 
 Extravagance Juvenal, in his Sixth Satire, speaking of a typical 
 
 of women. . , , . 
 
 society lady, Bibula, says : 
 
 Briefly, for all her neighbor has she sighs, 
 And plagues her doting husband till he buys. 
 In winter, when the merchant fears to roam, 
 And snow confines the shivering crew at home, 
 She ransacks every shop for precious ware, 
 Here cheapens myrrh and crystal vases, there 
 That far-famed gem which Berenice wore. 
 
 And the day when the husband's purse was closed or 
 exhausted, his honor was imperiled. There were so 
 many women ready to tempt him, and Rome offered so 
 many opportunities to one who wished to betray him. 
 
 Ovid laid out, for the use of the man in quest of good 
 Flirtations. fortune, a sort of itinerary through those parts of the 
 capital where flirtations prospered. Ovid knew his sub- 
 ject. Let us follow him ; he is a good guide : 
 
 The fowler and the huntsman know by name 
 The certain haunts and harbor of their game. 
 So must the lover beat the likeliest grounds ; 
 The assembly where his quarry most abounds.
 
 Women and Marriage. 53 
 
 It is first Pompey's portico. Also Livia's picture 
 gallery; the painter's art, which freely represented the 
 love-making of mythological characters, served often to resorts. 
 awaken the first desires and to encourage the passions 
 just developing. Other places are the public prome- 
 nades, beautifully laid out in gardens and parks, where 
 an admirer has leisure to be gallant, to render a thou- 
 sand little services, among others, to hold his lady's 
 parasol. The solemn forum itself is sometimes the 
 scene of a flirtation. 
 
 The crafty counselors, in formal gown, 
 There gain another's cause, but lose their own. 
 There eloquence is nonplused in the suit, 
 And lawyers, who had words at will, are mute. 
 
 But the theater and the circus are the chosen resorts 
 of men inclined to gallantry. The women attend the 
 theater in their finest attire, to see, but, above all, to be 
 seen. At the circus they sit among the men. It is 
 then at the circus that flirtations are most conveniently 
 carried on. The young woman has taken her place 
 next her admirer. A grain of sand has fallen upon 
 her dress ; he delicately snaps it off with his finger. 
 Her pallium (cloak) falls to the ground ; he hastens 
 to pick it up and brush it. He arranges the cushion 
 where she sits, he fans her, he does not forget to place 
 the stool for her feet, he hands her a program, and 
 applauds at the right places, that is, when she applauds 
 herself. If she asks for some information, he must 
 never fail to supply it he must, if necessary, even tell 
 what he does not know. Thus it is that a gallant man 
 conducts his business. After paying so many attentions, 
 he will not fail to be invited to some feast where the 
 one whom he loves will be. The husband is a great 
 drinker. The lover takes advantage of this. The hus-
 
 54 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 band goes to sleep in the midst of the wine, and then, 
 on the table, without fear of being seen, the lover can 
 write with his finger, dipping it in the spilled wine, the 
 confession thus far withheld. 
 
 If we consider the legislation alone, we are astonished 
 Punishment of to see such eagerness in seeking immoral alliances. 
 
 unchastity. 
 
 The Julian Law, passed under Augustus, punished the 
 crime of unfaithfulness to the marriage vow by exile 
 only. But under the same ruler and his successors the 
 punishment was often made death, by several special 
 provisions ; and finally, by the general constitution of 
 the emperor Theodosius, and afterward of Justinian, 
 unchastity was made a capital offense in all cases. No 
 humiliation was spared to women recognized as guilty 
 of infidelity to their husbands. They were no longer 
 allowed to wear the stola, but were obliged to appear 
 in public dressed in the toga, a garment of men. 
 Death, when pronounced against them, was accom- 
 panied with refinements of cruelty. The victim was 
 placed in the arena before a bull trained to pick up 
 with his horns, and toss into the air, large pieces of 
 wood. Such severity, however, was exercised but 
 rarely. The husbands themselves were unwilling to 
 demand it. Many of them, after a wife had committed 
 a fault, preferred to keep silent. 
 
 We are compelled to admit that the writers of the 
 
 Mistakes in second century after Christ did not always draw upon 
 
 "women 5 their imagination for their facts, and that chastity no 
 
 longer prevailed at Rome, as in the age of Saturn. 
 
 But, on the other hand, we cannot deny that they often 
 
 greatly exaggerated the evil. It appears certain that, 
 
 influenced in their moral judgments by the traditions of 
 
 literature, they often condemned too severely the 
 
 women of their time, on account of having as their
 
 Women and Marriage. 
 
 55 
 
 ideal the type of the ancient matron. Public opinion, 
 in fact, clung to the ancient maxims after they were no 
 longer practiced. At the same time that women were 
 allowed by public opinion to lead a freer life, the epoch 
 when they lived in closer retirement was universally 
 praised. The manners of the current age were judged 
 by the ideas of former times ; the new principles were 
 accepted, but their consequences condemned. 
 
 And yet social opportunities, enjoyment of the arts, 
 and intellectual interests, 
 had not made all women 
 either frivolous or guilty. 
 Some women, in trying 
 to be beautiful, witty, or 
 cultured, had no other 
 object than to make the 
 family life more charm- 
 ing, or to please their 
 husbands more. Such, 
 for example, was the wife 
 of Saturninus. 
 
 He read to me, the other WOMAN'S HEAD. 
 
 day [said Pliny], some 
 
 letters, which he assured me were written by his wife ; I 
 fancied I was hearing Plautus or Terence in prose. Whether 
 they are that lady's, as he positively affirms, or his own, 
 which he absolutely denies, he deserves equal praise ; either 
 for writing such pieces himself, or for having so highly im- 
 proved and refined the genius of his wife, whom he married 
 young and uninstructed. 
 
 Such also was the wife of Pliny himself. 
 
 She possesses an excellent understanding [he wrote], to- 
 gether with a consummate prudence, and gives the strongest 
 evidence of the purity of her heart by her fondness for her 
 husband. Her affection for me, moreover, has given her a 
 
 Frivolity in 
 women not 
 universal. 
 
 The wife of 
 Saturninus. 
 
 Pliny's wife.
 
 56 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 taste for books, and my productions, which she takes pleasure 
 Her affection in reading, and even in getting by heart, are continually in her 
 hands. How full of tender anxiety is she when I am going to 
 speak in any case'/ how rejoiced she feels when it is got 
 through ! . . . When I recite my works at any time, she 
 conceals herself behind some curtain, and drinks in my 
 praises with greedy ears. She sings my verses, too, adapting 
 them to her lyre, with no other master but love, that best of 
 instructors, for her guide. From these happy circumstances I 
 derive my surest hopes that the harmony between us will 
 increase with our days, and be as lasting as our lives. 
 
 Such women came very near realizing the dream of 
 all sensible and refined men, who take no pleasure in a 
 learned wife, but who desire a wife cultured, sweetly 
 serious, capable of taking an interest in the pursuits 
 and studies of their husbands, and who now and then 
 can give them a bit of sincere and natural advice. 
 
 Women of this time had then gained lovable quali- 
 
 heroism 6 ^ es> anc ^ we must not suppose that all had lost the 
 
 sturdy virtues of the past. Upon a close examination 
 of the matter, we may even say that there are few 
 epochs in which more examples of feminine heroism 
 may be found. It is sufficient to recall the two 
 Arrias, and Fannia, the daughter of Thrasea, who 
 followed their husbands to exile or to death "valiant 
 women, whose strength was not always without grace, 
 who wished in dying to be associated with the glory of 
 their husbands, whose fidelity and constancy were after- 
 ward held up as examples, and whom universal admira- 
 tion, by a sort of profane canonization, placed among 
 the women Stoics." We must also mention, if only for 
 the fact that the heroine has remained anonymous, an 
 admirable example of conjugal devotion reported by 
 Pliny : 
 
 I was sailing lately upon our lake, with an old man of my ac-
 
 Women and Marriage. 57 
 
 quaintance, who desired me to observe a villa situated upon A wife's 
 its banks, which had a chamber overhanging the water. 
 " From that room," said he, " a woman of our city threw her- 
 self and her husband." Upon my inquiring into the cause, he 
 informed me that "her husband having been long afflicted 
 with an ulcer, she prevailed with him at last to let her inspect 
 the sore, assuring him at the same time that she would most 
 sincerely give her opinion whether there was a possibility of its 
 being cured. Accordingly, upon viewing the ulcer, she found 
 the case hopeless, and therefore advised him to put an end to 
 his life ; she herself accompanying him, even leading the way 
 by her exarnple, and being actually the means of his death ; for 
 tying herself to her husband, she plunged with him into the 
 lake." Though this happened in the very city where I was 
 born, I never heard it mentioned before ; and yet, that this ac- 
 tion is taken less notice of than that famous one of Arria's, is 
 not because it was less remarkable, but because the person 
 who performed it was more obscure. 
 
 These are, one will say, exceptions, and exceptions purification of 
 provoked by a reaction against the general disorder. It Trajan. un<kr 
 seems, however, that after the reigns of Nero and of 
 Domitian society had been for a short space purified by 
 suffering. The virtue of the women was certainly re- 
 newed by it. The Palatine, where Messalina and Pop- 
 paea had reigned, was occupied under Trajan by good 
 princesses, modest in their dress, without parade, 
 affable in manner, who practiced all the domestic vir- 
 tues. In the great world, also, which imitates its 
 leaders, morals seemed to become purer. This at least 
 is the impression left by the perusal of Pliny's letters. 
 
 But even if the deeds which we have recalled are only 
 heroic exceptions, they prove at least that there is no 
 hour of history where one can cease admiring women, 
 and that expiring antiquity could show to young Chris- 
 tianity heroines not unworthy of being compared with 
 its martyrs.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ROMAN HOUSE. 
 
 LET us try to replace in their environment these 
 Roman men and women whose education and married 
 life we have attempted to describe. 
 
 Rome treetS f Let us walk along a street of ancient Rome and 
 observe its aspect. 
 
 Even when the city had been rebuilt, after Nero's fire, 
 the streets, with few exceptions, would seem to us 
 scarcely wide enough. But narrow streets, since they 
 serve to secure shade and coolness, are almost a neces- 
 sity for the peoples of the South, a fact overlooked by 
 the builders of modern Athens. There is, moreover, 
 another explanation of the narrow streets, and that is 
 the natural configuration of the land, with its many hills 
 , and ravines. On each side of the long streets rose 
 
 Height of the houses whose height, while it terrified the ancients, 
 
 buildings. 
 
 would not excite surprise in our day. Strabo, the 
 Greek geographer, reports that Augustus had forbidden 
 the erection of buildings higher than seventy feet. This 
 restriction applied only to the facade, for a greater 
 height was allowed in that part of the building which 
 did not overlook the public street. Nero reduced still 
 further this limit, and Trajan, if we may trust Aurelius 
 Victor, a Latin historian of the fourth century, finally 
 made the limit sixty feet. However this may be, the 
 citizens of Rome complained very much of this piling up 
 of story upon story. They were always afraid of falling 
 buildings or fire. Listen to the words which Juvenal 
 puts into the mouth of the poor Umbritius :
 
 The Roman House. 
 
 59 
 
 Who fears the crash of houses in retreat 
 At simple Gabii, bleak Prseneste's seat, 
 Volsinium's craggy heights, embowered in wood, 
 Or Tibur, beetling o'er prone Anio's flood? 
 While half the city here by shores is staid, 
 And feeble cramps, that lend a treacherous aid : 
 For thus the stewards patch the riven wall, 
 Thus prop the mansion, tottering to its fall ; 
 Then bid the tenant court secure repose, 
 While the pile nods to every blast that blows. 
 
 O ! may I live where no such fears molest, 
 No midnight fires burst on my hour of rest ! 
 For here 'tis terror all ; mid the loud cry 
 Of " water ! water ! " the scared neighbors fly, 
 With all their haste can seize the flames aspire, 
 And the third floor is wrapt in smoke and fire, 
 While you, unconscious, doze. Up, ho ! and know 
 The impetuous blaze which spreads dismay below, 
 By swift degrees will reach the aerial cell, 
 Where, crouching, underneath the tiles, you dwell, 
 Where your tame doves their golden couplets rear, 
 And you could no mischance but drowning fear. 
 
 One feature of the streets of Rome which would have 
 excited the astonishment of a modern was the aspect of 
 the facades. The Romans of the time of the Antonines, 
 although they had already the taste for symmetry of 
 form, which their descendants in Italy have so well 
 preserved and developed, did not seek for symmetry 
 in the construction of their buildings. Our modern 
 architecture sacrifices much to the front elevation ; the 
 ancients scarcely thought of that. Irregular lines were 
 allowed where we should have straight lines. While 
 we seek symmetry in the openings of our dwellings, 
 an ancient Roman house would have windows isolated, 
 or irregularly arranged, in the upper stories. While 
 we wish to have the light pour freely into our rooms, 
 
 Danger of fall-
 
 6o 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s .Time. 
 
 Inequality 
 in height. 
 
 Shops. 
 
 while \ve multiply large windows, in Roman houses 
 there were no rooms upon the ground floor opening 
 on the street. While the two sides of our streets look 
 like the two sides of a trench which have been care- 
 fully kept equal in height, it was not rare to see in 
 Rome an inequality in height between the different 
 parts of even a single building. In short, the Romans 
 
 REMAINS OF A HOUSE AT POMPEII. 
 
 seem to have professed much indifference, if not actual 
 disdain, for symmetry in architecture. 
 
 The irregular aspect of their streets was increased by 
 numbers of little sheds, put up against the houses and 
 encroaching upon the street. Here small trades were 
 carried on. Here were taverns and shops. Domitian 
 tried to change all this. 
 
 The audacious shopkeepers [says Martial] had appropriated 
 to themselves the whole city, and a man's own threshold was
 
 The Roman House. 
 
 61 
 
 not his own. You, Germanicus [Domitian], bade the narrow 
 streets grow wide ; and what but just before was a pathway be- Domitian's 
 came a highway. No column is now girt at the bottom with frnprovVthe 
 chained wine-flagons ; nor is the prsetor compelled to walk in streets. 
 the midst of the mud. Nor, again, is the barber's razor drawn 
 blindly in the middle of a crowd, nor does the smutty cook- 
 shop project over every street. The barber, the vintner, the 
 cook, the butcher, 
 keep their own 
 places. The city is 
 now Rome; re- 
 cently it was a 
 great shop. 
 
 Doubtless at this 
 time were con- 
 structed some of 
 those arched 
 over streets ar- 
 cades of which 
 the world's cap- 
 ital was proud. 
 
 But nothing is 
 more difficult 
 than to remove 
 a little horde of 
 shopkeepers, to 
 break up their 
 habits of life. 
 Moreover, what-" 
 ever Martial may say, Domitian did not wholly suc- 
 ceed ; for we find in 386 the prefect of the city, Pretex- 
 tatus, issuing edicts similar to those of the last emperor 
 of the Flavian dynasty. 
 
 The Romans enjoy the merited reputation of having The Roman: 
 been great builders. They owe this above all to their as builders - 
 admirable public works sewers, roads, causeways, and 
 
 POMPEIIAN HOUSE-FOUNTAIN. Museum of 
 Naples.
 
 62 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Simplicity of 
 private houses 
 under the 
 republic. 
 
 Increasing 
 magnificence 
 of private 
 dwellings 
 under the 
 empire. 
 
 aqueducts. But their private architecture, in spite of 
 its late development, is not less worthy of attention. 
 
 Up to the time of Sulla, private houses were of a 
 great simplicity. Under the empire, those who were 
 enthusiastic defenders of the ancient customs would 
 recall with expressions of praise the little house, so 
 small that it could be torn down in one day, of the 
 consul, Valerius Publicola, or the modest dwellings of 
 
 ATRIUM OF THE POMPEIIAN HOUSE AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect. 
 
 the ^lian family or of Cato Uticensis. But from the 
 end of the republic this simplicity began to disappear. 
 In 93 B. C. , the censor L. Crassus decorated his 
 atrium with columns of marble from Mount Hymettus ; 
 fifteen years later the consul Lepidus had a sill of 
 Numidian marble placed in his house. Such magnifi- 
 cence at that time caused much gossip. All the idlers 
 of Rome, and they were numerous, discussed the
 
 The Roman House. 63 
 
 matter. But this luxury was soon to cease being a 
 cause for surprise. In the half-century which preceded 
 the birth of Christ, the taste for beautiful buildings tifui buildings. 
 became general. It spread on account of the eastern 
 wars, after the expeditions of Q. Metellus Creticus, of 
 P. Servilius Isauricus, of Pompey, and of Lucullus. 
 The splendor and magnificence of the eastern world 
 dazzled the descendants of Romulus, and the immense 
 wealth brought from this marvelous region by the 
 Roman officers and revenue collectors (a freedman 
 of Pompey, Demetrius, left a fortune of four thou- 
 sand talents, about $5,000,000) was put into buildings. 
 Then came Augustus, who wished to make Rome the 
 capital of the universal empire which he had founded. 
 His great public works gave an impulse to private 
 buildings, and, according to a famous saying, from a 
 city of bricks Rome became a city of marble. 
 
 Vitruvius, Latin author of a work on architecture, 
 
 Grandeur in 
 
 expressed the requirements or the new taste as follows : private archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 When you build for important personages, you must make 
 vestibules high and of a royal aspect, a very large atrium, 
 peristyles, parks, and spacious, imposing driveways. You 
 must add libraries, picture galleries, and basilicas as grand as 
 those of public edifices. 
 
 Grandeur was in truth the effect sought in private 
 dwellings, beginning from this time, and Ovid and 
 Sallust were not wholly incorrect, if they did exaggerate 
 somewhat, when they said that certain great mansions 
 of Rome might have been taken for towns. 
 
 We ask the reader to follow us into one of these 
 abodes of wealth. 
 
 In front of the entrance is quite a large place, usually The vestibule. 
 surrounded by porches, called the vestibule. It was 
 there that the clients remained while waiting for their
 
 6 4 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 The porter's 
 rooms. 
 
 patron to wake up in the morning. A short corridor, 
 \\\^ prothyrum. called the prothyrum, connects the vestibule with the in- 
 terior. At the right 
 and at the left are 
 situated rooms for 
 the porter and his 
 assistants, the watch 
 dogs. If a man could 
 not or would not 
 have mastiffs for 
 guardians, he re- 
 placed them by a 
 painting which repre- 
 sented them showing 
 their teeth, and 
 above these dogs in 
 effigy was written in 
 large letters, "Be- 
 ware of the dog" 
 (Cave canem, or 
 sometimes the abbre- 
 viation C. C. ). 
 
 At the rear of the 
 prothyrum is a heavy 
 double door of oak. 
 Let us open it and 
 enter the atrium, to 
 which it gives access. 
 The atrium is the 
 essential room of a 
 
 Roman house, the room to which all the other parts of 
 the house are subordinate. Its importance requires 
 that we pause to examine it a few moments. 
 
 It is a vast court, lighted through an opening in the 
 
 The atrium. 
 
 STUCCO WALL OR CEILING DECORATION.
 
 The Roman House. 65 
 
 roof. Here the family assembles, here is the hearth, 
 
 the treasure chest, and formerly you would find here the Description of 
 
 * J the atrium. 
 
 bed of the father of the family. The smoke escapes 
 through the opening overhead in the roof, through 
 which also the rain falls into the impluvium, a basin 
 sunk in the center of the floor, whence it is afterward 
 distributed through the rest of the house. Up to the 
 fourth century before Christ, the lar, or tutelar divinity 
 of the house, was placed at the entrance of the atrium. 
 In the houses of the nobles, the images of the family an- 
 cestors, often made of wax, occupied the wings or 
 recesses of the atrium. New families adorned the 
 atrium with medallions in bronze or silver. 
 
 There were five different kinds of atria, distinguished 
 
 . . . . Different kinds 
 
 by their architectural peculiarities. But we shall not of'atria. 
 make a point of these differences, as we wish to consider 
 only what is essential and not to enter into archaeologi- 
 cal curiosities. We select then a typical atrium for our 
 description. 
 
 It is worth our while to notice the luxury that is dis- _ 
 
 J The luxury 
 
 played in this room. Its dimensions are very large, of the atrium. 
 
 An idea of the size of the atrium may be gained from 
 
 the information which we have that the atrium of Scau- 
 
 rus (58 B. C.) was thirty-eight feet high. Cornices of 
 
 white marble from Mt. Hymettus rest upon columns of 
 
 Numidian marble ; ivory gleams on the gilded soffits. 
 
 Between the columns were sometimes planted trees or 
 
 shrubs. These are what Horace, with a satiric poet's 
 
 exaggeration, called forests. The floor is paved with 
 
 mosaic ; for the mosaic art was well advanced at Rome 
 
 and was much admired. It is said that Caesar, even in 
 
 his military expeditions, carried with him mosaics for 
 
 his tent. At the sides of the atrium are colonnades, 
 
 whose gutters feed the central basin, the impluvium.
 
 66 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 Decorations 
 of the atrium. 
 
 Purple hang- 
 ings. 
 
 Paintings. 
 
 This basin was often ornamented by a fountain. The 
 opening in the ceiling of the atrium was sometimes 
 covered with hangings of purple stretched from the 
 entablature of one column to that of another. These 
 hangings shut out the hot sun and cast a reddish light 
 upon the bright, polished floor. 
 
 Painting was also used to decorate the atrium. M. 
 
 ATRIUM OF THE POMPEIIAN HOUSE AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect. 
 
 Boissier, in his work entitled "Archaeological Ram- 
 bles," speaks of paintings found in a handsome Roman 
 house, during some excavations on the banks of the 
 Tiber. He describes them as ' ' architectural designs 
 painted with much elegance figures boldly outlined, 
 columns linked by garlands and arabesques, and be- 
 tween them medallions bearing representations of scenes 
 from every-day life, feasts, concerts, sacrifices."
 
 The Roman House. 67 
 
 But it is time to continue our trip through the Roman 
 house. 
 
 In the rear of the atrium are three rooms. The 
 first, which is opposite the door opening into the 
 prothyrum, is the archive-chamber, called the tablinum. ite tablinum 
 Here the archives are stored. On each side of the 
 atrium, right and left, is a recess called a wing, where 
 the family portraits are kept and the busts of ancestors. 
 These precious souvenirs are supported upon shelves, 
 below which are inscriptions recalling the titles and the 
 honors of the individuals represented. 
 
 Along the sides of the atrium are the dining-halls, The dining- 
 called triclinia, of which a Roman house contained 
 several. There is one dining-hall for large receptions, 
 another for a gathering of friends ; there is one fronting 
 west for winter, one fronting east for spring and fall, 
 and for summer one fronting north. Let us enter one 
 of the dining-halls. At its four corners are lamp- 
 stands. The center is occupied by the table, along 
 three sides of which are couches, where those who are 
 eating recline. The Romans, in fact, borrowed rather 
 early from the eastern nations the custom of reclining 
 at table. Finally, on the side of the table not occu- 
 pied by the couches is the abacus or sideboard, upon 
 which, on grand reception days, were displayed, in 
 honor of the guests, costly vases, dishes of gold and of 
 silver, objects of art or of curiosity, in short whatever 
 might convey some idea of the opulence of the owner of 
 the house. 
 
 On each side of the tablinum are passages, leading to 
 the truly private part of the house, the rooms which no 
 one was expected to enter without being invited. 
 
 The first of these is the peristyle. The peristyle, The peristyle, 
 like the atrium, is a court ; but while the atrium is
 
 68 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 'covered, the peristyle is open to the sky. The differ- 
 ence between the uses of the two rooms explains this 
 difference in construction. Visitors are received in the 
 atrium ; the peristyle is reserved for the family. More- 
 over, the central part of the peristyle, inside the col- 
 umns, is occupied by flower beds, the xystus, and not 
 by mosaic. 
 
 apartments. Upon this garden open the women's apartments 
 
 Library. (the cci) , and also the library, fronting east. But there 
 
 were few libraries except in the houses of the rich. 
 Books were for the ancients objects of great luxury, the 
 invention of printing not yet having made them cheap. 
 At Pompeii, which was a town of prosperous trades- 
 men, books have not yet been discovered. The account 
 books of the banker Caecilius Jucundus, found recently, 
 cannot be regarded as literary relics. The library was 
 made to face east, because those who used it would do 
 their work there usually in the morning, and besides the 
 books would suffer less from damp. 
 
 Looking west is the exedra. In this hall, usually 
 han' ecture rather long, furnished with seats along the sides, the 
 owner of the house would seek recreation from his 
 business cares, in conversing with poets, rhetoricians, 
 and philosophers. If M. Jourdain had been acquainted 
 with Roman antiquities, he would not have failed to 
 arrange in his house a room of this kind. Then he 
 would have been able to escape from the scolding of 
 Nicole, his servant, and the upbraidings of Madam 
 Jourdain, his wife. 
 
 Tennis-court. A tennis-court, called the sphceristerium, and baths 
 
 Baths. occupied the rest of the ground floor of a Roman house. 
 
 The use of artificial baths was introduced from 
 
 Greece. In the early times of the republic, after their 
 
 rude exercises on the Campus Martius, the athletes
 
 The Roman House. 
 
 69 
 
 would go and plunge into the Tiber. But we know 
 
 what rapid progress Greek customs made at Rome. G r r |k e cus 
 
 Although few baths, according to Pliny, were known at Rome - 
 
 up to the time of Pompey, 
 
 there was scarcely a house 
 
 of importance in the first 
 
 century of our era that 
 
 was not fitted up with 
 
 apartments for bathing. 
 
 The bath was a suite of 
 rooms where one could 
 take a cold, a warm, a 
 vapor, or a hot bath. In 
 the houses of the rich there 
 were separate bathing 
 apartments for the women. 
 The usual time for bathing 
 was- just before dinner, 
 from one to three o'clock. 
 Few besides the very 
 voluptuous bathed after 
 this meal. 
 
 Let us follow a bather 
 through the process of a 
 very elaborate bath, 
 noticing as we go the 
 arrangements of the rooms. 
 
 He enters first the tepi- 
 
 darinm, a moderately heated room, not meant for 
 bathing. Here he sits for a while before undressing 
 and perspires. He then removes his clothes, leaves 
 them in charge of slaves who put them in cupboards 
 kept for the purpose, and he passes to the caldarium, The - 
 or hot room. This room is constructed with much 
 
 CANDELABRUM.
 
 70 Roman Life in Pliny ' s Time. 
 
 care ; it is provided at one end with a warm bath, the 
 alveus, and at the other end there is a circular alcove or 
 chamber called the sudatorium (sweating-room) or the 
 laconicum, which is kept much hotter than the main 
 part of the room. The caldarium is directly over the 
 furnace, and has under the pavement a number of flues, 
 through which hot air is supplied to heat the floor ; 
 the walls, too, of this room are sometimes hollow, and 
 are heated by a circulation of hot air from the furnace. 
 After a plunge in the alveus the bather enters the 
 
 Judatorium. sudatorium. This circular recess has a hemispherically 
 vaulted ceiling, with an opening at the top, which is 
 closed by a movable disk. If the atmosphere becomes 
 too suffocating, the disk is lowered by means of a cord 
 worked from below, and some of the hot air is allowed 
 to escape. 
 
 Running around this domical chamber are steps 
 rising one above another ; on the topmost step are 
 niches, containing each one an arm-chair. In the 
 center on the floor there is some gymnastic apparatus, 
 and also a tub of hot water. The bather, if he desires, 
 starts the perspiration by lifting weights, or by some 
 other exercise, and then he begins to ascend the steps, 
 gradually habituating himself to the temperature, which 
 grows hotter and hotter as he rises. When he reaches 
 the top, he sits in one of the arm-chairs and lets the 
 perspiration flow. Before leaving this chamber he 
 bathes in the tub of hot water. From the caldarium 
 the bather returns to the tepidarium. Here he is 
 
 Masseurs, etc. treated by the masseurs, by others whose business it is 
 to pull out hairs and trim nails, by those who, with 
 strigils, bronze instruments, thin and flexible like hoops, 
 scrape his skin all over to remove the impurities. The 
 bather, then, if he wishes to omit nothing, passes to the
 
 The Roman Ho2tse, 71 
 
 frigidarium, or cool room, where he takes a plunge in J^ idarium 
 the baptisterium , a basin sunk in the floor, or, if he 
 prefers, gives himself a cool sponge bath, standing 
 before a bowl of moderate size, supported upon legs. 
 Finally he comes back to the tepidarium, and before 
 putting on his clothes he is rubbed by slaves with a 
 liniment, to relieve itching and eruptions, wiped with 
 fine towels of linen or of cotton,, anointed with oil, and 
 perfumed. Then he feels comfortable. 
 
 Some bathers preferred to begin with the cold bath, 
 and often a bather took only the cold bath or only the 
 warm one. None but the most luxurious went through 
 the whole process frequently. 
 
 Besides the baths of private houses, there were the 
 public baths. 
 
 The first floor only of a Roman house offers much 
 that is interesting to us. There is little to be said 
 about the upper stories, which contained less important 
 rooms. The staircase giving access to them was The staircase, 
 usually only a steep and narrow ladder. The Romans 
 would have been unable to understand the importance 
 which we attach to this part of our buildings. Their 
 indifference in this matter has been too faithfully pre- 
 served in certain provinces of our modern France, 
 where they build a house first and afterward put in the 
 staircase wherever they can, no matter how. 
 
 By the preceding description of a Roman house the 
 reader can see that when the ancients constructed their 
 homes they were not influenced by the same considera- 
 tions that influence us when we build homes. Public Intensityof 
 life among the moderns is much less intense, if I may P^jjfg 1 ^ 
 use the expression, than in the republics of antiquity. an cients. 
 When we speak of the agitations of the forum, we 
 merely make use of a trite metaphor. Among the
 
 72 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Romans the expression was exactly literal, even under 
 the empire, even when Augustus had pacified the 
 public square, according to the expression of Tacitus. 
 The men lived much outside of their homes in the 
 street, at the baths, in the market-places, at the spec- 
 tacles, at the lecture halls, at the tribunals. Conse- 
 quently, when they returned home they experienced a 
 need of isolation all the greater. Those who were 
 obliged to receive visitors always reserved a part of 
 Provision for their house where no one should intrude or disturb the 
 
 seclusion in a . . . 
 
 private house, family retirement. Did a client, a person seeking a 
 favor, or a bore of any kind, insist upon seeing the 
 master of the house? The emergency had been fore- 
 seen, and by a rear door leading into some narrow 
 passage, the master, without difficulty, escaped from 
 this troublesome caller. With us, back stairs are not 
 always provided in our houses, and even where they do 
 exist, they do not afford such a sure and secret means 
 of escape as the Romans enjoyed. The world enters 
 freely into our houses, and when it does not enter, we 
 try at least to view it through our wide-open windows. 
 An ancient house, instead of looking toward the street, 
 looked away from it. In short, the comparison be- 
 tween an ancient and a modern house is sufficient to 
 show us that although family life among us may occupy 
 more hours of a man's life, it is less retired and less 
 intimate than it was among the ancients. 
 
 Reduce the dimensions of the costly house that we 
 The houses of have described, omit some rooms, those that could be 
 da e ss" ldc serviceable only in a wealthy man's home, the library, 
 
 the exedra, the tennis-court, and you will have an idea 
 of the sort of houses that the middle class dwelt in. 
 The general plan was the same. In the houses dis- 
 covered at Pompeii, a town of small tradesmen, the
 
 The Roman House. 
 
 73 
 
 atrium, peristyle, etc., were always found. Only in- 
 stead of the artistic magnificence displayed in the city 
 palaces, we observe in these provincial dwellings proofs 
 of the bad taste always exhibited by those who have not Poor taste 
 
 J exhibited in 
 
 long possessed means. In the peristyle, instead of provincial 
 
 3 * dwellings. 
 
 beautiful green grass and fountains there are sickly 
 shrubs, and mere threads of water, which the people 
 ostentatiously called channels (euripi}, and grottoes of 
 
 PERISTYLE OK THE POMPEIIAN HOUSE AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect. 
 
 stones or shells. Stucco or poor imitations of metals imitative 
 take the place of marble and of bronze. Many of the d 
 citizens of Pompeii must have resembled that Parisian 
 shopkeeper described by M. Sardou in the " Bons Vil- 
 lageois " ; when he retired to the country he had a villa 
 built for him adorned with vases of imitation marble 
 and lighted by imitation windows furnished with imi- 
 tation curtains.
 
 74 Roman Life in Pliny's Time, 
 
 We wish we were as well informed in regard to the 
 3wl " dwellings of the poor. Unfortunately, the poets and 
 flings romancers paid little attention to the poor. The active 
 
 >r. 
 
 interest which is felt to-day in the lower classes, the 
 
 curiosity with which we read the books which depict 
 their manner of life, the craving even which we feel for 
 these representations of humble society all this did not 
 exist among the ancients. Except for the little poem 
 
 MARS AND VENUS. WALL DECORATION. Pompeii. 
 
 "Moretum," ascribed to Virgil, the romance of Petro- 
 
 Sources of . 
 
 information. mus, and a few scenes from comedy, we find nothing 
 in ancient literature to give us information about the 
 poorer classes. But, after all, what could we learn 
 that we do not know ? It is only palaces that change 
 in appearance. Huts remain the same in all times. It 
 is luxury that assumes new aspects. Poverty has not 
 so much variety.
 
 The Roman House. 75 
 
 Withdraw from my cottage, little mouse, hiding in the 
 shadow. The kneading-trough of Leonidas cannot feed mice. A poor man's 
 Here is an old man, content with little ; for whom some salt coua g e - 
 and two barley cakes are enough, and who lives without com- 
 plaining, as his fathers have lived. What are you looking for 
 in his house, dainty mouse? You will not find here the 
 crumbs from a dinner. Quickly go to my neighbors. There 
 ample provisions wait you. 
 
 Thus spoke from the inside of his home a poor man 
 who lived two centuries before Christ. One hundred 
 and fifty years earlier, Chremylos, a character in one of 
 the comedies of Aristophanes, gives this description of 
 an Athenian hovel : 
 
 The gnats and fleas that buzz about your head, 
 
 I cannot count, so great their multitude. 
 
 They wake you, and their shrill pipe seems to say, 
 
 "Up, wretch, although you're hungry, up, arise." 
 
 You have besides a tatter for a quilt, 
 
 And for a bed your rushes full of bugs, 
 
 That will not let you drop your drowsy lids, 
 
 And for a pillow underneath your head 
 
 A good sized stone. 
 
 It is indeed always the same story ; beggars of 
 Athens, beggars of Rome, beggars of Paris forlorn 
 always, in all countries, your hovels have no history. 
 The houses where people die of cold are all built in the 
 same fashion and their style is eternal. 
 
 Let us return, then, to the fortunate inhabitants of The furniture 
 the world. Judging from the luxury displayed in the 
 construction of their dwellings, one is tempted to be- 
 lieve that they were sumptuously furnished. This temp- 
 tation must be resisted, for it will lead us into error. 
 The Romans of ancient times had no more idea of com- 
 fort than their descendants and the peoples of the South 
 in general. The great palaces of modern Rome often 
 contain rooms very beautiful, but gloomy on account of
 
 76 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time, 
 
 their bareness. There is nothing but some master- 
 piece, picture or statue, for the eyes to rest upon. It 
 was very much the same in the ancient houses. Noth- 
 ing, or almost nothing, for convenience, everything for 
 show. While the entire house was scantily furnished, 
 The furniture the reception halls often contained a few very handsome 
 
 of reception _ ' 
 
 halls - articles tables made from citrus wood with ivory legs, 
 
 couches veneered with tortoise-shell, or ornamented with 
 gold and silver, and covered with Babylonian tapestry, 
 vases of Corinthian bronze and of murrhine ware, 
 dressers decked with silver, and candelabra, like those of 
 which Lucretius speaks : 
 
 What though about the halls no silent band 
 
 Of golden boys on many a pedestal 
 Dangle their hanging lamps from outstretched hand, 
 
 To flare along the midnight festival ! 
 
 Vanity may indeed partly account for this manner of 
 furnishing a house, but doubtless a taste for the plastic 
 arts, so keen from this time among the people of Italy, 
 had something to do with it. There were surely among 
 the Romans some enlightened amateurs who were not 
 actuated merely by the single desire of dazzling their 
 visitors. Read the charming description which Pliny 
 gives us of a Corinthian statue which he had purchased: 
 
 Out of a legacy that was left me I have just bought a statue 
 Pliny's descrip- of Corinthian bronze. It is small, but thoroughly clever and 
 Corinthian done to the life at least, in my judgment, which, in matters of 
 statue. this sort, and perhaps of every sort, is not worth much. How- 
 
 ever, I really do see the merits of this statue. It is a nude 
 figure, and its faults, if it has any, are as clearly observable as 
 its beauties. It represents an old man standing up. The 
 bones, the muscles, the veins, and the very wrinkles, all look 
 like life. The hair is thin, the forehead broad, the face 
 shrunken, the throat lank, the arms hang down feebly, the 
 chest is fallen in, and the belly sunk. Looked at from behind,
 
 The Roman House. 
 
 77 
 
 the figure is just as expressive of old age. The bronze, to 
 judge from its color, has the marks of great antiquity. In 
 short, it is in all respects a work which would strike the eye of 
 a connoisseur, and which cannot fail to charm an ordinary 
 observer. This induced me, novice as I am in such matters, 
 to buy it. However, I bought it not to put in my own house 
 (for I never had there a Corinthian bronze), but with the 
 intention of placing it in some conspicuous situation in the 
 place of my birth, perhaps in the Temple of Jupiter, which 
 has the best claim to it. It is a gift well worthy of a temple 
 and of a god. Do 
 you, with that 
 kind attention 
 which you always 
 give to my re- 
 quests, undertake 
 this matter, and 
 order a pedestal to 
 be made for it out 
 of any marble you 
 please, and let my 
 name, and, if you 
 think fit, my 
 various titles, be 
 engraven upon it. 
 I will send you the statue by the first person who will not 
 object to the trouble ; or, what I am sure you will like better, 
 I will bring it myself, for I intend, if I can get away from 
 business, to take a run into your parts. 
 
 TABLES. 
 
 In short, comfort, which is a necessity for people of 
 the North, is not required by southerners. What must 
 they have? Coolness and shade, also rooms reserved 
 for family life, even if they are very small and receive 
 the air and light only by the door. Of what use to 
 furnish such rooms? A bed, a chair was anything 
 more necessary for napping at noon or sleeping at night? 
 
 Let us not exaggerate, then, the luxury in the fur- 
 nishing of a Roman house. Doubtless certain articles 
 
 Pliny's gift to 
 his native town.
 
 78 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Costly of furniture were very costly. Doubtless there were 
 
 articles of 111 r *-* i i 
 
 furniture. candelabra from ytgma which cost 250,000 sesterces 
 
 (about $10,625). Doubt- 
 less Cicero possessed a 
 table of citrus wood worth 
 500,000 sesterces (about 
 $21,250). But these 
 were curiosities. The 
 possessors of these ob- 
 jects were artists or 
 maniacs. At a much 
 less cost one could furnish 
 his house suitably, even 
 richly. It seems, accord- 
 ing to Martial, that about 
 
 Expense of 9 V I $4O,ooo of our money 
 
 furmshinga J wag suffident to f urn j s h 
 
 a large house. If we 
 remember that the instal- 
 lation of the Countess 
 Kosel in the Chateau de 
 Pillnitz cost $150,000 ; if 
 we consider that the 
 expense of furnishing of 
 the Northumberland 
 House is estimated at 
 several hundred thousand 
 pounds sterling, we shall 
 conclude that the mod- 
 
 CANDELABRUM. erns have progressed 
 
 since the time of Martial, and that our nabobs have 
 outdone the patricians of ancient Rome. 
 
 Moreover, we must not forget that the greatest 
 private fortunes of antiquity never equaled those of our
 
 The Roman House. 79 
 
 modern Croesuses. It is true that there were fools and 
 eccentric individuals like the Apiciuses, the Caligulas, 
 and the Neros, those people who gave themselves up 
 to senseless prodigalities, which Lucian wittily calls 
 "the solecisms of indulgence." But we must admit 
 that the estate of the richest of the patricians was not 
 large. According to Marquardt, the greatest income 
 known in ancient times scarcely exceeded $1,215,000 of P riva te 
 
 * incomes 
 
 our money. What is that compared to the fortune of 
 Baron Rothschild, which the papers, when he died in 
 1868, valued at $400,000,000 ? 
 
 Thus private wealth at Rome never had the propor- 
 tions which it has reached in our modern society. Now 
 the Greek artisans and oriental merchants sold very 
 dear the beautiful objects which they made, while the 
 system of slavery brought down the price of manual 
 labor in the work of building. This explains the 
 splendor of the buildings and the plainness of the 
 furnishings in a Roman house.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The origin of 
 slavery. 
 
 The condition 
 of a slave. 
 
 THE SERVANTS. 
 
 IN our day domestics have been called ' ' household 
 enemies." The epithet unfortunately applies too well, 
 but it applied still better to the slaves of ancient times. 
 
 The source of slavery is known. At first the slave, 
 as is indicated by the etymology of the Latin word for 
 slave servus (serere, to bind), was a prisoner of war. 
 Hence the severity of the legislation to which he is 
 subjected. He is regarded as a thing. His master 
 possesses him absolutely, having the right to use him or 
 to abuse him. The slave has nothing of his own. The 
 savings which he has been able to make from his 
 peculium, or allowance, usually by depriving himself of 
 nourishment, do not belong to him. According to law, 
 they belong to his master. The slave cannot marry ; 
 the union which he contracts resembles concubinage. 
 He cannot make a will ; he cannot witness in a court of 
 justice. Is he ill-treated by his master? He must 
 keep silent, for he has no redress. Insult, dishonor, 
 anything he must bear without protest. Has not his 
 master the right over him of life and death ? 
 
 The harshness of this legislation explains certain facts 
 Cruelty toward which appear to us to-day monstrous. Seneca tells us 
 how a certain Vedius ordered a slave to be thrown into 
 the fish-pond as food for the muraenas because he had 
 broken a vase. Nero's father, Domitius Ahenobarbus, 
 killed his freedmen (freedmen were often servants to 
 their former masters and liable to punishment from 
 them) because they refused to drink as much wine as 
 
 slaves.
 
 The Servants. 8 1 
 
 he wished them to. In the comedies masters never 
 speak to their slaves without threats ; they have at 
 their tongue's end a whole catalogue of instruments of 
 torture, crucifixes, whips, hot irons. And the mis- 
 tresses are no more tender. To illustrate, we quote 
 from Juvenal's Sixth Satire. A lady is speaking. 
 
 " Go, crucify that slave." For what offense ? 
 Who the accuser ? Where the -evidence ? 
 For when the life of man is in debate, 
 No time can be too long, no care too great. 
 Hear all, weigh all with caution, I advise 
 "Thou sniveler ! is a slave a man?" she cries. 
 " He's innocent ! be't so ; 'tis my command, 
 My will ; let that, sir, for a reason stand." 
 
 Slaves were sometimes driven to extremities by these The vengeance 
 cruelties, and took terrible revenge. 
 
 The horrid barbarity [writes Pliny] which the slaves of 
 Largius Macedo, a person of praetorian rank, lately exercised 
 upon their master is so extremely tragical that it deserves to 
 be the subject of something more considerable than a private 
 letter ; though at the same time it must be acknowledged 
 there was a haughtiness and severity in his treatment of them 
 which showed him little mindful that his own father was once 
 in the same station. They surrounded him as he was bathing, 
 at his villa near Formiae, and some beat him about the face 
 and head, while others trampled upon his breast and his belly ; 
 when they imagined they had thus completed their intentions, 
 they threw him upon the burning pavements of the hot bath, 
 to try if there was any remaining life left in him. 
 
 But the vengeance of slaves always cost them their 
 lives. Further, when a master was assassinated by a Its puishment. 
 slave, and when the culprit could not be fixed upon, all 
 the slaves who dwelt under his roof were executed. 
 Thus perished, under Nero, the four hundred slaves of 
 Pedanius Secundus, prefect of the city. Tacitus, in 
 the fourteenth book of his "Annals," represents the
 
 82 Roman Life in Pliny * s Time. 
 
 senator C. Cassius urging their execution in a speech 
 which exhibits with striking fidelity the cruelty of the 
 ancient prejudice against slaves and the harshness of the 
 inhuman legislation in regard to them. 
 
 But war early ceased to be the only origin of slavery, 
 sources of The citizen who had undergone civil degradation and 
 
 slaves. . 
 
 the insolvent debtor were reduced to servitude. Those 
 who were born of slave parents were slaves themselves. 
 
 Under the influence of 
 these facts, the treatment 
 of slaves became milder 
 than the laws, and gradu- 
 ally the laws themselves 
 were modified. 
 
 Cato the Old was cer- 
 tainly a faithful repre- 
 sentative of the ancient 
 manners. He cannot be 
 reproached with being 
 easily moved to pity, 
 and the lot of the slave awakened no feeling within him. 
 
 mem' of slaves. ^ IS necessary [he said] to sell old cattle, old wagons, old 
 iron implements, old or diseased slaves in a word, whatever 
 is useless. 
 
 He did not pamper his slaves. 
 
 As a relish for them [he said] save as many fallen olives as 
 possible, next, those olives which do not promise to give much 
 oil. 
 
 We know what kind of wine he would have them drink. 
 
 Pour into a cask six amphorae [the amphora was a measure 
 of six gallons and seven pints] of sweet wine and two 
 amphorae of very sharp vinegar. Add to this two amphorae of 
 boiled must and fifty of fresh water. Stir the whole with a 
 stick three times a day for five consecutive days ; after which
 
 The Servants. 83 
 
 mix into it thirty-two gallons of old brine. This wine will last 
 good up to the solstice. If any is left over, it will make ex- 
 cellent vinegar. 
 
 He exercised as much economy in dressing them as in 
 feeding them. 
 
 Every other year a tunic, three and a half feet long, and a 
 sagum [coarse blanket]. When you give them a new sagum 
 or tunic, have them return the old one, as it will do to make 
 over into patchwork garments. Every other year a good pair 
 of shoes. 
 
 And yet this master, whose heart was of iron, as Livy 
 says, used to eat and drink with his slaves, and had his 
 wife take care of them when they were sick. 
 
 These germs of humanity developed fast. In the Development 
 time of Augustus, Horace condemned the severity of humane feeling 
 
 . 11 , ,. , . ...... toward slaves. 
 
 Albucius, who did not pardon a single fault m the 
 slaves who served him at table. Augustus also, when a 
 wicked man, Hostius Quadra, had been killed by his 
 slaves, pretended to be ignorant of the crime, for, 
 although he aimed to observe rigidly the laws, he 
 feared he would offend public sentiment if he prosecuted 
 the criminals. Half a century later, when the slaves of 
 that Pedanius Secundus of whom we have spoken 
 above were punished by death, the military forces had 
 to be called out to prevent the people from snatching 
 the wretches from the executioner. 
 
 We read, also, of a Roman mother who having lost a 
 
 . . , An example. 
 
 son and a slave of the same age had them buried near 
 each other. Their sepulchers were side by side and 
 just alike. The inscriptions contained nearly the same 
 words. Those who were thus united in death, those to 
 whom she rendered the same religious rites, must have 
 .been loved by her during their life. 
 
 Philosophy exerted an active influence in amelio-
 
 84 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 rating the condition of slaves. We know that the 
 Romans had very little taste for pure speculation. A 
 doctrine, in their eyes, was of value according to its 
 practical results. They did not enjoy ideas except as 
 they could be translated into facts. So the philoso- 
 of fl the nce phers sought to improve the public morals by direct 
 
 philosophers. means, either by friendly counsel after the manner of 
 Seneca, or by popular preaching, like that of Dion 
 Chrysostom. They had especially at heart the welfare 
 of the slave. From Cicero to Seneca all recommend 
 to masters the exercise of clemency and gentleness. 
 Seneca spoke of slaves as our "humble friends," and 
 Juvenal, who in more than one passage protests against 
 the ferocious caprices of the great nobles, affirms boldly 
 
 that slaves have powers, 
 Sense, feeling, all, as exquisite as ours. 
 
 These ideas and these sentiments found a ready wel- 
 come in the soul of Pliny, and suggested to him one of 
 his most beautiful letters : 
 
 The sickness which has lately run through my family, and 
 Pliny's kind- carried off several of my domestics, some of them, too, in the 
 slave's* h ' S prime of their years, has deeply afflicted me. I have two con- 
 
 solations, however, which, though they are not equal to so 
 considerable a grief, still they are consolations. One is, that 
 as I have always very readily manumitted my slaves, their 
 death does not seem altogether immature, if they lived long 
 enough to receive their freedom ; the other that I have allowed 
 them to make a will, which I observe as religiously as if they 
 were legally entitled to that privilege. I receive and obey 
 their last requests as so many authoritative commands, suffer- 
 ing them to dispose of their effects to whom they please ; with 
 this single restriction, that they leave them to some in my 
 family, which to persons in their station is to be esteemed as a 
 sort of commonwealth. 
 
 But though I endeavor to acquiesce under these reflections, 
 yet the same tenderness which led me to show them these
 
 The Servants. 
 
 indulgences still breaks out and overpowers my strongest 
 resolutions. However, I could not wish to be insensible to 
 these soft impressions of humanity ; though the generality of 
 the world, I know, look upon losses of this kind in no other 
 view than as a diminution of their property, and fancy that by 
 cherishing such an unfeeling temper they discover a superior 
 fortitude and good sense. Their wisdom and self-control I 
 shall not dispute. But manly, I am sure, they are not ; for it 
 is the very criterion of true manhood to feel those impressions 
 of sorrow which it endeavors to resist ; and to admit, not to be 
 above, the want of consolation. But perhaps I have de- 
 tained you too long upon this subject though not so long as I 
 would. There is a certain pleasure in giving vent to one's 
 grief; especially when we pour out our sorrow in the bosom of 
 a friend, who will approve, or at least pardon, our tears. 
 Farewell. 
 
 Such pages prove that philosophic instruction could 
 produce happy results. In fact, beginning- from the Laws for the 
 
 , ., , . _ . protection of 
 
 empire, philosophy, and particularly the Stoic philoso- slaves. 
 
 phy, inspired the Roman lawmakers. So, from the 
 
 reign of Tiberius, the 
 
 Petronian Law forbade 
 
 delivering without reason 
 
 slaves to the wild beasts. 
 
 An old custom permitted 
 
 the exposure of sick 
 
 slaves upon an island of 
 
 the Tiber sacred to 
 
 ^Esculapius. There they 
 
 died of hunger and cold. 
 
 Claudius put an end to 
 
 this barbarity. Under 
 
 Nero slaves could go to 
 
 law. "There is a judge," Seneca tells us, "before 
 
 whom slaves may relate the injuries inflicted upon them 
 
 by their masters." 
 
 DOOR KNOCKER.
 
 86 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 's Time. 
 
 Difficulty of 
 enforcing these 
 laws. 
 
 Slaves pro- 
 tected by the 
 self-interest of 
 masters. 
 
 It is true, they might seek redress "with discretion, 
 and only if they had been too cruelly beaten, if they 
 had been compelled to suffer from hunger, or if an 
 attempt had been made upon their honor." It is true, 
 also, that such complaints, at this epoch, could have 
 been but little heeded, since the magistrate whose duty 
 it was to listen to them was the prefect of the city, that 
 very Pedanius Secundus who was assassinated by his 
 slaves. Nevertheless, protective measures for slaves 
 had been started, and the emperors who followed 
 developed them still further. Hadrian exiled a matron 
 who was in the habit of cruelly maltreating her slaves, 
 under the most trivial provocations. Antoninus estab- 
 lished the principle that it is no more permissible to 
 kill one's own slave than another's slave, and he made 
 the punishment the same for both crimes. Finally, the 
 progression of public opinion reached the point at 
 which the lawyer Gaius declared that slavery was con- 
 trary to natural right. 
 
 But more than by philosophy or by law the slave was 
 protected against the caprices of cruelty by his master's 
 self-interest. According to M. Boissier, economy was 
 exercised in regard to slaves, as well as in regard to 
 other perishable property : 
 
 Varro takes great pains to instruct his farmer to employ, in a 
 dangerous piece of work, work in the marshes for instance, 
 where fatal fevers are likely to be contracted, a hired laborer, 
 rather than one of his slaves. If the hired laborer succumbs, 
 it is his own misfortune. When a slave dies, it is his master's 
 loss. 
 
 Does not this remind us of La Rochefoucauld's maxim, 
 "Self-interest, which we accuse of all our misdeeds, 
 deserves often to be praised for our good actions" ? 
 In short, it seems that the various causes which we
 
 The Servants, 
 
 have just indicated had made slavery under the Anto- 
 nines a supportable condition, although it was always a 
 sad one. At no epoch did slavery cease to be a plague- 
 spot in the Roman civilization. Ancient society carried 
 thus within itself a 
 germ of destruction. 
 But, as we have 
 shown, the evil had 
 its alleviations. And, 
 moreover, the Ro- 
 mans, in struggling 
 against it, were sup- 
 ported by a strong 
 and skilful organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 Our most impor- 
 tant magistrates of 
 to-day do not live 
 in such style as to 
 give us any idea of 
 the large attendance 
 of domestics in an 
 elegant house at 
 Rome. Pliny the 
 Elder narrates that Csecilius Isodorus said in his will 
 that although he had lost much in the civil wars, he Large 
 
 households 
 
 left 4, 1 16 slaves. Petromus certainly did not exagger- of slaves. 
 ate when he said that Trimalchio did not know by sight 
 one tenth of his slaves, and that when the steward of 
 this upstart came to render his account to his master 
 one day, he informed him that during the night, in his 
 estate of Cumae alone, thirty boys and forty girls had 
 been born. 
 
 We naturally wonder why the Romans should be 
 
 BRONZE HAMES ( HORSE HARNESS).
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 Reasons for 
 their existence. 
 
 The vast 
 landed estates. 
 
 willing to undertake the burden of these innumerable 
 bodies of slaves. There is only one explanation the 
 private estates were of vast extent. The conquered 
 territory, which was rapidly and incessantly augmented 
 by the Roman armies, became public land. This 
 public land, when not sold or otherwise disposed of, 
 was allowed to fall into the hands of private individuals 
 on the condition that they should work it, or farm it, 
 giving the state a share of the profits. Such an 
 arrangement as this, being of necessity loosely admin- 
 istered, gave an opportunity, first to patricians, after- 
 ward to men of senatorial rank, and to rich and power- 
 ful families, to accumulate vast tracts of land which they 
 held as private property. 
 
 Thus were developed those large landed estates 
 
 which, according to 
 the writers of the 
 time, were the ruin 
 of Italy. Thus a 
 rich man's domains 
 became so vast that 
 a kite's wings would 
 have been wearied 
 in flying across them. 
 As private individuals 
 possessed veritable 
 provinces, they need- 
 ed, to work them, 
 veritable nations. 
 But many people, 
 who were not forced to do so by circumstances, neverthe- 
 less owned many slaves. They were influenced by vanity 
 to imitate the great nobles, and wished to appear what 
 they could not be. They played the eternal comedy : 
 
 HORSE BIT.
 
 The Servants. 
 
 Every little prince ambassadors must send, 
 Every marquis, too, his pages must attend. 
 
 Women have more of a taste for display than men, Taste for dis- 
 and Juvenal shows how the women of his time were true ^omen" 8 
 to their character : 
 
 Whene'er Ogulnia to the circus goes, 
 
 To emulate the rich, she hires her clothes, 
 
 Hires followers, friends, and cushions ; hires a chair, 
 
 A nurse, and a trim girl, with golden hair, 
 
 To slip her billets. 
 
 Manias quickly become necessities. Accordingly 
 the middle-class citizens of Rome almost always had a 
 body of domestics out of proportion with their prop- 
 erty. Scaurus inherited from his father only 37,000 
 sesterces (about $1,572.50), yet he was served by ten 
 slaves. It is natural to judge from appearances, for 
 this is the easiest and quickest way. When two people 
 met upon a road, the one who had the fewer attendants 
 would give room to the other. Thus the respect which 
 was a man's due was indicated by the number of 
 servants he had about him. A magistrate who kept 
 only five slaves was pointed at with the finger of scorn. 
 If a lawyer wished to attract clients, he would not 
 succeed if he relied upon eloquence. He must rather 
 appear in public carried in a sedan-chair by eight 
 slaves, and have a troop of very submissive dependents 
 following him. 
 
 We see that slaves very often became a heavy burden The cost of 
 upon their masters. To support this burden a miracle ir a p v ^s ning 
 of economy would have been required, if the treatment 
 of domestics in ancient times had been anything like 
 the treatment which they receive to-day. A character 
 in one of Labiche's comedies sums up the requirements 
 of our servants :
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 The price of 
 a slave. 
 
 -Cost of a 
 slave's food. 
 
 A householder's 
 foresight. 
 
 What do I ask ? To be well fed ; ... to be well paid ; 
 . . . to be allowed to grow fat in peace. 
 
 These are modest requirements ; many of our serv- 
 ants are more exacting, and we have to yield to them. 
 But at Rome domestics were cheaper. The price of 
 an ordinary slave was about $100, which would be 
 equivalent to the payment of $5 a year as wages. His 
 food and clothes also were very inexpensive. Pliny 
 said that when he received his freedmen at his table, he 
 let them drink the same wine that he himself drank. 
 But the Roman to whom he gave this detail appeared 
 so surprised at it that we must conclude that Pliny was 
 alone in his generosity. It was much more usual for 
 masters to keep their slaves upon the diet which Cato 
 recommended. Seneca seems to say that it was cus- 
 tomary to give a slave every month five bushels of 
 corn and five denarii (about 83 cents). Calling the 
 price of a bushel of corn 4 sesterces (about 17 cents), 
 that would make the total expense for one slave about 
 $1.68 a month a modest outlay, especially in com- 
 parison with the princely salaries which we allow our 
 cooks and coachmen. Let us add that the master of a 
 well-ordered Roman house bought nothing ; his own 
 estate was supposed to furnish him the commodities 
 necessary for supporting his family, and his city house 
 contained artisans of every trade. 
 
 But even when a householder was not burdened with 
 the support of slaves, he had enough to do. In order 
 not to be overtaken by want, he piled up provisions of 
 every kind in immense storehouses, whose contents he 
 could not always remember. It is related that at the 
 epoch when the theater tried, like the theater of modern 
 times, to draw crowds by the splendor of its scenery, a 
 manager, who had to dress a large number of his
 
 The Servants. 91 
 
 figurants and who was unwilling to go to great expense, 
 applied to Lucullus, begging him for the loan of one 
 hundred tunics. "One hundred tunics!" replied the 
 rich Roman. "Where do you expect me to find them? 
 Nevertheless, I will have a search made." The next 
 day he sent the manager five thousand tunics. The 
 administration of these immense fortunes must have 
 been very burdensome. 
 
 When a master had provided for the support of a The discipline 
 vast number of slaves, he was not rid of his responsi- ofslaves - 
 bility. He had to organize his force, form it into 
 companies like an army, so that commands might be 
 given to it and obedience enforced, and so that each 
 slave might have an employment suited to his ability 
 and strength. 
 
 The slaves who were born in the house, the verntz, The verna , 
 as they were called, were naturally less of a care to the 
 master than the others. Their fathers had had a trade, 
 an office of some kind, and the children had learned to 
 work by watching them at their tasks. If the vernce 
 were destined for some new service, there was plenty of 
 time to educate or to train them. Moreover, they 
 were easily managed ; they inherited habits of servi- 
 tude. They almost always submitted, they were often 
 contented, and many a slave was proud of his title 
 of Verna, and had it inscribed upon his tombstone. 
 
 There was greater difficulty with slaves that had Purchased 
 been purchased. These were brought from the market slaves. 
 where they had been exposed on a platform, their feet 
 whitened with chalk, if they had just been imported 
 from across the sea, and each one with a label round 
 his neck announcing his good qualities and his faults. 
 But it is not to be supposed that these labels were 
 always truthful. The slave merchants had a well-
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 Out-door 
 slaves. 
 
 Their toilsome 
 labor. 
 
 merited reputation for bragging and falsifying. Horace 
 has cleverly described one of these shameless rascals, 
 and we may well believe that if they had not all the wit 
 which the poet ascribes to them, they were not lacking 
 in impudence and roguery. 
 
 What was to be done with these purchased creatures, 
 whose masters were little, if at all, acquainted with 
 their qualities? After a sorting process, some were 
 sent to the fields, the others were retained for the city 
 house. 
 
 The lot of the former was by no means enviable. 
 They were treated about like cattle. At night they 
 were shut up in buildings no better than stables 
 underground prisons, lighted by narrow windows placed 
 so high above the floor as to be out of reach. During 
 the day they had to work alone. For fear that the 
 open air and free space might suggest flight to them, 
 fetters were put upon their feet. For some this treat- 
 ment was the cause of great suffering. "No," said 
 one of them, " I have often seen the torments of hell 
 represented in painting, but there is no hell more 
 infernal than my condition." 
 
 The labor, besides, which they were compelled to 
 perform was always extremely toilsome. They had to 
 work quarries, to clear up land which had never been 
 under cultivation, to prepare irrigation works, to con- 
 struct the causeways or the roads necessary for making 
 a piece of property valuable. And yet many of them 
 were contented with their condition. Horace's valet, 
 who, to speak the truth, had the restless disposition 
 which is becoming a poet's servant, wished to leave the 
 city and to be employed at Tibur. For in the country 
 a slave had the advantage of being far from his master. 
 "When one works in a distant field where the master
 
 The Servants. 93 
 
 rarely comes," says a character in an Atellan of Pom- 
 ponius, " he is no longer servant but master. " Besides, 
 slaves enjoyed, without doubt, great liberty during the 
 festivals when they were allowed to gather together. Festivals. 
 There was in the country a freedom during the Palilia 
 and the Saturnalia which the police of the city would 
 not have allowed. Bonfires were lighted everywhere ; 
 wine flowed in abundance, and if the master happened 
 to be near, full of the tranquillity and the gentle kind- 
 ness which a peaceful country life fosters, he would 
 retire, without doubt, as did Pliny the Younger, into 
 some secluded room, in order not to check the explo- 
 sion of joy which these poor creatures exhibited when 
 left to themselves unchained. 
 
 The slaves reserved for the city house, being nearer Houseslaves 
 their master, had more to suffer from his caprices, but 
 also they had a better opportunity to profit from them. 
 Moreover, being relatively more numerous, their work 
 was less laborious. 
 
 Slaves were classified, first, according to their nation- classification 
 ality and their color. The Asiatics were musicians or 
 cooks ; from Egypt came those beautiful children whose 
 mission it was to enliven their master by their frolic- 
 some humor. The Africans, agile and strong, ran 
 before his sedan-chair to make a way through the 
 crowd. As to the Germans, with their great bodies 
 and towering height, they were saved for the gladia- 
 torial show. 
 
 But thus far we have only made the first rough classi- Division of 
 fication ; for the division of labor was carried to a 
 degree that is difficult for us to realize. There were 
 slaves to open the door for a visitor, others to show him 
 in, others to hold aside the hangings before him, others 
 to announce him. A man had slaves to whisper in his
 
 94 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 ear the names of those whom he ought to recognize 
 upon the street. There were house-porters, stewards, 
 ushers, cup-bearers, bath-keepers, sweepers, etc. The 
 tomb has even been discovered of an unfortunate mortal 
 whose unique duty was to paint the aged Livia. May 
 we not trust that this office was a sinecure ? 
 
 The Romans had become so accustomed to let their 
 
 Literary slaves act for them that they came to rely upon their 
 
 slaves also to think for them. The Roman household 
 was a machine in which the intellectual faculties of the 
 slaves and freedmen belonged to their masters, and in 
 which the master who knew how to govern his forces 
 worked, as it were, with an infinite multiplicity of 
 intellects. Greece furnished in abundance learned and 
 literary slaves, who read, took notes, made researches, 
 prepared material for authors. It has been thought 
 that Pliny the Elder's " Natural History," that encyclo- 
 pedia of antiquity, was written with such assistance 
 from slaves. Quintilian said that Seneca had often 
 been led into error by the false information of those 
 who had been directed to make researches for him, 
 and he evidently refers to slaves and freedmen. Not 
 only did the Romans have slaves for secretaries, they 
 
 Prompters. h a d slaves for prompters. The story of Calvisius 
 Sabinus is familiar. He was ignorant and had no 
 memory. But he required one of his slaves to learn by 
 heart all Homer, another Hesiod, and others the nine 
 Greek lyric poets included in the Alexandrian canon ; 
 and when he gave a dinner, he had them crouch at his 
 feet under the table and furnish him with such quota- 
 tions as the occasion might suggest to a learned and 
 witty man, and these he repeated, often with absurd 
 mistakes. He did not hesitate to incur expense. Each 
 one of these prompters cost 100,000 sesterces, or about
 
 The Servants. 95 
 
 $4,250. A man who could afford it would let slip no 
 opportunity for getting possession of such valuable 
 assistants, whether he wished to use them himself or to 
 trade them off. They were articles of luxury, and they 
 sold easily, literary vanity being quite in the style. 
 There was, then, in connection with every well- 
 appointed house, a department where a complete course Slave-schools, 
 of study was provided for slaves. The ancient inscrip- 
 tions make frequent mention of these slave-schools. 
 
 When each slave had had his special duty assigned The organiza- 
 to him, the next step was to establish a system of ofsiaves. 
 discipline. It is at this point that the Romans dis- 
 played their genius for organization. The slaves were 
 divided into groups of ten, and each group was com- 
 manded by a decurion. The decurions, again, were 
 under the authority, in the country, of the farmer, and 
 in the city, of the steward. The farmer and the stew- 
 ard had to render each day an account of their adminis- 
 tration to the master, or to the one whom he deputed 
 in his place. This organization, which required certain 
 slaves to assist in the government of the house and 
 interested them in its management, this division of the 
 domestic force into little groups, which gave to the 
 decurions authority over their companions, without 
 interfering with the supremacy of the master, this 
 incessant oversight rendered the administration of a 
 vast household possible, if not easy, and afforded an 
 excellent training to those great optimates who were to 
 play one day a public role. 
 
 The country slaves had their festivals, and the city Recreat i ons O f 
 slaves, occupied by tasks which were, as we have slaves - 
 shown, so narrowly circumscribed, would have been 
 indeed subjects for pity if they had not enjoyed now 
 and then a few hours of pleasure. Their Saturnalia,
 
 96 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 boisterous without doubt, were nevertheless held more 
 
 closely within bounds than the same festival in the 
 
 country. But the city slaves made up for this restric- 
 
 Amusements ti on by many minor pleasures. Horace gives us an 
 
 of uneducated * J 
 
 slaves. i(j ea o f the amusements which occupied the leisure 
 
 moments of those of somewhat low taste. They used 
 to take long strolls through the busy streets of the 
 capital, stand in front of the pictures done in charcoal or 
 red chalk, which adorned the white walls of the build- 
 ings, gossip at the public baths, while waiting for their 
 masters, or loiter in the low corner tavern, where some 
 girl played the flute, while the clowns danced to her 
 noisy music. Sometimes, too, huddled together on the 
 highest seat of an amphitheater, they would become so 
 absorbed in the games as not to notice the loud voice of 
 the vender as he went about crying that his cakes were 
 hot from the oven. 
 
 The more cultured slaves found pleasure in their 
 master's society, and liked to take part in his life with- 
 
 Influenceof . J * t \ 
 
 slaves over out his suspecting it, to exert a quiet influence among 
 
 their masters. . . . 
 
 the members of his household, to make himself indis- 
 pensable in short, to rule. With a good master this 
 was not difficult. Pliny ingenuously confesses that he 
 did not always wield undisputed authority in his own 
 house, and that he had to call upon his mother-in-law 
 to support him : 
 
 The elegant accommodations which are to be found at 
 Narnia, Ocriculum, Carsola, Perusia, and particularly the 
 pretty bath at Narnia, I am extremely well acquainted with. 
 The truth is, I have a property in everything which belongs to 
 you ;.and I know of no other difference between your house 
 and my own, than that I am more carefully attended in the 
 former than in the latter. You may, perhaps, have occasion 
 to make the same observation in your turn, whenever you 
 shall give me your company here ; which I wish for, not only
 
 The Servants. 
 
 97 
 
 that you may partake of mine with the same ease and freedom 
 
 that I do of yours, but to awaken the industry of my domes- Pliny's indul- 
 
 tics, who are grown something careless in their attendance 
 
 upon me. A long course of mild treatment is apt to wear 
 
 out the impressions of awe in servants ; whereas new faces 
 
 quicken their diligence, as they are generally more inclined to 
 
 please their master by attention to his guest than to himself. 
 
 Farewell. 
 
 But the slaves would often succeed in securing their 
 ends, even with masters who had not the indulgent and 
 kind spirit of 
 Pliny, and 
 many a Caesar, 
 who held the 
 world in terror, 
 was himself 
 governed by 
 one of these 
 obscure per- 
 sons, whose 
 power was all 
 the greater and 
 more formid- 
 able because it 
 was concealed. 
 
 Having tried 
 to show the re- 
 lation of slaves 
 with their mas- 
 
 ters, it remains 
 
 HEATER. Naples. 
 
 for us to indicate the feelings that existed among the Relations be- 
 
 ... . . . .. tween slaves. 
 
 slaves themselves, and this is not the least interesting 
 part of our task. 
 
 If the reader remembers what we have said of the 
 organization of the domestics in a Roman house, of the
 
 98 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 sUv^s among system of government which was practiced, he will have 
 no trouble in seeing that hatred and rivalry among 
 slaves must have been frequent. Accusations, of course, 
 were often made, and masters had no need of encour- 
 aging them. But frequently, also, their community of 
 
 betwle^s^ves suffering drew the slaves into sympathy with each 
 other, and made them form strong friendships. Upon 
 the tomb of one of his friends, a freedman once had the 
 following inscription engraved : 
 
 Between us two, my dear comrade, no difference ever arose ; 
 I call upon the gods of Heaven and Hades to witness the 
 truth of this statement ! We were made slaves at the same 
 time, we served in the same house, we were freed together, 
 and this day, which has taken thee away from me, is the first 
 which has separated us. 
 
 These friendly relations were not limited to a few 
 Associations individuals. In a rich man's house associations were 
 
 among slaves. 
 
 formed among the slaves colleges (colleges), to use the 
 Roman word whose members were regularly assessed 
 to meet the common expenses. Sometimes all the 
 slaves of a house would assemble, like the people in 
 the forum, to vote, after solemn deliberation, some 
 recompense to the one in command over them. If 
 they were satisfied with him, they would join in erecting 
 a monument to him to thank him for having exercised 
 his authority with moderation. Sometimes, on such occa- 
 sions, they would imitate very successfully the official 
 style, and express themselves as follows : " The dining- 
 room slaves, in token of the services and the kindness 
 of Aurelia Crescentina, have decreed a statue in her 
 honor." Does it not sound like a decree of the senate? 
 Liberty is such a beautiful thing that these poor people, 
 who had lost it, or had never known it, found a sweet 
 delight even in imitating its forms and its language.
 
 The Servants. 
 
 99 
 
 The law refused a slave the privilege of having a 
 family. Marriage, with its resulting civic rights and 
 its moral character, was reserved for the free man. 
 But when the law is in such manifest contradiction to 
 nature it has no effect ; it remains a dead letter. That 
 is what happened at Rome. The slaves intermarried, 
 and the lawyers, by pronouncing their unions mere 
 concubinage, could not prevent- the slaves themselves 
 from regarding them seriously. The slaves had no 
 scruples against appropriating the 
 titles husband and wife, a privilege . 
 which the free man claimed exclu- 
 sively for himself. Some of them 
 imitated the style of the inscriptions 
 placed upon the tombs of the women 
 of noble family, and in praising a 
 wife did not hesitate to apply to her 
 the adjective "incomparable." 
 They also, and with more sincerity 
 perhaps than their masters, would 
 speak of eternal regret, and refer 
 with sorrowful pride to a union 
 which no storm had ever troubled 
 and which had never brought them 
 any pain except in the death of the 
 loved one. These marriages, freely 
 contracted, in which only mutual 
 liking was consulted, in which ques- 
 tions of birth never had weight and 
 money considerations very seldom, 
 were likely to be happy marriages. 
 But sometimes, also, slaves would 
 not wait for true affection to come 
 before concluding a marriage, but KEY.
 
 ioo Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 would obey a mere caprice. Such caprices were not 
 matrimonial always regulated according to our notions of propriety, 
 combinations. Sometimes, instead of a union of two, a union of three 
 was established. Plautus, in his ' ' Stichus, ' ' has de- 
 scribed one of these singular combinations, where per- 
 fect harmony reigned, as the following song of one of 
 the husbands shows : 
 
 We love the same girl, 
 
 And we ne'er disagree. 
 No envy we know. 
 
 Funny rivals are we ! 
 We live in accord, 
 
 And we drink from one bowl, 
 Yet we love the same girl ! 
 
 Oh, is knot droll? 
 
 The reader may be tempted to think that we have 
 here the mere wild fancy of a comic poet, which his 
 bold gaiety allowed him. But no ; graveyard inscrip- 
 tions, which of course are not humorous, show us that 
 there were instances in which two husbands, at the 
 death of their common wife, joined in mourning her 
 and in erecting her tombstone. Plautus has not im- 
 posed upon us. The reality was far more bizarre than 
 the inventions of the poet. A slave whose wife was his 
 sister mentions the fact in an inscription, as if it was the 
 most natural thing in the world. 
 
 Fortunately, however, instances of this kind must 
 
 Wholesome , , , 1 r 
 
 influence of have been somewhat rare. Marriage, in general, far 
 
 marriage , i i i iiirr r 
 
 among slaves, from depraving the slave, had the eftect of improving 
 his morality, and was therefore encouraged by masters. 
 Moreover, it was a means of attaching the slave to the . 
 house, of removing the temptation to escape. The 
 children born from slaves were valuable property ; and 
 Cato, who was a practical man, conceived the idea of
 
 The Servants, 101 
 
 selling to his slaves the right of marrying. This was 
 
 making them pay for the privilege of enriching him. Masters encour- 
 
 r . r age marriage 
 
 Masters, then, willingly presided over the marriages of among their 
 slaves, and attended their noisy celebrations, perhaps 
 even paying for them. These customs became so well 
 established that, under the empire, marriages among 
 slaves obtained a sort of legal recognition, and the 
 jurist Paulus, who lived under the emperor Alexander 
 Severus, allowed that a slave might legally apply the 
 term "wife" to the mother of his children, a privilege 
 which earlier jurists had refused. 
 
 Thus, as the plebeians formerly had acquired, in 
 spite of the law, the power to conclude valid marriages 
 with the patricians, so now slaves succeeded in getting 
 their marriages with each other legalized. They were 
 no longer denied the consolation of remembering those 
 who had given them life, and the joy of anticipating the 
 future of those who had received life from them. Often, 
 it is true, this joy was mingled with much bitterness. 
 Was not the future full of dark uncertainty? Was it Dangers to 
 
 ... '1-1 which a slave 
 
 not in the power of their master to take away their dear family was 
 children? Was not the life, and above all the honor, 
 of their children, at the mercy of his caprice? What 
 would become of this little girl, who was growing up 
 full of grace ? Might she not please her lord too well ? 
 And this young boy, handsome and strong, might he 
 not become the victim of those hideous passions which 
 the morals of the ancients regarded with too little 
 severity? Even the true happiness of the children 
 sometimes cost the tears of the parents. The children 
 might be freed, and that meant separation. A master 
 might marry the daughter of a slave, and in that case 
 he naturally would not allow her to visit her parents. 
 In spite of so many fears, in spite of so many anxieties
 
 IO2 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 The 
 siou 
 
 manumis- 
 of slaves. 
 
 Modestus. 
 
 for the future, the desire for a family is so natural and 
 so profound that slaves were not deterred from marriage 
 by the thought of the possible consequences. This 
 praiseworthy perseverance began to reap its reward 
 when a law of Constantine forbade separating the mem- 
 bers of a slave family, even by an act of manumission. 
 
 The time has come to speak of the important act 
 which gave to the slave the liberty which he had never 
 known, or restored to him the liberty which had been 
 taken from him. Reinach has given the following 
 brief but complete description of the bestowal of free- 
 dom upon a slave : 
 
 Manumission [he says] might be effected without formali- 
 ties, but in case a regular form was observed, the slave was 
 released in one of the three following ways : ist. By vindicta, 
 the Latin word for staff. This was a ceremony in which a 
 third party, who must be a Roman citizen, touched the slave 
 with a staff in the presence of a magistrate and of the master. 
 The master, who was holding the slave, let him go, and the 
 magistrate pronounced him free. ad. By census, when the 
 master had the slave's name inscribed by the censor upon the 
 list of citizens. 3d. By will, or even by a wish expressed for 
 the heir to carry out. 
 
 It was probably this last method that Sabina used in 
 the case of her slave Modestus, but she had neglected 
 to state formally her desire. Fortunately, she had 
 made Pliny the Younger one of her legatees, and he 
 chose to respect the intentions of her will rather than 
 hold strictly to its letter. We cannot deny ourselves 
 the pleasure of quoting the letter, in which Pliny tells 
 us how he adopts a course upon this occasion which 
 does honor to his character. 
 
 Your letter informs me that Sabina, who appointed you and 
 me her heirs, though she has nowhere expressly directed that 
 Modestus shall have his freedom, yet has left him a legacy in
 
 The Servants. 103 
 
 the following words: "I give, etc. to Modestus, whom I 
 
 have ordered to be made free"; upon which you desire my Pliny's decision 
 
 sentiments. I have consulted upon this occasion with the Moci!stus eof 
 
 most learned lawyers, and they all agree Modestus is not 
 
 entitled to his liberty, since it is not expressly given, and 
 
 consequently that the legacy is void, as being devised to a 
 
 slave. But it appears plainly to be a mistake in the testatrix ; 
 
 and therefore I think \ve ought to act in this case as if Sabina 
 
 had directed in so many words what it is clear she imagined 
 
 she had. I am persuaded you will join with me in these 
 
 sentiments, since you so religiously regard the will of the 
 
 dead ; which indeed, where it can be discovered, will always 
 
 be law to an honest mind. Honor is to you and me as strong 
 
 an obligation as necessity to others. Let Modestus, then, 
 
 enjoy hi's freedom and his legacy in as full a manner as if 
 
 Sabina had observed all the requisite forms ; as indeed they 
 
 effectually do who choose their heirs with discretion. 
 
 Emancipation gave to the slave the rights of a citizen, The f . 
 but up to the time of Augustus freed people could not freedmen. 
 contract marriage with those of free birth. They were 
 also excluded from military service, and were not 
 eligible to office. Moreover, they were under certain 
 obligations toward their liberator. They could not 
 bring an action against him, nor witness to his dis- 
 advantage. 
 
 The law Junia Norbana, of uncertain date, perhaps 
 belonging to the time of Tiberius, divided freedmen 
 into two classes, citizens and Latins. The former 
 enjoyed full liberty, the latter a more incomplete 
 liberty and the rights only of Latin colonists. But 
 history shows us that the tendency of Roman legis- 
 lation was toward unity, and we find under Justinian all 
 freedmen raised to the same rank. This emperor con- 
 ferred upon them all the rights of freeborn citizens. 
 
 By what means could a slave succeed in escaping How freedom 
 from servitude? How could he win the privilege of might be won.
 
 IO4 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Conditions re- 
 quired by the 
 law. 
 
 The purchase 
 of freedom. 
 
 putting on that Phrygian cap which was the sign of 
 freedom ? 
 
 He was obliged first to fulfil certain conditions re- 
 quired by the law. Up to the end of the empire a 
 master could not give freedom to a slave under thirty, 
 nor to one who had suffered during his slavery any 
 ignominious punishment. The law indicated also the 
 cases in which a slave could claim freedom. A slave 
 who had been exposed sick on the island in the Tiber 
 sacred to ^Esculapius, and who recovered, also a slave 
 
 COOKING UTENSILS. 
 
 who had informed against certain criminals, were 
 thenceforth free. Slaves were also allowed to buy 
 their freedom from their masters with their savings. 
 
 But most emancipations were the result of a master's 
 willingness to give freedom. When a slave had ren- 
 dered his master some extraordinary service, or had 
 succeeded in winning his master's favor by his agree- 
 able ways, he might hope to be led before the praetor 
 and to be touched by the liberating staff. Those who 
 belonged to the higher class of slaves, who had literary
 
 The Servants. 105 
 
 culture, were more likely than others to be presented 
 with their liberty, and often, after becoming freedmen, 
 they lived in intimacy with their masters. It is known Friendships be- 
 that Cicero had a strong friendship with his freedman a^d^re'edmen 5 
 Tiro, and Pliny the Younger shows in the following 
 letter that he had no less affection for Zosimus : 
 
 As I know the humanity with which you treat your own 
 servants, I do not scruple to confess to you the indulgence I 
 show to mine. I have ever in my mind Homer's character of 
 Ulysses, 
 
 "Who ruled his people with a father's love." 
 And the very expression in our language for the head of a 
 family [pater familiar, father of a family] suggests the rule of 
 one's conduct toward it. But were I naturally of a rough and 
 hardened cast of temper, the ill state of health of my freed- 
 man Zosimus ( who has the stronger claim to a humane treat- 
 ment at my hands, as he now stands much in need of it) 
 would be sufficient to soften me. He is a person of great 
 worth, diligent in his services, and well skilled in literature ; 
 but his chief talent, and indeed his profession, is that of a O f Zosimus. 
 comedian, wherein he highly excels. He speaks with great 
 emphasis, judgment, propriety, and gracefulness ; he has a 
 very good hand, too, upon the lyre, which he understands 
 better than is necessary for one of his profession. To this I 
 must add, he reads history, oratory, and poetry as well as if 
 he had singly applied himself to that art. I am thus particular 
 in enumerating his qualifications that you may see how many 
 agreeable services I receive from him. He is indeed endeared 
 to me by the ties of a long affection, which seems to be 
 heightened by the danger he is now in. For nature has so 
 formed our hearts that nothing contributes more to raise and 
 inflame our inclination for any enjoyment than the apprehen- 
 sion of being deprived of it a sentiment which Zosimus has 
 given me occasion to experience more than once. Some 
 years ago he strained himself so much by too vehement an His jii- 
 exertion of his voice that he spit blood, upon which account 
 I sent him into Egypt ; from whence, after a long absence, he 
 lately returned with great benefit to his health. But having 
 again exerted himself for several days together beyond his
 
 io6 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Pliny's care of 
 Zosimus. 
 
 Contempt for 
 freedmen. 
 
 The degraded 
 character of 
 freedmen. 
 
 strength, he was reminded of his former malady by a slight 
 return of his cough and a spitting of blood. For this reason I 
 intend to send him to your farm at Forum-Julii, which I have 
 frequently heard you mention as having an exceeding fine 
 air, and I remember your recommending the milk of that 
 place as very good in disorders of this nature. I beg you 
 would give directions to your people to receive him into your 
 house and to supply him with what he shall have occasion for ; 
 which will not be much, for he is so temperate as not only to 
 abstain from delicacies, but even to deny himself the neces- 
 saries his ill state of health requires. I shall furnish him 
 toward his journey with what will be sufficient for one of his 
 abstemious turn who is coming under your roof. Farewell. 
 
 But the stigmata of slavery were not easily effaced. 
 Public opinion refused to place these newcomers into 
 civic life in the same rank with those who had always 
 been free. We know that the enemies of Horace 
 reproached him with his birth, and when, long after 
 (178) Pertinax, who, like the poet, was a freedman's 
 son, succeeded, by his military achievements, in winning 
 the consulship, people did not fail to circulate scornful 
 remarks about his humble origin. "Look," they 
 would say, ' ' at .the results of cursed war. ' ' 
 
 It is not hard to understand this feeling of contempt 
 for freedmen. The conditions of the slave and of the 
 free man were separated by barriers so wide that it 
 was not easy to cross them, and any one who accom- 
 plished this feat was regarded with ill-will. 
 
 But we must confess also that freedmen often fur- 
 nished cause for this prejudice and distrust. They 
 were probably not responsible for the degradation in 
 their characters produced by slavery. Nevertheless, 
 they were degraded, although they were not to blame 
 for it. The touch of the praetor's staff was not the 
 touch of a fairy's wand, and liberty could not change 
 them completely in a single day.
 
 The Servants. 107 
 
 They had usually received mental training ; but 
 honor is not learned without a teacher. So they were 
 almost all of an equivocal morality, if they were not 
 notoriously immoral. 
 
 When they entered civic life they were usually with- 
 out means, and they lived by their wits. They could 
 not afford to be too particular about the choice of a ' llvlng - 
 profession. The important thing was to make a living. 
 No pretense of an occupation would do. They be- 
 came trumpeters, itinerant musicians, assistants in 
 funeral obsequies, barbers, town-criers, scavengers ; 
 their taste was not very delicate, neither was their con- 
 science. They swelled the number of legacy-hunters, 
 false witnesses, and brokers. Active, shrewd, un- 
 scrupulous, knights of industry, convinced that busi- 
 ness meant other people's money, they often quickly 
 amassed a fortune. And then they exhibited those 
 vices that in all ages come with a sudden elevation of 
 fortune. Might not their vices of to-day afford them 
 some compensation for yesterday's repression? Might rhepresump- 
 they not even be the punishment of those masters from 
 whom they had been learned learned almost under 
 compulsion? Juvenal has drawn several striking por- 
 traits of these insolent and vain rich freedmen. Let 
 us reproduce one of them : 
 
 The scene is the open space, filled with people, be- 
 fore the door of a palace whose owner is distributing 
 free gifts among the expectant crowd. We see a patron 
 and his clients. A dispute has arisen in the crowd 
 about a question of precedence. 
 
 "Dispatch the Praetor first," the master cries, 
 "And next the Tribune." " No, not so," replies 
 The Freedman, bustling through, "first come is, still, 
 First served ; and I may claim my right, and will ! 
 
 men.
 
 io8 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny* s Time. 
 
 The freedman's 
 claim to prece- 
 dence. 
 
 KEY. 
 
 Though born a slave ('tis bootless to deny 
 
 What these bored ears betray to every eye), 
 
 On my own rents, in splendor, now I live, 
 
 On five fair freeholds ! Can the purple give 
 
 Their Honors more ? when to Laurentum sped, 
 
 Noble Corvinus tends a flock for bread ! 
 
 Pallas and the Licinii, in estate, 
 
 Must yield to me : let, then, the Tribunes wait." 
 
 Yes, let them wait ! thine, Riches, be the field ! 
 
 It is not meet that he to Honor yield, 
 
 To sacred Honor, who, with whitened feet, 
 
 Was hawked for sale, so lately, through the street. 
 
 O gold ! though Rome beholds no altar's flame, 
 
 No temples rise to thy pernicious name, 
 
 Yet is thy full divinity confest, 
 
 Thy shrine established here, in every breast. 
 
 Petronius, in his "Satiricon," has depicted the 
 finished type of those freedmen, who, trying to 
 imitate their former masters, substitute for mag- 
 nificence, display ; for elegance, affectation ; for 
 pride, insolence ; and for rudeness, vulgarity. His 
 Trimalchio, at the same time that he makes a show 
 of his riches, tries to appear a lord. He even 
 aspires to literature. He would like to pass for 
 a Maecenas, for a patron of arts. He prides him- 
 self on a beautiful passion for music. So he has 
 himself served at table to the sound of musical 
 instruments, and his valets carve in rhythmic 
 measure. However, in his sincere moments, he 
 confesses that, as to artists, he cares only for rope- 
 dancers and cornet-players ; thus M. Jourdain pre- 
 ferred to everything else the sound of the trumpet 
 marine. 
 
 This kind of upstart was only ridiculous. But 
 the more intelligent ones became often formidable.
 
 The Servants. 109 
 
 Pliny once made the following profound observation The power of 
 about the Caesars : ' ' They are the masters of the citi- free<fmen 
 zens, and the slaves of the freedmen." 
 
 What motives led the emperors to depend so largely 
 upon the services of freedmen ? They desired to im- 
 press the masses, whose temper it was important not to 
 irritate, with the idea that the imperial court was not 
 essentially different from a private family. Further- 
 more, they were influenced by a political consideration 
 which, although diametrically opposed to this affecta- 
 tion of simplicity, is not inconsistent with it. They 
 tried, by employing freedmen in places of honor, to 
 show plainly how little importance they attached to the 
 differences of social rank ; they wished to make it 
 understood that they had adopted a system of leveling, Sodal levelin g- 
 and thus to break down the resistance of the ancient 
 patrician class, and to teach all that the imperial 
 pleasure was the source of every honor, that it could 
 raise a man from the humblest condition to the highest, 
 and that before it all the subjects of the empire were 
 equal. 
 
 This power of the freedmen, it is true, was checked 
 under the Antonines ; for Pliny says to Trajan : ' ' You 
 advise them to keep themselves within bounds. 
 You know that the presumptuous airs of the freedmen 
 make the prince appear insignificant." But this power 
 could not have been destroyed, for Pliny adds, "Be- 
 sides, they are all the more worthy of receiving respect 
 when we are not compelled to pay it to them." 
 
 The rapid accumulation of wealth by the freedmen, 
 their sudden attainment of political elevation, excited 
 the anger and surprise of the Roman citizens. This 
 explains their exclamations of wrath against freedmen ; 
 this excuses the unjust satires of Juvenal, who, misled
 
 no Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 by a feeling of hatred, sometimes makes random flings 
 Juvenal's bit- at them, and even goes so far as to reproach them for 
 
 ter expression 
 
 against freed- gaining their livelihood by working. He represents 
 his friend Umbritius, who is on the point of leaving 
 Rome, as saying : 
 
 Here, then, I bid my much-loved home farewell 
 Ah, mine no more ! there let Arturius dwell, 
 And Catulus ; knaves, who, in truth's despite, 
 Can white to black transform, and black to white. 
 
 Now, these freedmen, so severely condemned by the 
 wrathful Umbritius, are nothing but engineers, manu- 
 facturers, and merchants ; for he continues his indignant 
 strain by explaining in just what the knavery of these 
 knaves consists. They 
 
 Build temples, furnish funerals, auctions hold, 
 Farm rivers, ports, and scour the drains for gold ! 
 
 But let us not, in trying to understand the irritation 
 Emancipation o { the ancient Romans at the sight of the rapid ascent of 
 
 leads to democ- \ 
 
 these men who started from so low a position, fail to 
 observe one of the greatest facts in the history of civili- 
 zation. Emancipation opened the avenues for true 
 democracy. We owe to the manumission of slaves the 
 gradual disappearance of pernicious prejudice, of the 
 unjust and aristocratic contempt for work, commerce, 
 and industry. And as the breaking down of one 
 barrier always drags along another, the prosperity of 
 freedmen resulted at last in the abolition of slavery.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS. 
 
 THE ancients regarded historical composition as 
 belonging to the realm of the artistic imagination. A Historical 
 
 . . , . . TII 1 composition 
 
 history was tor them a beautitul drama, whose scenes among the 
 should follow each other in a style of sustained eleva- 
 tion of oratorical grandeur, without any prosaic inter- 
 ruption. They carefully excluded all that could break 
 this unity of tone or destroy this harmony of color. 
 Tacitus illustrates this ancient conception of history 
 when, instead of quoting the official text, which he had 
 at hand, of the speech delivered by the emperor 
 Claudius in favor of extending to Transalpine Gaul the 
 right of admission to the senate; he remodels it, and 
 imbues it with his own personality. The province of 
 history was, then, among the ancients, much more 
 limited than among us. They attempted to describe 
 only the most attractive aspects of the society in which 
 they lived. Consequently they have told us almost 
 nothing about questions of the economic order. Since Questions of 
 the historians neglected this subject, can we not go to not"reatedby er 
 the dramatic writers or to the romancers ? They would l 
 doubtless be a valuable source of information, but, 
 unfortunately, the comedies which represent scenes 
 from the lives of tradesmen and workmen we refer to 
 the mimes and the Atellans have been lost, and the 
 interesting romance of Petronius, which depicts the 
 lives of the uneducated classes, is too strongly local in
 
 ii2 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 color, belonging exclusively to the south of Italy, to be 
 serviceable as a source of general information. To 
 treat the commerce of antiquity is therefore a difficult 
 undertaking. In fact, nearly all our knowledge about 
 it is derived from monumental inscriptions. Let us try 
 to sum up the results arrived at by those who have 
 devoted their time to research in this subject. 
 
 Scanty as our information is, we are safe in affirming 
 Commercial that commerce, in ancient Rome, never reached the 
 
 inactivity in . . . 
 
 ancient Rome, same degree of activity as among modern nations. 
 There was nothing at Rome which resembled even 
 faintly the rush of business affairs which sweeps along in 
 its feverish movement the men of the present time. 
 When we consider how practical the Romans were we 
 are inclined to feel much surprise that commerce among 
 them held so unimportant a place, and we wonder how 
 it could have been so dormant in an atmosphere which, 
 at first thought, seems very favorable to its develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Some have sought an explanation in the origin of 
 
 The respect felt Rome. The first settlers, we know, were farmers. 
 
 for agriculture. . t 
 
 During long years agriculture was the principal means 
 of existence for Italian communities, and especially for 
 the Latins. The beautiful custom of beginning the 
 foundation of a city by tracing a furrow with a plow 
 where the future encircling wall was to stand, proves 
 how profoundly the feeling that the existence of cities 
 depended upon agriculture was impressed upon all 
 minds. 
 
 So agriculture was a profession eminently honored by 
 the ancient Romans. Listen to the views of the elder 
 Cato : 
 
 When our forefathers pronounced the eulogy of a worthy 
 man, they praised him as a worthy farmer and a worthy land-
 
 The Transaction of Business. 113 
 
 lord ; one who was thus commended was thought to have 
 received the highest praise. The merchant I deem energetic 
 and diligent in the pursuit of gain ; but his calling is too much 
 exposed to perils and mischances. On the other hand, 
 farmers furnish the bravest men and the ablest soldiers ; no 
 calling is so honorable, safe, and inoffensive as theirs, and 
 those who occupy themselves with it are least liable to evil 
 thoughts. 
 
 Nothing is better than to praise agriculture. But, 
 unfortunately, the respect in which farming was held otcommefce. 
 was offset by a contempt for commercial activity. We 
 learn from Livy that a Claudian law, passed at the 
 suggestion of Caius Flaminius, forbade senators and the 
 sons of senators to possess ships, except for the trans- 
 port of the products of their own estates, and probably 
 also forbade them to engage in public business enter- 
 prises ; in a word, excluded them from all that the 
 Romans understood as speculation or trade. There is 
 an oft-quoted passage in Cicero's writings which has a 
 significant bearing upon this question. In his treatise 
 on ' ' Duties, ' ' the orator distinguishes between liberal servile occu- 
 and servile occupations as follows : 
 
 Those callings are held in disesteem that come into collision 
 with the ill-will of men, as that of tax-gatherers, as that of 
 usurers. The callings of hired laborers, and of all who are 
 paid for their mere work and not for skill, are ungenteel and 
 vulgar ; for their wages are given for menial service. Those 
 who buy to sell again as soon as they can are to be accounted 
 as vulgar ; for they can make no profit except by a certain 
 amount of falsehood, and nothing is meaner than falsehood. 
 All mechanics are engaged in vulgar business ; for a workshop 
 can have nothing respectable about it. Least of all can we 
 speak well of the trades that minister to sensual pleasures 
 
 "Fishmongers, butchers, cooks, poulterers, and fishermen," 
 
 as Terence says. . . . The professions which require 
 greater skill, and are of no small profit to the community,
 
 ii4 Roman Life in Pliny s Time. 
 
 such as medicine, architecture, the instruction of youth in 
 liberal studies, are respectable for those whose rank they suit. 
 Commerce, if on a small scale, is to be regarded as vulgar ; 
 but if large and rich, importing much from all quarters, and 
 making extensive sales without fraud, it is not so very dis- 
 creditable. Nay, it may justly claim the highest regard, if the 
 merchant, satiated, or rather contented with his profits, instead 
 of any longer leaving the sea for a port, betakes himself from 
 Agriculture the ^ e P ort * tse ^ to an estat e in the country. But of all means of 
 noblest occu- acquiring gain nothing is better than agriculture, nothing more 
 productive, nothing more pleasant, nothing more worthy of a 
 man of liberal mind. 
 
 One hundred and fifty years after Cicero, Juvenal 
 expresses the same ideas. It was considered in his 
 time less unbecoming for a free man to go and beg for 
 the sportula (gifts of money doled out by a patron to 
 his clients) than to engage in a lucrative employment. 
 Have we not still retained something of this prejudice ? 
 Are we not too fond of the liberal professions, which 
 have been ironically defined as ' ' those which allow the 
 least liberty and bring in the least money" ? 
 
 This contempt for commerce was probably sincere 
 
 with some of the great nobles and literary men among 
 
 the Romans. But it seems to us that it was more often 
 
 a pretended contempt, assumed by those who wished to 
 
 appear stylish and cultured. At bottom, the Romans, 
 
 whom Pliny the Elder considered so devoted to 
 
 Mercantile utility, were mercantile in spirit. Cato, who expressed 
 
 Romans! * his mind freely, confesses, in the practical instructions 
 
 which he prepared for his son, that this is so. 
 
 A man [he says] ought to increase his fortune. And the 
 man whose account books prove at his death that he has 
 gained more than he received as an inheritance is worthy of 
 praise, and is filled with a divine spirit. 
 
 Let us not, then, look for the cause of the slight
 
 The Transaction of Business. 115 
 
 development of commerce at Rome in the disdain which 
 
 people boasted for the merchant's calling: and their Absence of a 
 
 middle class. 
 
 respect for agriculture only. The true explanation is to 
 be found in the social constitution of Rome. From an 
 early point in its history Rome had no middle class. 
 The small farmers, the small plebeian property-holders, 
 who had constituted the strength of the city in the first 
 era of its existence, soon disappeared. In fact, how 
 could they sustain the war which capital, in the third War between 
 
 ir i r i r i- r i , > capital and 
 
 and fourth centuries after the founding of the city, had labor. 
 
 declared against labor ? For war it certainly was when 
 
 the landowner, who never worked, took away from the 
 
 farmer, under the pretext that it was the interest upon 
 
 his debts, the profit coming from the land which he 
 
 toiled to cultivate. These ancient citizens, thus driven 
 
 out of agriculture, which had become a burdensome 
 
 profession for them, would doubtless not have scorned 
 
 trade or manufacture. But how could they succeed in 
 
 either ? How meet the formidable competition of slave 
 
 labor? In almost every branch of traffic business was Slave labor. 
 
 carried on by slaves. The historian Mommsen says : 
 
 The money-lenders and bankers instituted, throughout the 
 range of their business, additional counting-houses and branch 
 banks under the direction of their slaves and freedmen. The 
 company which had leased the customs duties from the state 
 appointed chiefly their slaves and freedmen to levy them at 
 each custom-house. Every one who took contracts for build- 
 ings bought architect-slaves ; every one who undertook to 
 provide spectacles or gladiatorial games on behalf of those to 
 whom that duty pertained, purchased or trained a company of 
 slaves skilled in acting, or a band of serfs expert in the trade 
 of fighting. The merchant imported his wares in vessels of 
 his own under the charge of slaves or freedmen, and disposed 
 of them by the same means in wholesale or retail. We need 
 hardly add that the working of mines and manufactories was 
 -conducted entirely by slaves.
 
 n6 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 It is plain that to engage in trade without a large 
 capital was, on account of the competition of slave 
 labor, disheartening even for the boldest citizens. 
 Moreover, what deterred the plebeians more than any- 
 thing else from such an enterprise was that measures 
 The pauper- had been adopted to render it unnecessary for them to 
 
 izmg of the r J 
 
 people. do business. What was the use of working when one 
 
 could live without it ? 
 
 The chiefs of the democracy [says M. Boissier, in his 
 "Archaeological Rambles"], at length risen to power, paid 
 the people for their kindness by a liberality whose conse- 
 quences were necessarily fatal to the republic. C. Gracchus 
 caused it to be decided that henceforth the state should 
 undertake partially to feed the poor citizens. Corn tickets 
 Corn tickets. were distributed to them, which allowed them to receive corn 
 at half price. It being natural not to stop at half measures, 
 some time after the Gracchi it occurred to another dema- 
 gogue to give it for nothing. The less people paid, the more 
 the number increased of those who desired to enjoy this favor. 
 When Caesar took possession of the supreme power their 
 number mounted to 320,000. 
 
 If we consider how temperate the people of the South 
 are, and how few their needs, and if we bear in mind that 
 besides these gratuitous distributions which the masses 
 received, these gifts of public assistance, clients were 
 given presents by their patrons, and that the people sold 
 to candidates for office the support of their votes, we 
 shall understand how aptly the familiar phrase, ' ' a com- 
 monwealth composed of millionaires and of beggars," 
 applies to Rome during the two centuries before the 
 The masses Christian era. This condition of things was but little 
 
 become beg- _ . 
 
 gars. % bettered under the empire, in spite ot the enorts 01 
 
 some of the princes to restrain this mendicity. At the 
 death of Augustus 200,000 citizens were still receiving 
 corn from the state. This enormous disproportion in
 
 The Transaction of Business. 
 
 117 
 
 the distribution of wealth, these premiums awarded to 
 idleness, constitute in our opinion the true cause of the 
 stagnation of commerce at Rome. 
 
 However this may be, commerce did exist, and it is 
 time for us to describe it. In the first place, commerce 
 was purely passive, and consisted in importation. How 
 could it be otherwise ? Ruined by the capitalization of 
 wealth, by the encroachments of the large estates, and 
 by the civil wars, Italy produced nothing. Pliny the 
 Elder says that 
 on the peaceful 
 waters of the 
 Tiber could be 
 seen the com- 
 modities and 
 the merchandise 
 of the whole 
 world. This is 
 not an exagger- 
 ation. Rome 
 was the vast 
 emporium for 
 all that the 
 world pro- 
 duced. It absorbed everything and returned nothing. 
 Look at the picture which ^lius Aristides traced in the 
 second century after Christ of this immense bazaar : 
 
 Into this city are brought, from all countries and from all 
 seas, the fruits of all the seasons and the products of all 
 lands, rivers, and lakes ; and whatever is created by the skill 
 of the Greeks and of the barbarians. So that the man who 
 wishes to view all these things must either travel over the 
 whole world or visit this city, where there is always an abund- 
 ance of whatever is grown or manufactured among all nations. 
 In the course of a season so many freighted ships come into 
 
 CUP. 
 
 Importation. 
 
 Rome becomes 
 a vast em- 
 porium.
 
 Ii8 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 its port from all countries that a person there might almost 
 Description think he was in a universal manufactory. So many cargoes 
 A f ristides by from India and from Araby the Blessed are to be seen there 
 that one might imagine that the trees of those countries are 
 forever stripped of their fruits, and that the people who live in 
 those countries will be forced to come to Rome to ask back 
 again as much of the products of their own soil as their 
 necessities require. The stuffs of Babylonia and the jewels 
 from the barbarous region of interior Asia reach Rome in 
 much larger quantities and far more easily than the products 
 of Naxos and of Cythnus reach Athens. In fact, whatever 
 commerce can lay hold of and ships can carry, whatever 
 agriculture and the mines produce, whatever industry and the 
 arts create, whatever exists in the earth, and whatever grows 
 upon it, all this is gathered together in the market of Rome. 
 
 Rome thus had become a truly universal city, a 
 microcosm, a miniature world, according to the ex- 
 
 The cosmopoli- . . . 
 
 tan appearance pression of a Greek rhetorician. Its appearance was as 
 
 of Rome. _ rr . 
 
 cosmopolitan as that of our modern Paris. There one 
 might hear a confusion of tongues as various as those 
 which buzz in Paris. The costumes of all the coun- 
 tries, the types of all the races, presented there a mix- 
 ture even more picturesque than can be seen to-day 
 in that city. For if the Roman civilization had 
 created unity, it had not been able to impose uni- 
 formity. Here were fair-haired Germans and woolly 
 negroes. Oriental princes with their pointed caps, 
 such as the Persians of our day wear, ran against 
 tattooed savages from the island of Britain. Rome 
 attracted men as it absorbed things. It was at the 
 same time the museum and the inn of the universe. 
 
 Under such conditions, transmarine commerce was 
 Transmarine naturally more fully and more quickly developed than 
 
 commerce. , T , , ,-., 
 
 other commerce. In a comedy of Plautus, a slave 
 who has just found a bag in the bottom of the sea, and 
 who, judging by its weight, thinks he has made a
 
 The Transaction of Business. 119 
 
 valuable find, builds, as we say, castles in Spain 
 
 castles in Asia, as the Romans would have said. After Its extensive- 
 ness. 
 
 he shall have purchased his liberty from his master, he 
 proposes to equip vessels and to engage in commerce 
 on a large scale. He will meet with success, like a 
 certain contemporary of his, who became suddenly 
 rich ; and he will found cities which shall bear his 
 name, and he will be bowed down to as king among 
 kings. A person does not indulge in such dreams 
 unless there is some foundation in reality. In fact, 
 commerce beyond the sea had become very extensive. 
 This is proved by its complicated organization. The 
 historian Mommsen says : 
 
 In transmarine transactions more especially and such as 
 were otherwise attended with considerable risk, the system of The system of 
 partnership was so extensively adopted that it practically took 
 the place of insurances, which were unknown to antiquity. 
 Nothing was more common than the nautical loan, as it was 
 called the modern "bottomry" by which the risk and gain 
 of transmarine traffic were proportionately distributed among 
 the owners of the vessel and cargo and all the capitalists who 
 had advanced money for the voyage. It was, however, a 
 general rule of Roman economy that one should rather take 
 small shares in many speculations than speculate independ- 
 ently ; Cato advised the capitalist not to fit out a single ship 
 with his money but to enter into concert with forty-nine other 
 capitalists, so as to send out fifty ships and to take an interest 
 in each, to the extent of a fiftieth share. 
 
 The empire, which had made the comfort of the 
 masses a subject of its incessant care, and, as it were, The harbor 
 
 ... r ., , ofOstia. 
 
 an instrument of control, did not fail to encourage this 
 commerce, which tended to create activity and was a 
 source of wealth. Great public works were undertaken, 
 harbors were dredged ; and the excavations of Ostia, so 
 prosperously conducted by Signer Visconti and con- 
 tinued by Signor Pietro Rosa, have shown us what
 
 I2O 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 's Time. 
 
 The port of 
 Claudius. 
 
 Trajan's har- 
 bor. 
 
 intelligence and what large ideas the Romans displayed 
 in constructions of this kind. Claudius and Trajan had 
 successively worked there. M. Boissier says : 
 
 The port of Claudius was shut in to the right and to the left 
 by two solid jetties, " like two arms," says Juvenal, "stretched 
 out in the middle of the waves." The one to the right, 
 
 sheltered by its po- 
 | s i t i o n from tem- 
 > pests, was formed 
 of arches, which 
 allowed the water 
 of the se? to enter, 
 while that to the 
 left was of solid, 
 stout masonry. It 
 had to be strong 
 enough to resist 
 the billows, when 
 raised by the south 
 wind. Between the 
 ends of the two 
 jetties the enor- 
 mous vessel on which one of the largest obelisks of Egypt had 
 just been brought over was sunk full of stone. It became a 
 kind of islet, protecting the harbor, and only leaving on either 
 side two narrow passages, furnished with iron chains. On this 
 little island a lighthouse was raised that is to say, a tower of 
 several stories, ornamented with columns and pilasters, like 
 the one that lit the port of Alexandria. 
 
 Soon the harbor of Claudius was inadequate. Trajan 
 had a new one dug. It was a hexagonal basin, cover- 
 ing an area of almost one hundred acres, and it was 
 lined on .all sides by a quay forty feet broad, with 
 granite posts to moor the ships to. These are still in 
 their places. The new harbor formed a continuation of 
 the old one, and was joined to it by a canal fifty-nine 
 feet broad, and another canal put them in communica- 
 
 OSTIA.
 
 The Transaction of Business. 121 
 
 tion with the river. This latter canal has become a 
 new arm of the river, and is called to-day the Fiumicino. 
 There are remains in the port of Ostia of vast ware- 
 houses docks, as we should say. They all appear to ost e i a d cks at 
 have been constructed at the same time and upon the 
 same model. Great vats are still in existence there, 
 half buried under the ground, where corn and oil used 
 to be stored. 
 
 A whole population of sailors, divers, porters, lighter- 
 men, and writing clerks were employed in the unload- 
 ing and storing of the merchandise. A painting found 
 at Ostia preserves for us a life-like picture of these 
 maritime towns. It represents a vessel, with its name 
 and that of its proprietor inscribed upon its side. It 
 was called the Isis of Geminius. M. Boissier thus de- 
 scribes the picture : 
 
 On the poop, above a little cabin, the pilot Pharnaces grasps 
 the helm. Toward the middle, the captain Abascantus is 
 overlooking the workmen. On the shore, porters, bending ^Jr'^! Hfe. 
 beneath the weight of sacks of corn, proceed toward a small 
 plank, which joins the ship to the shore. One of them has 
 already arrived, and is pouring the contents of his sack into a 
 large measure, while in front of him the controller, charged 
 with the interests of the department, is intent on seeing the 
 measure well filled, and holds the sack by its edges, in order 
 that nothing may be lost. A little further, another porter, 
 whose sack is empty, is sitting down to rest, and his whole 
 face breathes an air of satisfaction, explained by the words 
 written by the painter above his head, "I have finished" 
 (fed}. 
 
 Next to maritime commerce, money-dealing was 
 the most brilliant feature of Roman private economics. Money-dealing. 
 It constituted the occupation of a whole class of 
 the citizens namely, the equestrian order. In early 
 times this branch of commercial industry had been
 
 122 Roman Life in Pliny" 1 s Time. 
 
 much despised. Cato, in his outspoken way, said : 
 
 Lending money at interest has several advantages, but it is 
 not honorable. Our fathers consequently decreed, and in- 
 scribed it among their laws, that the thief should be sentenced 
 to restore double, but the lender at interest quadruple. We 
 see by this how much more pernicious a citizen they regarded 
 the usurer than the thief. 
 
 But neither the law nor the instinctive hate which 
 
 The basis of -,,,,. , 11- 
 
 the social the masses felt for the business prevented money-dealing 
 
 economy of the , r i r 1 1 i r 
 
 Romans. and the leasing of the taxes from becoming the basis or 
 
 the social economy of the Romans. Through such 
 monetary transactions the knights succeeded in gaining 
 in the state a place which permitted them soon to 
 counterbalance the influence of the senatorial order. 
 For almost none of the business men had the good 
 sense to keep aloof from public life. The example of 
 the wise Atticus was but little followed. The mania for 
 holding office seized upon those who grew rich at this 
 time, as in our nineteenth century. 
 
 We should like to know something about the system 
 of banking among the Romans. Unfortunately, our 
 
 Banking. . . . , 
 
 only source of information is the tablets of a provincial 
 banker, Caecilius Jucundus, in business at Pompeii. 
 These tablets, recently discovered, comprise one hun- 
 dred and thirty-two signed receipts, of which one 
 hundred and twenty-seven have been deciphered. 
 Almost all these receipts have reference to sales by 
 auction. We quote from M. Boissier : 
 
 He who presided at the sale the chief auctioneer, as we 
 should call him had to know how to keep accounts and draw 
 up a regular report, so a professional banker was often 
 appointed to the office. This is how, at Pompeii, Caecilius 
 Jucundus came to be charged with it. The presidency of the 
 banker had, besides, another advantage. When the buyer, 
 who was obliged to settle at once, had not the needful sum at
 
 The Transaction of Business. 1 23 
 
 his disposal, the banker advanced it. So in transactions of 
 this nature he made two kinds of profit first, the commission A banker's 
 levied on the total proceeds of the sale in payment of his P rofits - 
 trouble, and then the interest required of the buyer for the 
 money lent to him. Our tablets, which, with a few unim- 
 portant differences, are all written the same way, contain the 
 receipt of the seller to the banker who furnishes the funds, and 
 represents the real buyer of whom he is the intermediary. 
 These documents have special interest for lawyers. Others, 
 unfortunately in too small numbers, give us curious informa- 
 tion touching the finances of Roman municipalities, and the 
 way in which they administered their properties. They are 
 signed by the town treasurer, and show us that Caecilius, who 
 was not satisfied with the emolument accruing to him from 
 sales by auction, also undertook to manage the communal 
 estates. He had thus taken farm pastures, a field, and a 
 fuller's shop belonging to the municipality, perhaps either 
 sub-letting or working them himself. Such were the means 
 hit upon by the banker of a small town in order to enrich 
 himself. 
 
 Below the bankers were those who lent money on the 
 security of personal property deposited. For already Pawnbrokers, 
 this means had been discovered of exploiting the poor 
 and needy. Martial, in one of his epigrams, depicts a 
 man who tried to appear rich making a display of 
 sumptuous elegance at the forum, although the even- 
 ing before he had presented himself at the counter of 
 the pawnbroker Claudius to pawn his ring in order to 
 get enough money to buy his supper with. In short, 
 whatever the social standing of money-dealers in Rome, 
 
 - , . r r Business 
 
 it seems to be evident, in spite of the scarcity of mfor- immorality, 
 mation on the subject, that financial activity was 
 divorced from morality. The evil results of the un- 
 scrupulous management of money reached a climax at 
 the end of the republic. Then occurred seditions like 
 those of Cinna, of Catiline, and of Clodius, which were 
 merely battles between those who had property and
 
 124 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 The shop- 
 keepers and 
 artisans. 
 
 Division of 
 labor. 
 
 those who had none. The reforms of the empire per- 
 haps resulted in improving somewhat this situation, but 
 we do not believe that the emperors succeeded in 
 supplying financiers with true principles of business 
 morality. 
 
 We do not entertain for commerce on a small scale 
 the aristocratic disdain of Cicero. Although they are 
 at the bottom of the ladder, the shopkeepers and the 
 artisans interest us as much as the bankers and the 
 ship-owners, if not more than they. We should like to 
 have in regard to this class of Roman society abundant 
 and exact information. But, as we have already said, 
 
 our information 
 j at this point is 
 meager. How- 
 ever, let us try to 
 make the most 
 of it. 
 
 In the first 
 place, we are 
 struck by the 
 great variety of 
 trades. If the 
 theory of the 
 
 SHOP OF AN OIL MERCHANT AT POMPEII. division of labor 
 
 is recent, its practice is very ancient. This division of 
 labor was carried very far at Rome, especially in the 
 manufacture of objects of art and of luxury. Besides 
 the gold and silversmiths we find ring-makers, as 
 well as gold-beaters and gilders. Plautus has made a 
 humorous enumeration of the different trades which 
 supplied the wants of women. Let the reader imagine 
 pay-day in a wealthy family : 
 There stands the scourer, the embroiderer, the goldsmith, 

 
 The Transaction of Business. 125 
 
 the woolen manufacturer, retail dealers in figured skirts, 
 dealers in women's underclothing, dyers in flame-color, dyers Enumeration 
 in violet, dyers in wax-color, or else sleeve-makers, or perfum- r f a < deg 1 . nct 
 ers ; wholesale linen-drapers, shoemakers, squatting cobblers, 
 slipper-makers ; sandal-makers stand there ; stainers in mallow- 
 color stand there ; hair-dressers make their demands, botchers 
 their demands ; bodice-makers stand there ; makers of kirtles 
 take their stand. Now you would think them got rid of ; these 
 make way, others make their demands ; three hundred duns 
 are standing in your hall ; weavers, lace-makers, cabinet- 
 makers, are introduced ; the money's paid them. You would 
 think them got rid of by this ; when dyers in saffron-colors 
 come sneaking along ; or else there's always some horrid 
 plague or other which is demanding something. 
 
 Plautus may have exaggerated somewhat for the 
 sake of the humor, and made up out of his own head 
 some trade which did not exist. But his exaggeration 
 does not overstep the bounds of verisimilitude. For 
 we know that in the branches of commerce which admit 
 of fewer specialties, each merchant limited his com- 
 mercial activity to certain articles. Thus among those 
 who sold vegetables, lupine sellers formed a distinct 
 class. Among clothiers were specialists who handled 
 only the varieties of mantles or of overcoats, or nothing 
 but light summer garments. 
 
 A passage in Martial, already referred to, explains 
 
 '. ' The bustle of 
 
 how these shops were situated. A person can easily trade upon the 
 
 streets. 
 
 imagine what a commotion in the streets must have 
 resulted from these stalls placed against the houses, 
 encroaching upon the streets, with their keepers gesticu- 
 lating and jabbering after the fashion of southerners. 
 This bustle and excitement partly made up for the 
 absence of carriages. For on account of the inequali- 
 ties in the ground and the lack of space, two incon- 
 veniences which made such a precaution necessary in a 
 city as populous as Rome, the circulation of vehicles
 
 126 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 was forbidden there during the ten hours after sunrise, 
 that is, during the portion of the day when the move- 
 ment of pedestrians was the most animated. The 
 venders would wax voluble and excited. The discus- 
 sions which they carried on with their customers filled 
 si ns over the t ^ ie streets with clamor. The signs over the shops 
 shops. excited exclamations of scorn or of admiration among 
 
 the idlers and loungers who abounded at Rome, as in 
 all large cities. Here, over a pork-butcher's, is a sign, 
 displaying a representation in relief of five magnificent 
 hams. Another sign, executed in relief, shows us the 
 interior of a clothing house ; there are two rooms ; in 
 one there is a purchaser ; in the other, a lady, ex- 
 amining the goods which the proprietor and his clerks 
 are eagerly showing her. A dealer in game and 
 poultry has placed on his sign a hare, two boars, and 
 several large birds hanging upon a wall ; and not satis- 
 fied with this still life, he has added to the picture a 
 young lady in the act of bargaining with the sales- 
 woman of the store. These signs exhibit sometimes a 
 certain taste, a certain skill in the arrangement of 
 accessories, and considerable ability in producing figures 
 and attitudes true to life ; and they lead us to infer 
 that some of these small tradesmen possessed a culture 
 not to be expected from people in their situation. 
 
 The culture of . ^ . - , 
 
 tradesmen. Moreover, to confirm us in our inference, we find 
 inscribed on many of the shops quotations from the 
 poets, especially from Virgil. The orthography is 
 sometimes faulty. The precisians of this time were 
 probably shocked now and then by faults of grammar. 
 But should the right to commit solecisms be denied 
 shopkeepers, when Juvenal claimed it for the husband 
 of a pedantic lady? Would it not be better to con- 
 gratulate the poor people for having, in their simple
 
 The Transaction of Business. 127 
 
 way, loved, notwithstanding their lack of instruction, 
 beautiful verses and the great poets ? 
 
 This semi-culture, this liking for the popular poets is 
 not the only trait common to the ancient merchants The patriotism 
 
 * of shopkeepers. 
 
 and our modern tradesmen. Both are easily irritated 
 against the government ; they will engage with pleasure 
 in sullen resistance or in a petty war against authority. 
 But deep in their hearts they cherish a tender feeling 
 for the established power and profess a profound antipa- 
 thy for revolutions. They are, in short, conservatives. 
 Cicero said (and the justness of his opinion was proved 
 by the events of the following age) : 
 
 The great majority of shopkeepers or tavern-keepers or 
 rather the entire class is eminently peaceful. 
 
 According to a letter written by Pronto to Marcus 
 Aurelius, it was usual to see in the shops of Rome 
 busts or portraits of the reigning emperors. Upon the 
 birthday of the prince, the commercial population of 
 the city were foremost in their eagerness to light up 
 their houses and adorn them with garlands. 
 
 These humble people had kind hearts, as is often the 
 case among those of limited means. If a master lost a The kindness 
 
 . . oftradesmen. 
 
 journeyman or an apprentice, he mourned him sin- 
 cerely, and composed for him some beautiful epitaph, 
 praising him freely after his death for the good qualities 
 which perhaps he had not credited him with during his 
 life. To a workman in the jeweler's trade who was 
 "without his equal in the art of making Clodian 
 vases" his former master delivered this recommenda- 
 tion for him to present at his entrance into another 
 world: "He has never spoken evil of any one, nor 
 done the least thing contrary to his master's will. 
 There was always a pile of gold and silver near him, but
 
 128. Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 he never allowed himself to be overcome by avarice." 
 It was not uncommon to find in the houses of these 
 simple people some pet animal, or a tame bird, a 
 canary perhaps, or a blackbird. Pliny the Elder re- 
 ports that under Tiberius a shoemaker had taught a 
 young crow to talk. 
 
 The crow [he says] used to fly every morning upon the 
 A shoemaker's rostrum, whence orators were accustomed to address the 
 crow - people. From this position, looking toward the forum, it 
 
 would salute, calling upon them by their names, Tiberius, then 
 the two young Caesars, Germanicus and Drusus, afterward the 
 people who passed by. Having done this, it would return to 
 his master's shop. It repeated this performance daily during 
 several successive years. Another shoemaker of the neigh- 
 borhood killed the bird, either through jealousy, or, as he 
 pretended, in a sudden fit of anger, because it had soiled a 
 pair of his shoes. The people were so exasperated by the 
 deed that they drove the murderer out of the neighborhood 
 at once, and afterward killed him. But to the bird they paid 
 solemn funeral rites. Its bier, borne by two Ethiopians, 
 preceded by a flute-player, and accompanied by a crowd carry- 
 ing garlands of flowers, was conveyed to a funeral pile con- 
 structed near the Appian Way. 
 
 The official record of events, belonging to this time, 
 makes mention of this public funeral. 
 
 The Roman tradesmen and craftsmen felt the need, 
 as men of their condition have always felt it, of organi- 
 zation. Hence, they established guilds or colleges, 
 to use the Roman word. These guilds had their regu- 
 lations and their laws, which, however, did not inter- 
 fere with the personal liberty of their members in 
 seeking or accepting employment. The object of these 
 associations was mutual protection and support. The 
 members were solemnly entered with religious rites. 
 In fact, the origin of these corporations has been traced 
 back to Numa Pompilius, the founder of the religious
 
 Transaction of Business, 
 
 129 
 
 institutions of the Romans. Each guild was under 
 the protection of some guardian divinity, and many of 
 them made it their chief object to establish a burial t 
 
 J Burial funds. 
 
 fund, in order that even the poorest members might be 
 sure of being hon- 
 ored after death by 
 suitable funeral 
 services. 
 
 Sometimes the 
 members of a guild 
 enjoyed a feast to- 
 gether, defraying 
 the expense from 
 their common 
 treasury, which 
 was supplied by 
 entrance fees and 
 monthly assess- 
 ments. On such 
 occasions they 
 would join in a 
 formal procession, 
 enlivened some- 
 times by a gay 
 parade. 
 
 All the guilds, 
 finally, used to 
 have a joyous cel- 
 ebration in com- 
 
 Celebration on 
 
 mon on the i sth of March, a day sacred to Anna the isth of 
 
 March. 
 
 Perenna, an Italian goddess, who ushered in the return- 
 ing year. At this date the lower classes of Rome used 
 to go and picnic on the banks of the Tiber whole 
 families together. Some put up tents of branches to
 
 130 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 shelter them as they partook of their repasts. Others, 
 less careful of their comfort, were satisfied with spread- 
 ing out their eatables on the grass under the sky. They 
 would feast and drink to each other's health. Merry 
 companions would gather together and pray to the 
 goddess to grant them as many days of life as they 
 dipped spoonsful from their bowls, and in the evening 
 all these people, excited by the many bumpers which 
 they had drained, would return to Rome with tottering 
 steps, through a crowd of curious spectators, who found 
 amusement in watching them. 
 
 There was at Rome no quarter set apart by custom 
 Trade centers or by law especially for commerce. But the merchants 
 
 in Rome. J * 
 
 themselves, according to the character of the goods in 
 which they dealt, chose this or that part of the city for 
 the establishment of their business. The handsomest 
 shops in the time of Domitian were in the large in- 
 closure called the Septa upon the Campus Martius. 
 Here would come any one who wished to provide him- 
 self with the best slaves, elegant furniture, with any arti- 
 cle made of choice wood, ivory, tortoise-shell, bronze, 
 or Corinthian brass, with Greek statues, antique cups 
 artistically carved, with crystal vases, with dishes and 
 utensils of every kind, and with murrhine pottery. 
 The Via Sacra was the headquarters for goldsmiths 
 and jewelers. The great center for Egyptian and 
 Arabian merchandise was in the Forum Pacis. Silks, 
 perfumes, and spices were sold in the Vicus Tuscus, 
 and probably also in the Circus Maximus. Moreover, 
 it frequently happened that those who were engaged in 
 the same trade, or the same profession, would group 
 themselves about a single point. We find that some of 
 the streets were named from the traffic of those who 
 lived upon them. There was the grain merchants'
 
 The Transaction of Business. 131 
 
 street, the belt-makers' street, the sandal-makers' street, 
 the wood-dealers' street, the glaziers' street, etc. 
 
 We have enumerated the methods, more or less 
 honest, of gaining a livelihood at Rome. There were Money a god. 
 other means, shamefully dishonest, of making fortunes. 
 Money became a god. Juvenal, in one of his satires, 
 exclaims : 
 
 O gold ! though Rome beholds no altar's flame, 
 
 No temples rise to thy pernicious name, 
 
 Such as to Victory, Virtue, Faith are reared, 
 
 And Concord, where the clamorous stork is heard, 
 
 Yet is thy full divinity confest, 
 
 Thy shrine established here, in every breast. 
 
 But, although this god had no formal worship, it had 
 nevertheless faithful worshipers. 
 
 One of the favorite expedients for arriving at a 
 fortune was the hunting of legacies. In the epoch hunting, 
 which we are studying this had become more than a 
 business it was an art systematically practiced accord- 
 ing to certain rules. Already Horace had tried to 
 expose the theory of this art, in the satire in which he 
 represents to us the shade of the divine Tiresias teach- 
 ing Ulysses how to repair his fortune, ruined by the 
 prodigalities of Penelope's suitors. But the instruction 
 of Tiresias was rudimentary ; he was a babe in the art. 
 The employment of legacy-hunting rapidly gained in 
 extent. This was due to the enormous increase of childlessness 
 celibacy and childlessness among the upper classes, two 
 evils that the laws of Augustus had not succeeded in 
 curing. 
 
 Here in Crotona [wrote Petronius, who transfers to this 
 city the characteristics of Rome] learning is in no esteem ; 
 eloquence finds no acceptance ; nor can temperance and 
 morality meet with commendation, much less lead to profit ;
 
 132 Roman Life in Pliny 's Time, 
 
 but all the men you see in that city know for certain that they 
 belong to one or other of two classes ; for they either hunt or 
 are hunted for legacies. No one there rears children ; for 
 whoever has natural heirs is not admitted to any public shows 
 or entertainments, is excluded from all social privileges, and 
 herds obscurely with the dregs of the people. On the con- 
 trary, those who have never married, and have no near 
 kindred, are advanced to the highest honors ; they are the 
 only brave, the only fit to command, and, in short, the only 
 virtuous. You will see a city like those fields in the time of a 
 pestilence in which there are only torn carcasses, and crows 
 tearing them. 
 
 As legacy-hunters became more numerous, their art 
 
 Development . i i i j i j 
 
 of the art of became more highly developed. 
 
 legacy-hunting. , -i i_ a j- 
 
 Ine most servile obsequiousness, flattery, according 
 to the person practiced upon, the most ingenious, or 
 the most fulsome such were the methods employed. 
 Those Greeks of whom Juvenal wrote 
 
 They batten on the genial soil of Rome, 
 Minions, then lords, of every princely dome ! 
 A flattering, cringing, treacherous, artful race, 
 Of torrent tongue, and never blushing face, 
 
 were they not in all probability legacy-hunters ? Juvenal 
 thus continues his description of them : 
 
 A Protean tribe, one knows not what to call, 
 Which shifts to every form, and shines in all ; 
 Grammarian, painter, augur, rhetorician, 
 Rope-dancer, conjurer, fiddler, and physician, 
 All trades his own, your hungry Greekling counts ; 
 And bid him mount the sky the sky he mounts. 
 
 The legacy-hunter knew how to satisfy and even to 
 Waiting for a forestall all the whims of the rich man whose death he 
 death. was waiting for. If the rich man fell sick, his legacy- 
 
 hunters would lavish upon him their most solicitous 
 attentions, they would pray for him in the temples, 
 they would even go so far as to offer to sacrifice, in
 
 The Transaction of Business, 133 
 
 case of his recovery, elephants and men. If the rich 
 man wrote verses, his legacy-hunters would declare e ac C !hunters 
 that in comparison with him Homer was a scribbler. If 
 the rich man had a lawsuit on hand, his legacy-hunters 
 would hasten to court to defend him. And it was not 
 enough for them to be obsequious, they had to be 
 skilful enough to make it appear that so many thought- 
 ful acts, so many kind services., had their source in a 
 disinterested friendship. They would express the wish 
 that the rich man whom they were waiting upon might 
 be blessed with children. They would even make wills 
 in his favor, naturally with the hope of reciprocity. 
 
 It sometimes happened that the would-be dupers _ 
 
 Traps set for 
 
 were duped. Many a clever rich man could attract a legacy-hunters, 
 following, if not devoted, at least active and eager to 
 render services, by setting a bait for legacy-hunters. 
 Junius Vindex, for instance, the general who rebelled 
 against Nero's authority, used to dose himself, in order 
 to lure on his legacy- hunters, with a drug which had 
 the effect of producing an artificial pallor of counte- 
 nance. So he was humored and fawned upon up to 
 the last day that he practiced his deception. Domitius 
 Tullus used a similar method. After having allowed 
 himself to be pampered by those who were aiming at his 
 
 Some legacy- 
 fortune, he made his niece, whom he had adopted, his hunters disap- 
 pointed. 
 heiress. He left besides a number of bequests, and 
 
 large bequests to his grandchildren, and left something 
 even for his great-grandson. So his will was received 
 by those who had counted upon his neglecting his 
 family in their favor with a vexation which they could 
 not conceal. Respectable people, and Pliny the 
 Younger foremost, applauded, and were overjoyed. 
 For 
 
 'Tis a double delight to deceive a deceiver.
 
 134 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 But the legacy-hunters did not often allow themselves 
 to be caught in a trap. Had they not studied the 
 lessons of Arruntius and Haterius, who, according to 
 Seneca, were accomplished in the art of hunting 
 legacies? But, above all, had they not before their 
 Masters of eves th e examples of the great masters, Cassus and 
 
 legacy-hunting. * 
 
 Regulus? Pliny has given a place of honor to the 
 latter, and has shown him to us in the exercise of his 
 trade. Let us quote the passage ; our readers will then 
 become acquainted with a typical example of this class 
 of men who play so important a part in the history of 
 manners in the second century after Christ. 
 
 Are you inclined to hear a story, or if you please two or 
 three ? for one brings to my mind another. 'Tis no matter 
 which I begin with, so take them as follows. Verania, the 
 widow of Piso, who was adopted by Galba, lay extremely ill. 
 Upon this occasion Regulus made her a visit. By the way, 
 mark the assurance of the man, to visit a lady to whom he 
 was so extremely odious, and to whose husband he was a 
 declared enemy ! Even barely to enter her house would have 
 been imprudent enough ; but he had the confidence to go 
 Verania much farther, and very familiarly placed himself by her bed- 
 
 deceived by side. He began very gravely with inquiring what dav and 
 
 Regulus. J ' t * i 
 
 hour she was born. Being informed of these important par- 
 ticulars, he composes his countenance, fixes his eyes, mutters 
 something to himself, counts his fingers, and all this merely to 
 keep the poor sick lady in suspense. When he had finished 
 this ridiculous mummery, "You are," says he, "in one of 
 your climacterics ; however, you will get over it. But for 
 your greater satisfaction, I will consult with a certain diviner, 
 whose skill I have frequently experienced." Accordingly 
 away he goes, consults the omens, and returns with the 
 strongest assurances that they confirmed what he had promised 
 on the part of the stars. Upon this the credulous good woman 
 calls for her will, and gives Regulus a handsome legacy. 
 Some time afterward her distemper increased ; and in her last 
 moments she exclaimed against this infamous wretch who had 
 thus basely deceived her, though he wished every curse might
 
 The Transaction of Business. 135 
 
 befall his son if what he promised her was not true. But 
 such sort of imprecations are as common with Regulus as 
 they are impious ; and he continually devotes that unhappy- 
 youth to the curses of those gods whose vengeance his own 
 frauds every day provoke. 
 
 Velleius Blaesus, a person of consular dignity, and remark- 
 able for his immense wealth, in his last sickness had an incli- The plot of 
 
 i n. x- t_- -11 i L u j Regulus against 
 
 nation to make some alteration in his will. Regulus, who had Blaesus. 
 
 lately endeavored to insinuate himself into his friendship, 
 hoped to receive some advantage by the intended change, and 
 accordingly applies himself to his physicians, and conjures 
 them to exert all their skill to prolong the poor man's life. 
 But the moment the will was signed, his style was changed. 
 "How long," says he to these very physicians, "do you 
 design to keep this man in misery ? Since you cannot pre- 
 serve his life, why will you prolong his death?" Blaesus is 
 since dead ; and as if he had overheard every word that 
 Regulus had said, he has not left him one farthing. 
 
 And now have you had enough ? or, like a truant schoolboy, 
 are you for listening still to another tale ? If so, Regulus will How Regulus 
 supply you. You must know, then, that Aurelia, a lady of bequest from 
 distinguished accomplishments, designing to execute her will, Aurelia. 
 had dressed herself for that purpose in a very splendid 
 manner. Regulus, who was present as a witness, turned 
 about to the lady, and " Pray," says he, "leave me these fine 
 clothes." Aurelia at first thought him in jest ; but he in- 
 sisted upon it very seriously, and obliged her to open her will 
 and insert this legacy ; and though he saw her write it, yet he 
 would not be satisfied till he read the clause himself. How- 
 ever, Aurelia is still alive ; though Regulus, no doubt, when 
 he solicited this bequest, expected soon to enjoy it. 
 
 A clever man, like this Regulus, was always able 
 
 J Difficulties with 
 
 finally to escape from justice, but it was difficult for the courts. 
 him to avoid entirely legal complications. Less skilful 
 adventurers were almost sure to become seriously 
 entangled in difficulties with the courts. 
 
 This brings us to our next subject for consideration 
 the Roman bar.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BAR. 
 
 As we have indicated, the unscrupulous conduct of 
 legacy-hunters and sharpers was a prolific source of 
 lawsuits. If the reader will reflect upon the social 
 disturbance caused by the civil wars that followed the 
 death of Nero, and upon the fact that the political 
 platform had become silent, he will see why judicial 
 eloquence, under the Flavians and the Antonines, de- 
 veloped in a way that merits our attention. 
 
 Under the Caesars the Roman bar was very corrupt. 
 Corruption The beautiful relation between patron and clients had 
 bar. disappeared. To be a successful advocate one no 
 
 longer needed the science of law, nor oratorical power. 
 Still less necessary was it that an advocate should com- 
 mand respect by an honorable life. It was sufficient if 
 he had big lungs and an effrontery difficult to dis- 
 concert. Look at Vatinus ; yesterday he was a baker, 
 to-day he pleads. Look at Attalus ; yesterday he 
 drove mules, to-day he wins cases. And Ciperus ! 
 He has abandoned his baker's oven, and is now a 
 successful barrister. Has he not a voice sonorous as a 
 trumpet? Was he ever known to perspire or spit 
 during a speech ? 
 
 Some advocates, on the other hand, are steeped in 
 f e me n ao> f letters. They come from the schools of the rhetor- 
 icians. Do not expect them to study their cases, to 
 try to understand men, to know how to read hearts, to 
 appeal to right or eternal justice ; they have no interest 
 
 136
 
 The Bar. 
 
 137 
 
 in all that. They are mere acrobats in eloquence ; you 
 could sing and dance, as Tacitus says, to their speeches. 
 
 "You are a villain," some one said to Pedius, a 
 jurist. And what did Pedius reply ? He met the accu- 
 sation with antitheses, skilfully balanced, and brand- 
 new metaphors. 
 
 Quintilian summed up the faults of the bar at this 
 epoch in two words 
 ignorance and frivolity. 
 He expressed the truth. 
 
 Quintilian had the 
 praiseworthy ambition to 
 change this condition of 
 things, and he had the 
 good fortune to meet with 
 partial success in his at- 
 tempt. His education 
 prepared him for under- 
 taking this reform. His 
 father, and even his 
 grandfather, had been 
 rhetoricians of some 
 merit. The taste for pub- 
 lic speaking had there- 
 fore been handed down 
 in his family as an honor- 
 able tradition. Quintilian 
 was admitted to the bar 
 at an early age, and made 
 a mark for himself. We 
 know that he pleaded for 
 Marcus Arpinianus, accused of having thrown his wife 
 out of a window, and for the queen Berenice, who acted 
 as judge in her own cause. Nothing remains to us of 
 
 Quintilian's 
 efforts at 
 reform. 
 
 Quintilian's 
 qualifications 
 as a reformer. 
 
 AN ORATOR. Museum of Naples.
 
 138 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' 1 s Time. 
 
 An advocate 
 should be 
 versed in the 
 law. 
 
 He should con- 
 sider natural 
 right. 
 
 Affectation to 
 be avoided. 
 
 The art of 
 lying. 
 
 his speeches in defense of these clients, but they were 
 much praised by his contemporaries. We have there- 
 fore lost the record of Quintilian's law practice. But, 
 fortunately, he -has not hesitated in his book on ' ' The 
 Education of the Orator ' ' to quote from himself by way 
 of illustration. Thus he has made it possible for us to 
 obtain a very good idea of his theory, and to know 
 against what evils his efforts at reform were directed. 
 
 He held, in the first place, that the advocate should 
 be versed in the law. He was loud in condemnation of 
 flowery talkers and composers of academic phrases, and 
 he insisted that it was necessary for one who wished to 
 win success at the bar to understand the praetor's edicts 
 and the text of the civil law. Protesting against those 
 adventurers, those ignorant tricksters, whose aim was 
 to dispatch their cases with the greatest possible speed, 
 he claims that the advocate should not concern himself 
 only with the written law, but also with natural right, 
 with eternal justice. He affirms that one can be truly 
 eloquent only if he has reflected upon the nature of 
 happiness, on the foundation of morality, on all that 
 pertains to the good and the true. Finally, he advises 
 any one who seeks to attract about himself a circle of 
 clients to renounce the affected and puerile style of the 
 schools of declamation, and to return to the tradition of 
 the most ancient masters, of Cicero especially to 
 speak, in short, a language straightforward, manly, and 
 elevated. 
 
 Why could not Quintilian have completely escaped 
 the evil influence of his time? Why could he not 
 have condemned without qualification the unscrupulous 
 devices of the sophists and the rhetoricians ? Why 
 did he conceive the unfortunate idea of formulating into 
 a theory the art of lying ? Remarking that there are
 
 The Bar. 139 
 
 causes where every effort fails, he advises the orator to 
 use on such occasions what he calls colors, that is to Colors. 
 say, specious conjectures, false narrations. In this 
 kind of oratorical fiction, he says, it is important, first, 
 to take care that the story which one invents is possible, 
 and that it suits at the same time the person of whom 
 it is told and the time and place involved ; and 
 secondly, it is well, as far as possible, to connect what 
 one invents with something true, ' ' for when all is false, 
 the lie betrays itself." Oh, admirable rules, indeed ! 
 Quintilian forgot, alas ! that virtue should be exercised 
 even by an orator. 
 
 But in spite of these errors the influence of Quintilian 
 on the eloquence of the bar was very salutary. Under ofth r bl ent 
 Trajan real progress was made. Encouraged and sus- underTra J an - 
 tained by the prince, and by honest people, a few 
 distinguished men restored to the advocate's profession 
 the prestige which it had temporarily lost. These 
 benefactors of the profession were Saturninus, poet as 
 well as orator, Voconius Romanus, a shrewd old man of 
 the forum, Erucius Clarus, a Roman of the ancient 
 type, a great and an honest man, Pomponius Rufus, a 
 remarkable improvisor, Titius Aristo, a skilful lawyer, 
 and besides these, above them perhaps, their rival, 
 their friend, Pliny the Younger. 
 
 We have been accustomed to consider Pliny the 
 Younger merely as a letter-writer; and it seems as if P'inya 
 
 orator. 
 
 the fame which he won by his delightful correspond- 
 ence ought to be enough for him. But he was not 
 satisfied with that. An orator's reputation is more 
 splendid and more brilliant than a writer's. Pliny 
 loved to shine. This was the weakness of that soul, so 
 sound otherwise and so good. Accordingly he took 
 his place among the advocates.
 
 140 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 His high 
 ideal of the 
 advocate's 
 profession. 
 
 Unscrupulous 
 conduct of 
 Nominatus. 
 
 Thrasea's 
 maxim. 
 
 We need not lament this fact, for he helped to glorify 
 Roman eloquence, which was so soon to disappear. 
 
 Pliny had, in the first place, the great merit of cher- 
 ishing a high ideal of his profession. He would not 
 admit that the art of the advocate was a mercenary art, 
 and that his services should be paid. Already, under 
 the emperor Claudius, the consul Silius had severely 
 censured those men who sold their talent as if it was a 
 commodity, and he had demanded a law forbidding 
 advocates to receive a salary. But his words remained 
 without effect. Under Trajan, Tuscilius Nominatus, 
 elected as advocate by the inhabitants of Vicetia, re- 
 quired them to advance him 10,000 sesterces ($425), 
 and then on the day of the hearing he did not appear. 
 That was money easily made. The tribune Nigrinus 
 denounced the scandalous proceeding to the senate, 
 and the senate decreed a return to the severity of the 
 ancient laws. Pliny heartily applauded this reform, 
 which, however, did not touch him, as he had never 
 made merchandise of his eloquence. 
 
 Another thing no less creditable to Pliny's character 
 is that he did not think it right for him to plead any 
 cause that happened in his way, nor did his natural 
 tastes lead him to violate his conscience at this point. 
 He did not wish to resemble that Greek orator, Thera- 
 menes, who had been nicknamed "The Trimmer." He 
 had constantly borne in mind that maxim of Thrasea, 
 ' ' There are three sorts of causes which we ought to 
 undertake : those of our friends, those of the deserted, 
 and those which tend to public example." Neither 
 influence, nor flattery, nor bribes, could induce him to 
 plead a case when he thought that his honor imposed 
 silence upon him. In vain did his friend Octavius 
 Rufus beg him to defend a certain Gallus against the
 
 The Bar. 141 
 
 inhabitants of Baetica. In vain did he attempt, by 
 sending him figs, mushrooms, and excellent dates, to 
 forestall a refusal. Nothing succeeded. Pliny remained 
 gently inflexible. 
 
 But when he once consented to undertake a case, he P ij ny > s p repa . 
 put his whole soul into it. He did not think he could speeThes^ his 
 devote too much care and study to it. Very different 
 from those improvisors who were always satisfied with 
 themselves, Pliny would spend long hours in his private 
 study preparing his speeches. He did not pride him- 
 self on being always ready ; on the contrary, the hour 
 for appearing before his audience seemed rather to come 
 too soon. 
 
 I had repaired [he writes] to the Basilica Julia, to hear 
 some advocates to whom I was to reply at the next session. 
 The judges had taken their places, the decemvirs had arrived, 
 the advocates were at their bench, when an order from the 
 praetor arrives which breaks up the sitting. We are sent off, 
 to my great satisfaction, for I am never so well prepared that a 
 delay does not please me. 
 
 It would be an exaggeration to claim that Pliny was a 
 courageous orator, like the men of the ancient republic. His firmness. 
 His good soul, endowed with the ordinary virtues, did 
 not know heroism. But on several occasions at least he 
 exhibited a certain firmness. When Nerva succeeded 
 Domitian, some good men conceived the idea of 
 avenging the public honor by prosecuting the wretches 
 who had been the instigators or the accomplices of the 
 crimes perpetrated in the preceding reign. Pliny 
 attacked the informer Publicius Certus, the murderer 
 of Helvidius Priscus, Thrasea's son-in-law. He was 
 blamed for this audacity. Certus was about to be 
 consul ; he had the advantage of a large fortune and 
 powerful friends. The senators before whom his- case
 
 142 Roman Life in Pliny 's Time. 
 
 was to be brought up had almost all personal relations 
 e 1511 ^ some kind with him. In spite of everything, in 
 spite of advice, in spite of the anxiety of his friends, 
 Pliny persisted in his purpose. He had some difficulty 
 in overcoming the opposition of his audience suffi- 
 ciently to begin and continue his speech. He reaped, 
 however, the reward of his noble determination, for 
 he completely won over his hearers. When he had 
 finished speaking, ' ' there was scarce a man in the 
 senate," as he says in one of his letters, " that did not 
 embrace and kiss me, and all strove who should 
 applaud me most, for having with the utmost hazard 
 to myself . . . wiped off that odium which was 
 thrown upon the senate by the other orders in the 
 state ' that the senators mutually favored the members 
 of their own body. ' ' 
 
 The qualities in Pliny's character which such conduct 
 
 Pliny's success. ^ 
 
 on his part illustrates won for him much respect, and 
 this explains in some degree his success as an advocate. 
 This success was very marked ; he has not failed to 
 tell us so himself, and we have no reason to doubt his 
 testimony. His vanity was great, but it did not prevent 
 him from telling the truth. 
 
 Pliny spoke five times before the senate, either as a 
 defender or as a prosecutor, in those solemn debates 
 presided over by the consul, and the consul was often 
 the emperor ; he impeached Baebius Massa under 
 Domitian, and under Trajan, Marius Priscus and Cae- 
 Caseswon cilius Classicus. He defended Julius Bassus and Va- 
 renus. He counted among his clients two provinces, 
 Africa and Baetica. Like another Cicero, he secured 
 the condemnation of another Verres. On each of these 
 occasions he won his case, and, what was more im- 
 portant, the speeches he made added to his reputation.
 
 The Bar. 143 
 
 However, his true sphere of activity was not before 
 the senate, but in the centumviral court. Here he court Umv '~ 
 found himself master, and without a rival. The cen- 
 tum virs were a permanent court, established under the 
 republic, at a date which we cannot fix. The members 
 were originally elected in equal numbers from each 
 tribe, but there were not always exactly one hundred of 
 them as the word centumvirs. (the Latin centumviri 
 means one hundred men) seems to imply ; for Pliny, in 
 his time, counts one hundred and eighty sitting at 
 once. The centumvirs were divided into four sections, 
 or sub-courts, and we learn from Quintilian and from 
 Pliny that cases were brought sometimes before two 
 sections, sometimes before the four united sections, 
 although each one voted separately. We do not know 
 the reason for this division. 
 
 The centumvirs, after the time of Augustus, were 
 presided over by judicial decemvirs. Their jurisdiction 
 was limited to civil suits, especially such as related to 
 inheritance and property. They met, first in the forum, 
 and afterward in the Basilica Julia. 
 
 The latter place was the scene of Pliny's eloquence. 
 We must not, in imagination, reduce these Roman The basilicas, 
 basilicas to the narrow dimensions of our modern court- 
 rooms. They were vast quadrangular halls, longer, by 
 one half or two thirds, than they were wide ; and their 
 interiors were divided by rows of pillars into a main 
 nave and two side aisles. Over the side aisles, whose 
 ceiling was not so high as that of the nave, was a 
 gallery for spectators. On the days when Pliny was to 
 speak the gallery of the Basilica Julia was not large 
 enough to contain the audience, which was, moreover, audVences. 
 as select as it was numerous ; for, as Pliny tells us, the 
 society ladies and the men of quality were not afraid to
 
 144 Roman Life in Pliny* s Time, 
 
 come and crowd together there at the risk of having 
 their cloaks and tunics torn. 
 
 But Pliny, even in the midst of such favorable sur- 
 
 f r me X a^vo- f roundings, where he was able to gratify his self-love by 
 
 winning splendid triumphs, was not wholly satisfied. 
 
 He did not feel that his causes were always worthy of 
 
 him, and he was annoyed by the use of the clepsydra. 
 
 Certain advocates had abused the patience of their 
 audience and the judges ; as they never wearied them- 
 selves, they were convinced that it would be impossible 
 for them to weary anybody else. So they would enter 
 into interminable digressions on irrelevant subjects. 
 Such was the advocate whose client thus complains in 
 an epigram of Martial's (we use a translation by John 
 Hay, who substitutes for events in Roman history more 
 familiar events in English history) : 
 
 My cause concerns nor battery nor treason ; 
 
 I sue my neighbor for this only reason, 
 
 That late three sheep of mine to pound he drove ; 
 
 This is the point the court would have you prove. 
 
 Concerning Magna Charta you run on, 
 
 And all the perjuries of old King John ; 
 
 Then of the Edwards and Black Prince you rant, 
 
 And talk of John o' Stiles and John o' Gaunt ; 
 
 With voice and hand a mighty pother keep. 
 
 Now, pray, dear sir, one word about the sheep. 
 
 The object of the clepsydra was to prevent this ex- 
 cessive overflow of talk. The clepsydra was a little 
 
 The clepsydra. i M 
 
 vase which resembled a funnel. Through the tapering 
 extremity the water, with which the vase had been 
 filled, flowed away drop by drop, thus affording a 
 method of measuring time. Under the empire a clepsy- 
 dra, placed beside the orator, limited the duration of 
 his plea. According to the importance of the cause, 
 the orator was allowed two, three, or even more clepsy-
 
 146 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 drae. When Pliny impeached Marius Priscus, he was 
 
 granted as many as ten. That was good measure, and 
 
 he had no reason to complain. But some poor talkers, 
 
 TOO many no doubt, abused their privileges. Martial has the 
 
 clepsydrae. 
 
 following epigram (the translation is Elphinston's) : 
 
 Seven glasses, Cecilian, thou loudly didst crave ; 
 
 Seven glasses the judge, full reluctantly, gave. 
 
 Still thou bawl'st, and bawl'st on ; and, as ne'er to bawl off, 
 
 Tepid water in bumpers supine dost thou quaff. 
 
 That thy voice and thy thirst at a time thou may'st slake, 
 
 We entreat from the glass of old Chronus thou take. 
 
 On account of such abuses it became customary to 
 grant and to ask only one or two clepsydrae for an 
 advocate's plea, sometimes even only half a clepsydra. 
 Pliny lamented such a custom, and blamed those im- 
 patient advocates who devoted to a case fewer clepsy- 
 dras than their ancestors devoted days. 
 
 It was not merely the interest of the litigant that 
 PHny's method inspired Pliny with such sentiments. He experienced a 
 
 of pleading. r 
 
 difficulty in pleading according to the methods which 
 he had adopted, when he felt that his time was meas- 
 ured out to him. In order to carry conviction into the 
 minds of the judges, he was convinced that it was not 
 sufficient to aim right and strike hard ; he believed that 
 it was necessary also to strike often. 
 
 I remember [he writes, in one of his letters] when Regulus 
 and I were concerned together in a cause, he said to me, 
 "You seem to think it necessary to insist upon every point ; 
 whereas I always take aim at my adversary's throat, and there 
 Pliny and Reg- I closely press him." ('Tis true, he tenaciously holds what- 
 ever part he has once fixed upon ; but the misfortune is, he is 
 extremely apt to mistake the right place.) I answered, it 
 might possibly happen that what he took for what he called 
 the throat was in reality some other part. As for me, said I, 
 who do not pretend to direct my aim with so much certainty, I
 
 The Bar. 147 
 
 attack every part, and push at every opening ; in short, to use 
 a vulgar proverb, I leave no stone unturned. As in agricul- 
 ture, it is not my vineyards, or my woods alone, but my 
 fields also that I cultivate ; and (to pursue the allusion) as I 
 do not content myself with sowing those fields with only one 
 kind of grain but employ several different sorts, so in my 
 pleadings at the bar, I spread at large a variety of matter like 
 so many different seeds, in order to reap from thence what- 
 ever may happen to hit. 
 
 Pliny complained also that in this Basilica Julia, 
 
 J Pliny s advtr- 
 
 which had been the scene of his triumphs, he did not wries unworthy 
 
 of him. 
 
 always meet adversaries who were worthy of him. 
 Debutants, beardless young men, scarcely out of the 
 schoolroom, would unceremoniously obtain admittance 
 to the bar. And as they were as vain as they were 
 presumptuous, they were determined to succeed, no 
 matter how. Not being able to depend upon their 
 intelligence and their talent, they fell back upon hired 
 applauders. Pliny refers to this in one of his letters : 
 
 The youth of our days are so far from waiting to be intro- 
 duced, that they rudely rush in uninvited. The audience that applauders. 
 follows them are fit attendants for such orators ; a low rout of 
 hired mercenaries, assembling themselves in the middle of 
 the court, where the dole is dealt round to them as openly as 
 if they were in a dining-room ; and at this noble price they 
 run from court to court ! The Greeks have a name in their 
 language for this sort of people, importing that they are 
 applauders by profession ; and we stigmatize them with the 
 opprobrious title of table flatterers ; yet the meanness alluded 
 to in both languages increases every day. It was but yester- 
 day two of my servants, mere striplings, were hired for this 
 goodly office at the price of three denarii [about 50 cents] ; 
 such is the easy purchase of eloquence ! Upon these honor- 
 able terms we fill our benches and gather a circle ; and thus it 
 is those unmerciful shouts are raised when a man who stands 
 in the middle of the ring gives the word. For you must 
 know, these honest fellows, who understand nothing of what 
 is said, or if they did could not hear it, would be at a loss,
 
 148 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 without a signal, how to time their applause ; for those that do 
 not hear a syllable are as clamorous as any of the rest. If at 
 any time you should happen to pass by while the court is 
 sitting, and would know the merit of any of our advocates, 
 you have no occasion to give yourself the trouble of listening 
 to them ; take it for a rule, he that has the loudest commenda- 
 tions deserves them the least. Largius Licinius was the first 
 who gave rise to this custom ; but then he went no further 
 Decline of than to s ^ ^ an audience. I remember to have heard my 
 
 eloquence. tutor Quintilian say that Domitius Afer, as he was pleading 
 
 before the centumvirs, with his usual grave and solemn 
 manner, heard on a sudden a most immoderate and unusual 
 noise ; being a good deal surprised he left off; the clamor 
 ceased and he began again ; he was interrupted a second 
 time, and a third. At last he inquired who it was that was 
 speaking. He was told Licinius. "Alas'!" said he, "Elo- 
 quence is no more ! " The truth is, it then only began to 
 decline, when, in Afer's opinion, it was entirely perished ; 
 whereas now it is almost utterly lost and extinct. I am 
 ashamed to say with what an unmanly elocution the orators 
 deliver themselves and with what a squeaking applause they 
 are received ; nothing seems wanting to complete this sing- 
 song oratory but the claps, or rather the music, of the stage. 
 At present we choose to express our admiration by a kind of 
 howling (for I can call it by no other term) which would be 
 indecent even in the theater. Hitherto the interest of my 
 friends and the consideration of my early time of life has 
 retained me in this court ; for it would be thought, I fear, 
 rather to proceed from indolence than a just indignation at 
 these indecencies were I yet to leave it ; however I come 
 there less frequently than usual, and am thus making a 
 gradual retreat. 
 
 Considering the way in which the tribunal of the 
 Lack of culture centumvirs was made up, we presume that Pliny had 
 
 among the , . . 1-111 
 
 triumvirs. another grievance against them which he has not ex- 
 pressed. These men, chosen from each tribe, could 
 scarcely have been cultured men. Their taste was 
 doubtless somewhat crude. How could they appre- 
 ciate all the fine points in the elocution of this accom-
 
 The Bar. 149 
 
 plished man of letters ? Pliny, in fact, spent as much 
 
 care upon the style of his orations as upon the subject 
 
 matter. He read and reread the great models : Cicero, 
 
 whose harmonious periods and large manner of treat- Pliny's models. 
 
 ment he imitated ; and Demosthenes, the secret of 
 
 whose vehemence and figures he tried to catch. But 
 
 he was not satisfied to limit himself to the simplicity of 
 
 these men. He could not deny himself the pleasure of 
 
 plucking some flowers from the roadside as he passed 
 
 along his way. It was not without its effect upon 
 
 Pliny that Seneca had been his predecessor in Latin 
 
 letters. Pliny could not resist the seduction of Seneca's 
 
 attractive faults. His taste, which was not bad, lacked 
 
 severity, and he could not refrain from ambitious 
 
 , .... , Pliny's ornate 
 
 attempts, he could not avoid seeking expressions that style in com- 
 were rare, curious, or bold, and if he was criticised for p 
 this, he would defend himself, formally, after his fashion. 
 See how he replies to Lupercus, who had probably 
 passed some criticism upon him : 
 
 I said once (and I think not improperly) of a certain orator 
 of the present age, whose compositions are extremely regular 
 and correct, but by no means sublime and ornamented, " His 
 only fault is, that he has none." Whereas he who is possessed 
 of the true spirit of oratory should be bold and elevated, and 
 sometimes even flame out and be hurried away with all the 
 warmth and violence of passion ; in short, he should fre- 
 quently soar to great, and even dangerous heights ; for 
 precipices are generally near whatever is towering and 
 exalted. The plain, 'tis true, affords a safer, but for that fj'j^'^culf 
 reason a more humble and inglorious path ; they that run are 
 more likely to stumble than they that creep, but the latter 
 gain no honor by not slipping, while the former even fall with 
 glory. It is with eloquence as with some other arts ; she is 
 never more pleasing than when she hazards most. Have you 
 not observed what acclamations our rope-dancers excite at the 
 instant of imminent danger ? Whatever is most unexpected 
 and hazardous, or, as the Greeks strongly express it, what-
 
 150 Roman Life in Pliny's Time, 
 
 ever is most daring, has always the greatest share of our 
 admiration. The pilot's skill is by no means equally proved 
 in a calm as in a storm ; in the former case he tamely enters 
 the port, unnoticed and unapplauded ; but when the cordage 
 cracks, the mast bends, and the rudder groans, then is it that 
 he shines forth in full luster, and is adored as little inferior to a 
 sea-god. The reason of my making this observation is, be- 
 cause, if I mistake not, you have marked some passages in 
 Distinction m ^ w " tm g s f r being tumid, exorbitant, and overwrought, 
 between true which in my estimation are full and bold and sublime. But it 
 grandeur in is material to consider whether your criticism turns upon such 
 
 literary com- points as are real faults, or only striking and remarkable 
 position. 
 
 expressions. Whatever is elevated is sure to be observed, 
 
 but it requires a very nice judgment to distinguish the bounds 
 between true and false grandeur, between a just and enormous 
 height. We select an instance out of Homer, both of the 
 grand and elevated style, in the following lines ; which can 
 scarce, I imagine, have escaped any reader's observation : 
 
 " Heaven in loud thunder bids the trumpet sound ; 
 And wide beneath them groans the rending ground." 
 
 Again : 
 
 " Reclined on clouds his steed and armor lay." 
 
 So in this whole passage : 
 
 " As torrents roll, increased by numerous rills, 
 With rage impetuous down their echoing hills, 
 Rush to the vales, and poured along the plain, 
 Roar through a thousand channels to the main." 
 It requires, I say, a very delicate hand to poise these meta- 
 phors, and determine whether they are too figurative and lofty 
 or truly majestic or sublime. 
 
 What could the triumvirs appreciate in this eloquence 
 
 secret of Pliny's so labored, or, to express it more fully, so over-refined? 
 
 thl^bkV." " How many of the flowers must have wasted their perfume 
 
 upon them ! How many the shafts whose point they never 
 
 felt ! It is not difficult to understand the secret of Pliny's 
 
 disgust with the bar, which led him to retire early. He 
 
 was to find a public more to his taste in the lecture halls, 
 
 where we shall not delay in following him.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 AMONG us moderns family life and public or private 
 
 . , 111 T-. i Social relations. 
 
 aftairs do not engage a man s whole activity. Besides 
 the relations of affection or of business we have what we 
 call social relations. They act and react continually 
 upon our sentiments and our ideas, and no one can 
 escape their influence. Whatever we do, however 
 misanthropic we may be, we are compelled to take 
 them into consideration. 
 
 In the ancient cities social life held, it is true, a less 
 important place than in our modern communities, but 
 we must not suppose that it occupied no place. We 
 might almost fix the date when society began to crystal- crystallization 
 lize at Rome. We are certainly safe in saying that ofsociet >"- 
 when Greek manners and literature were introduced 
 into Italy social life also awoke there. Was it not 
 almost a salon that the younger Scipio established in 
 gathering about him so many artists, so many lettered 
 and distinguished men ? The women who previously 
 had lived at home in retirement now begin to visit each 
 other, they go out to dinners with their husbands, they 
 take an interest in intellectual matters, they have their 
 own tastes and express them, and often succeed in 
 making them generally respected. Beginning from the 
 
 c i /-< i i i >.i A. i Women enter 
 
 time of the Gracchi, women take their part in social society. 
 life. No argument is necessary in support of this 
 statement. It is sufficient to recall the name of the 
 mother of the Gracchi ; for we may be sure that when
 
 152 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Organization 
 of the imperial 
 court. 
 
 women wield such an influence as did Cornelia, society 
 is in existence. 
 
 This society, which had sprung up spontaneously as 
 a result of the continued progress in refinement of 
 
 manners, became 
 more regular and 
 acquired forms 
 more fixed and 
 definite as soon 
 as a court was set 
 up in Rome. 
 
 The establish- 
 ment of the em- 
 pire being in the 
 beginning noth- 
 ing but the ele- 
 vation of a private 
 family, the organ- 
 ization of the im- 
 perial court was 
 at first modeled 
 upon the pattern 
 of a wealthy 
 household. But 
 soon, as absolute 
 power existed in 
 fact, its forms be- 
 gan to appear. 
 A few emperors 
 made attempts, 
 more or less sincere, to return to the ancient simplicity, 
 but notwithstanding this, the court came more and 
 more to resemble the courts of the great kings of other 
 ages. And the customs and tastes which reigned in 
 
 A ROMAN MATRON.
 
 Society. 153 
 
 the court were adopted by the high Roman society. 
 
 Docile subjects [said Pliny, in his panegyric on Trajan], we 
 are led by our prince wherever he pleases, and we follow him 
 unquestioningly. For we desire to be loved and approved by The emperor 
 
 , . , ,, , ... , . , . imitated by his 
 
 him, and those who are not like him cannot succeed m this, subjects. 
 It is through such eternal compliance that it has come about 
 that nearly all men live after the fashion of one man. . . . 
 The life of the emperor is a censorship, and that, too, a 
 perpetual one. We look toward 'his life for our model, we 
 copy it. We do not need commands, the example is sufficient. 
 
 And this was not the result of the personal influence 
 of Trajan ; the worst emperors wielded the same power. 
 " Sovereigns who love music," said Plutarch, " make 
 musicians." And the poet Claudianus later expressed 
 this same truth in the famous verse : 
 
 All men delight to imitate their king. 
 Such dependence upon a ruler for inspiration and 
 
 Reasons for 
 
 guidance in intellectual matters may not seem to be copying court 
 
 J etiquette. 
 
 justified by good reasons. Certainly there are stronger 
 reasons for imitating the etiquette and ceremonial of the 
 court. In the first place, it saves trouble, and then 
 society knows what to count upon. In order to exist 
 at all it must have forms. The more definite these 
 forms are, the easier is social life. And if social life is 
 tending constantly to disappear in the democratic 
 atmosphere of to-day, is it not because these forms 
 were broken down by the French Revolution ? 
 
 Let us seek, then, to show the nature of the hier- 
 archy and the ceremonial of the imperial court. Under The hierarchy 
 
 ... 111 i r of the court. 
 
 the republic, when statesmen had become party chiefs 
 they tried to organize their followers. C. Gracchus 
 and Livius Drusus are the first who divided their 
 partisans into three classes. Those of the first class 
 were received into their chief's circle of intimate friends,
 
 154 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time, 
 
 ' and they were invited by him to attend his smallest and 
 most exclusive receptions ; those of the second class 
 were admitted to larger social gatherings ; those of the 
 third class were allowed to be present only at his 
 public functions. The Romans called these three 
 classes, respectively, friends of the first, second, or 
 third admission. The emperors remembered this di- 
 Friendsofthe vision and imposed it upon their courtiers. In the first 
 
 first and second * 
 
 admission. two classes were the principal senators, the consuls, 
 and ex-consuls, those connected with the royal house 
 by blood or by marriage, and a few other very promi- 
 nent men, or men much in favor with the emperor, like 
 Lucian under Nero. They might be called into the 
 councils of the empire, might exercise a political influ- 
 ence, or acquire by reason of their constant relations 
 with the emperor an occult but very formidable power. 
 So the choice of friends of the first and second admis- 
 sion was an act of the greatest importance. As it was 
 they chiefly who formed the train of the emperor upon 
 his travels and campaigns, they were called his cohort, 
 and were given the title comites (companions), from 
 which our word count is derived. 
 
 As to the friends of the third class, whose role was 
 
 thVrTadmis- 116 naturally less important, they were drawn from among 
 the artists, scholars, and poets. Professional jesters, 
 also, belonged to this class. Although their position 
 was subordinate, a small number of the friends of the 
 third admission by their attractive personality or by the 
 dignity of their character won a large share of the 
 imperial favor. Among these fortunate few under 
 
 Areius Augustus was the philosopher Areius of Alexandria, 
 
 who obtained for his compatriots the clemency of the 
 emperor after the battle of Actium ; under Trajan Dion 
 
 hrysostom. Chrysostom, who was seen more than once in the
 
 Society. 155 
 
 emperor's carriage ; and Pronto under Marcus Aure- 
 lius. Several court jesters received similar favors ; 
 under Nero Vatinius was all-powerful. His ascendency vatinius. 
 had a rather curious origin ; what had called the 
 emperor's attention to him was the enormous length 
 of his nose ; in fact, so remarkable was this feature of 
 his countenance that a certain kind of drinking cup 
 which had a nozzle bore the name of Vatinius. This 
 third class was bound by very stringent obligations. 
 They were required to live in the palace, where special 
 apartments were reserved for their use. It may easily 
 be imagined what a sense of dependence such an 
 arrangement would naturally create. 
 
 The ceremonial was not less inflexible than the hier- 
 archy. 
 
 Louis XIV. used to hold early morning receptions, a 
 
 c Louis XIV.'s 
 
 small one for his most intimate friends, followed by a morning re- 
 larger, more general one. The Roman emperors had 
 not devised this distinction, but they had their early 
 reception, which was called the morning salutation. 
 
 This ceremony commenced at dawn. Regular attend- 
 ance upon it constituted for the most intimate friends at The nwminjr 
 
 salutation. 
 
 first a privilege, but afterward a duty which could not 
 be neglected except for a more important engagement. 
 Upon all occasions when congratulations were in order 
 and upon all formal celebrations the senate in a 
 body attended this reception. Sometimes the emperor 
 opened the doors of his palace to the knights, and even 
 to persons of no rank, if they were well recommended, 
 or if they had petitions to present. 
 
 Outside the palace, an entire cohort of praetorians, a 
 thousand men, mounted guard regularly, and there was 
 almost always a detachment at the entrance. These 
 soldiers were supposed to keep out suspicious char-
 
 156 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 The admission- 
 ales. 
 
 acters, and sometimes even to search those who solicited 
 an audience. At the time of Claudius, who was very 
 cowardly, no one could be admitted to the presence of 
 the prince without being subjected to this annoying 
 process. In the interior of the palace there was a body 
 of servants to maintain order and to announce and 
 show in visitors. These ushers were called admission- 
 ales. The difficulties of gaining admission varied much 
 according to the character of the emperor. In order 
 
 Easy access 
 to Trajan. 
 
 ATRIUM OF THE POMPEIIAN HOUSE AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. 
 Franklin W. Smith, architect. 
 
 to approach a Domitian it was necessary to pass all 
 sorts of guards ; for one who wished to see Trajan the 
 doors opened of themselves. 
 
 Here [Pliny says, speaking of Trajan's palace] no bolts, no 
 excruciating ordeal to be passed ; when you have once 
 crossed the threshold, you do not find a thousand doors, and
 
 Society. 157 
 
 beyond these other doors which remain closed, or at least 
 obstruct your progress. Before, and behind, but especially 
 around you, profound silence. Everything is done without 
 noise and with all possible deference, so that upon returning 
 to your modest little dwelling you have an impression that the 
 imperial palace is a model of calm and of simplicity. 
 
 At'these receptions the toga was the required dress, 
 
 Dress required 
 
 as well for the emperor as for his visitors. Some at receptions, 
 emperors tried to introduce a change in the matter of 
 costume. Nero one day dressed himself in a flowered 
 tunic to receive the senate, but his audacity was the 
 occasion of unfavorable comment. "He had even," 
 said Dion Cassius, " such a contempt for tradition that 
 he would appear in public with his tunic flowing loose 
 without a belt." We see that the tyranny of official 
 costume had begun to be felt. An emperor who gave 
 audience without the toga shocked the Romans, as 
 much as we should be shocked to learn that an officer 
 of state dressed in slippers and frock coat had formally 
 received ambassadors. 
 
 The friends, those of the first class at least, were 
 
 .... . Greetings be- 
 
 greeted by the emperor with a kiss. Such a salutation tween emperor 
 
 and subjects. 
 
 was customary between equals at Rome from the 
 establishment of the empire. Tiberius, it is true, felt 
 that this form, which had to be observed so often, was a 
 wearisome duty and he tried to escape from its tyranny. 
 At his departure for Rhodes, when he bade farewell to 
 the persons who were seeing him off, he kissed only a 
 few of them. But this reserve was considered a proof 
 of his excessive pride. Some emperors tried to intro- 
 duce into the ceremonial certain customs from the 
 oriental courts. Caligula had his feet kissed ; Elaga- 
 balus tried to require the forms of respect which the 
 king of Persia received. But these attempted innova- 
 tions were not successful, and the kiss exchanged be-
 
 158 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 tween emperor and subject-friend remained the cus- 
 tomary greeting. 
 
 If we consider the crowd of visitors and solicitors 
 u U on7he n em > - Sed W ' 1Q ea g er ly sought the presence of the prince, and his 
 receptions' 8 obligation to speak a few words to the persons of 
 distinction, we can realize how prolonged his recep- 
 tions probably were. They must have been among the 
 most disagreeable duties belonging to the highest rank. 
 They tested the sovereign's patience, and sometimes 
 even imperiled his health. Antoninus Pius, in his old 
 age, could scarcely endure the fatigue which they 
 occasioned, and he used to fortify himself by a light 
 repast before receiving. 
 
 We may be sure also that it was no small tedium 
 Annoyances to t na t the courtiers had to endure while awaiting their 
 
 which courtiers 
 
 were subjected, turn in the vestibule of the palace where a suffocating 
 crowd was gathered. But this was nothing compared 
 to the anxiety and torment of every kind to which they 
 were often exposed. Epictetus has drawn for us a 
 picture of what they had to suffer, a little too highly 
 colored perhaps, but correct in its main features : 
 
 They are not even allowed to sleep in peace ; but they are 
 awakened early by the news that the emperor has arisen, that 
 he is about to appear. At once they become anxious. If 
 they are not invited to the table of the emperor they are 
 mortified. If they are guests at his table, they dine like 
 slaves with their master, constantly on guard against com- 
 mitting some impropriety. And what are they afraid of? 
 Being whipped like slaves ? That would be getting off easily. 
 No ; they are afraid of exposing their heads, of being obliged 
 even to lay them down with the dignity becoming to friends of 
 the emperor. Even when at a distance from the emperor, 
 and engaged in physical exercise, their minds are never 
 tranquil. In short, who can be so obtuse, or who can so de- 
 ceive himself, as not to perceive that his lot is all the more 
 wretched, the more he is received into the emperor's friendship.
 
 Society. 1 59 
 
 But this misery was so brilliant that everybody had 
 
 the ambition to experience it, and when a person had The unquench- 
 able ambition 
 
 once experienced it, no matter how bitter he found it, of courtiers, 
 he could not resolve to give it up. A great person, 
 Epictetus recounts, had the misfortune of falling into 
 disgrace with the prince, and he was exiled. When 
 the time of his banishment had expired, and he had 
 returned to Rome, "It is all over," he said to the 
 philosopher. "May I be shamed if ever again I place 
 myself at his feet." "You will change your mind," 
 Epictetus returned. The other protested very strongly 
 that his resolution was unshakable. The next day a 
 note from the emperor recalled him to his service. 
 The courtiers of all times resemble each other. Epic- 
 tetus only described in advance one of La Bruyere's 
 characters. 
 
 Two thirds of my life have passed ; why be so anxious 
 about the remaining portion ? The most brilliant fortune is La Bruyere's. 
 not worth the torment which I inflict upon myself, nor the 
 pettiness to which I stoop, nor the humiliations and shame 
 which I endure. . . . The greatest of all our blessings, if 
 there are any blessings, is repose, retirement, and a place 
 
 which we can regard as our domain. R thought so in his 
 
 disgrace, but forgot it in his prosperity. 
 
 f 
 
 The actors may change ; the comedy remains the same. 
 
 The wealthy families which, as we have said, had in a wealthy 
 furnished the pattern for the court ceremonial in their 
 turn copied it when it had been added to and enriched 
 by the emperors. 
 
 The receptions in a patrician household, as at the 
 imperial palace, began at dawn. Clients and visitors 
 mingled on these occasions and the mixture must have 
 been very picturesque. Clients were usually poor 
 people. Many of them wore soiled togas and patched
 
 160 Roman Life in Pliny" s Time. 
 
 shoes. While waiting outdoors for admittance, they 
 would stand along the house wall, in winter impatient 
 for the sun to rise and warm them, and in summer 
 grumbling because it made them perspire under their 
 togas all the while disputing their place with the dogs 
 and the slaves. And near them would be a rich 
 knight, a grave senator, who had been brought in his 
 
 Beggars, rich sedan-chair, carried by slaves in red robes. The house- 
 ana poor. * 
 
 porter, armed with a rod, was stationed at the entrance, 
 and in order to gain admittance it was usually necessary 
 to purchase his good graces. Many poor people were 
 sent rudely away, and if a few entered gratis, it was that 
 the master's vanity might be satisfied by seeing a long 
 procession of his clients. They would pass, bowing 
 low before their lord, who would return them a disdain- 
 ful nod. Then, after being subjected to a minute 
 examination, they would receive from the treasurer the 
 ten sesterces (about 42 cents), upon which daily allow- 
 ance they lived. Meanwhile the great personages paid 
 their court to the patron ; one, perhaps, was aiming at 
 the consulship, another at a military tribuneship, and 
 they would beg their lord to use his influence in their 
 favor. Altogether they were a swarm of beggars, and 
 Plutarch fitly compares them to flies in a kitchen. 
 
 It was in the morning also that calls required by 
 fh^e morning 8 f politeness were made, and that such duties were per- 
 formed as attendance upon a marriage or a betrothal 
 ceremony, upon the formal assumption of the toga by a 
 boy when he became of age, upon the inauguration of a 
 magistrate, etc. Many were the functions at which a 
 person who had social relations somewhat extended was 
 expected to be present. So the streets of Rome early 
 in the morning offered a lively spectacle ; everywhere 
 people hurrying along, afraid of being late where the
 
 Society, 1 6 1 
 
 rules of etiquette required their presence. Many com- 
 plained of the wearisome waste of time entailed by 
 these obligations. Pliny, who was of this number, writes : 
 
 When one considers how the time passes in Rome, one 
 cannot but be surprised that take any single day, and it either rout?ne 1S me 
 is, or at least seems to be, spent reasonably enough ; and yet 
 upon casting up the whole sum the amount will appear quite 
 otherwise. Ask any one how he has been employed to-day ; 
 he will tell you perhaps, "I have been at the ceremony of 
 putting on the toga virilis ; this friend invited me to a 
 wedding ; that desired me to attend the hearing of his case ; 
 one begged me to be a witness to his will ; another called me 
 to a consultation." These are things which seem, while you 
 are engaged in them, extremely necessary ; and yet, when in 
 the quiet of some retirement, you realize that every day has 
 been thus employed, you cannot but condemn them as mere 
 trifles. At such a season one is apt to reflect, " How much of 
 my life has been spent in empty routine !" At least it is a 
 reflection which frequently comes across me at Laurentum, 
 after I have been employing myself in my studies, or even in 
 the necessary care of the animal machine ; for the body must 
 be repaired and supported if we would preserve the mind in 
 all its vigor. In that peaceful retreat I neither hear nor speak 
 anything of which I have occasion to repent. I suffer none to ^1"^ peaceful 
 repeat to me the whispers of malice ; nor do I censure any 
 man, unless myself, when I am dissatisfied with my compo- 
 sitions. There I live undisturbed by rumor and free from the 
 anxious solicitudes of hope or fear, conversing only with 
 myself and my books. True and genuine life ! pleasing and 
 honorable repose ! More, perhaps, to be desired than the 
 noblest employments ! Thou solemn sea and solitary shore, 
 best and most retired school of art and poetry, with how 
 many noble thoughts have you inspired me ! Snatch then, 
 my friend, as I have, the first occasion of leaving the noisy 
 town, with all its very empty pursuits, and devote your days to 
 study, or even resign them to ease ; for as my friend Attilius 
 happily observed, " It is better to do nothing than to do 
 nothings." Farewell. 
 
 But all did not share this opinion. Some enjoyed
 
 162 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 The Ardelions. 
 
 this busy idleness, and almost made a profession out of 
 it, so that they came to be considered a distinct class, 
 as it were, in society, and received a special name. 
 They were called Ardelions, or busybodies. 
 
 Phaedrus and Seneca make us acquainted with these 
 singular persons : 
 
 There exist at Rome a certain tribe called Ardelions, hurry- 
 ing about anxiously here and there, always busy with their 
 idleness, getting out of breath over trifles, doing many things 
 yet doing nothing, burdensome to themselves and most offen- 
 sive to others. 
 
 Seneca compares them to ants who pass up and down a 
 tree, from root to top, and from top to root. 
 
 Busy idleness. 
 
 THE APPIAN WAY. From a painting by Gustav Boulanger. 
 
 There are people [he says] who are driven from their houses 
 by the dawning day. They only go out to swell the crowd. 
 If stopping one of them at his door you should ask him, 
 "Where are you going? What are your plans?" he would 
 reply, " By Hercules, I don't know ; but I wish to make a few
 
 Society. 163 
 
 calls, to be doing something. " . . . We cannot help pity 
 them when we see them running as if they had to put out a 
 fire. They dash headlong through the streets, jostling every- 
 body, and knocking against those whom they encounter. And 
 why such haste ? To pay a call which never will be returned, 
 to attend the funeral of some stranger, the trial of some liti- 
 gant's case, or the betrothal ceremony of a woman who marries 
 frequently. When after having traversed the whole city for 
 the most futile motives they finally return to their Penates, 
 they will swear to you that they have no recollection why 
 they went out, nor even where they have been ; which does 
 not prevent them from repeating on the next day, even more 
 frantically, their vagabond wanderings. 
 
 Old age might come upon them ; no matter ; it was 
 useless for Martial to declare that nothing was more 
 hideous than an old Ardelion still they would go 
 hurrying about. 
 
 The receptions and visits of which we have been 
 
 1 11 c 1 i -11 j L Lack of conver- 
 
 speakmg were all of them characterized by parade, by sation. 
 publicity. They did not allow of conversation, which 
 with us constitutes the charm of social life, and is, for 
 the most part, its only excuse for existence. Where, 
 then, among the Romans, were the pleasures of con- 
 versation tasted ? 
 
 The Romans had no such feature of social life as our 
 
 . The modern 
 
 modern salon a eatnenngf 01 men and women whose salon unknown 
 
 ,. ,. at Rome. 
 
 keenest pleasure is to talk or to listen according to 
 their tastes and their talents, where you may express 
 your opinion on everything if only it does not offend 
 your neighbor, where wit is not forbidden provided you 
 have enough not to have too much, where feeling is 
 not banished if only it is not allowed to become 
 emotion ; a gathering where the people please each 
 other without loving each other, where they praise 
 without judging, where each one is prudent enough to 
 bring only a part of himself, where one cools the
 
 164 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Table reunions. 
 
 Table talk. 
 
 Pliny's letter 
 to Clarus. 
 
 warmth which he has in his soul and veils the brilliancy 
 of his intellect, where great qualities are not brought 
 into play, where only amiable qualities are proper. 
 
 But if salons had no existence at Rome, table re- 
 unions afforded a very natural occasion for the pleas- 
 ures of conversation. Horace found that good wine 
 animated the talkers. 
 
 Is there a man whose tongue no skill or power knows ? 
 He waxes eloquent whene'er the bright wine flows. 
 
 The Greeks, who had received the gift of poesy, 
 improvised songs at their repasts. The master of the 
 house would give a couplet, holding a branch of 
 myrtle in his hand. Then, the couplet finished, he 
 would toss the branch to one of the guests, who upon 
 catching it was bound to respond in some more verses. 
 The Romans, who were less gifted, were nevertheless 
 intellectual. If they could not sing, they could at least 
 talk. There was conversation, then, at those repasts 
 which Horace gave to his friends and neighbors in his 
 country house. They would moralize a little, indulge 
 much in satire, and the rustic Ofellus would tell some 
 good story of the time when animals used to talk. 
 There was conversation, we learn from Horace, at the 
 house of the advocate Philip, who liked the amusement 
 of listening to the simple chatter of the auctioneer 
 Vulteius Menas. There was conversation, too, at 
 Pliny's house, as he tells us in his letter reproaching 
 his friend Septicius Clarus for not having come to dine 
 with him : 
 
 How happened it, my friend, that you did not keep your 
 engagement the other night to sup with me ? But take notice, 
 justice is to be had, and I expect you shall fully reimburse me 
 the expense I was at to treat you ; which, let me tell you, was 
 no small sum. I had prepared, you must know, a lettuce
 
 Society. 
 
 165 
 
 apiece, three snails, two eggs, and a barley cake, with some 
 sweet wine and snow ; the snow most certainly I shall charge 
 to your account, as a rarity that will not keep. Besides all 
 these curious dishes, there were olives of Andalusia, gourds, 
 shalots, and a hundred other dainties equally sumptuous. 
 You should likewise have been entertained either with an 
 interlude, the rehearsal of a poem, or a piece of music, as 
 you liked best ; or, such was my liberality, with all three. 
 But the luxurious delicacies and Spanish dancers of a certain 
 
 A dainty meal. 
 
 PERISTYLE OF THE POMPKIIAN HOUSE AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. V. 
 Franklin VV. Smith, architect. 
 
 I know not who, were, it seems, more to your taste. How- 
 ever, I shall have my revenge of you, depend upon it in 
 what manner shall at present be a secret. In good truth, it 
 was not kind thus to disappoint your friend, I had almost said 
 yourself; and, upon second thought, I do say so. For how A pleasant 
 agreeably should we have spent the evening, in laughing, evening, 
 trifling, and deep speculation ! You may sup, I confess, at 
 many places more splendidly ; but you can be treated 
 nowhere, believe me, with more unconstrained cheerfulness, 
 simplicity, and freedom ; only make the experiment, and if
 
 1 66 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Great feasts. 
 
 Southerners 
 simple in their 
 tastes. 
 
 you do not ever afterward prefer my table to any other, never 
 favor me with your company again. Farewell. 
 
 But at those great feasts which are so famous, there 
 was no conversation, because they were only exhi- 
 bitions. However, as they hold an important place in 
 the social life of the Romans, we must describe them to 
 our readers. 
 
 Let us begin by saying that the luxury of the Roman 
 table has been much exaggerated, or, rather, that it has 
 been represented as too general. 
 
 The people of the South are naturally simple in their 
 tastes, and the Romans were no exception to the rule. 
 Horace, who was an Epicurean, has given us the menu 
 of his ordinary dinner : leeks, gray peas, and a few 
 cakes. Juvenal, who is inviting a friend to share a 
 meal with him, details to him his intended bill of fare : 
 
 From Tibur's stock 
 
 A kid shall come, the fattest of the flock, 
 The tenderest too, and yet too young to browse 
 The thistle's shoots, the willow's watery boughs, 
 With more of milk than blood ; and pullets dressed 
 With new-laid eggs, yet tepid from the nest, 
 And sperage wild, which, from the mountain's side, 
 My housemaid left her spindle to provide ; 
 And grapes long kept, yet pulpy still, and fair, 
 And the rich Signian and the Syrian pear ; 
 And apples, that in flavor and in smell 
 The boasted Picene equal, or excel. 
 
 If it had not been for the pullets and the kid a 
 vegetarian might have dined with Juvenal that evening. 
 The emperor Hadrian when he was traveling limited 
 Hadrian's diet, his diet to cheese and milk and he never drank any- 
 thing stronger than vinegar mingled with water. We 
 know, moreover, through Galen, the physician, that it 
 was considered a mark of great intemperance to drink 
 
 Juvenal's 
 dinner.
 
 Society. 167 
 
 pure wine. The Romans do not deserve any special 
 
 praise for their simple appetites, for their climate 
 
 obliged them to eat lightly. But how shall we explain 
 
 the invectives hurled by the moralists against the luxury 
 
 of the table ? Why should Seneca have attributed the p rev aience of 
 
 corruption of morals to gluttony, as he did when he ex- fico'nlmg to 
 
 claimed, " The palate has destroyed the world " ? 
 
 These lamentations of the moralists were due to the 
 rapid progress made at Rome in the science of dainty 
 cooking. The suddenness of the change from fru- 
 gality to indulgence made the latter seem all the more 
 shocking. In 161 B. C. the fattening of chickens 
 horrified the Romans to such an extent that the 
 censors issued a decree forbidding it, and this decree 
 had retained its place among the sumptuary laws subse- 
 quently promulgated. Sixty years later, even at the 
 most splendid repasts, Greek wine was only served 
 once to the guests. But in the cellar of the orator Dainty table 
 Hortensius, who lived in the first century of our era, a 
 supply of 10,000 jars of foreign wine was found, and 
 soon after the battle of Actium the luxury of the table 
 reached its height. The world then was conquered ; 
 by way of Alexandria Rome was put into commercial 
 relations with Asia ; the natural products and the 
 manufactured articles of the whole world flowed into 
 Rome. This fact, coincident with the increased for- 
 tunes of certain great houses, changed completely the 
 table fare from extremely frugal and simple to abundant 
 and elaborate. 
 
 It is certain that from Augustus to Vespasian the GIuttoliy not 
 luxury of the table was carried very far, but it is no less * e as 
 certain that it was not so extravagant nor so monstrous sented. 
 as might be inferred from certain passages of Pliny the 
 Elder or of Seneca. The virtuous indignation of these
 
 1 68 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 writers was especially provoked by the eccentricities of 
 a few fools who wanted to be talked about and who 
 were less influenced by gluttony than by a desire for 
 notoriety. Seneca understood the facts, and he should 
 have avoided making his criticisms general. 
 
 The spendthrifts [says Seneca] aim to have the life which 
 sought^after. tne y ^ eac ^ continually the subject of conversation. They think 
 they have lost their pains if they are not talked about. As 
 soon as one of their actions escapes notice they are dissatis- 
 fied. Many of them eat up their fortune in giving gay enter- 
 tainments, many support mistresses at great expense. In 
 order to make yourself a name among them, it is not enough 
 to lead a voluptuous life, you must pose so as to attract atten- 
 tion. Ordinary dissipation does not create gossip in so busy a 
 city. 
 
 It is not difficult to see why a certain P. Octavius 
 paid 5,000 sesterces (about $212.50) for one fish of ex- 
 traordinary size ; such a glorious purchase could not 
 fail to be a subject for gossip throughout the city. 
 
 But the Romans had no monopoly on foolish prodi- 
 An expensive galities. Do we not know that under the First 
 Empire in France, the exchequer reckoned at 6,000 
 francs ($1,170) the total expense of purchasing, pre- 
 paring, and transporting an enormous trout with its 
 sauce, sent by the town of Geneva to the archchan- 
 cellor Cambace>es ? Octavius compared to Cambaceres 
 was a miser ; it is true, however, that Cambace>es did 
 not pay for this beautiful dish out of his own pocket ; 
 it was France that footed the bill. 
 
 Examples of still more gluttony there certainly were 
 A sumptuous at Rome. It would be useless to deny it. At a feast 
 which was given half a century before Christ the first 
 course was : sea-urchins, raw oysters, each guest as 
 many as he desired, giant mussels, a thrush on a bed of 
 asparagus, a fattened pullet, a soup of oysters and
 
 Society. 1 69 
 
 mussels, black shell fish and white shell fish ; some 
 more shell fish, sea-nettles, and some variety of salt 
 water fish with fig peckers, fillets of wild boar and of 
 wild kid, a poultry pie, and purple fish with fig peckers. 
 The principal course was composed of sows' udders, a 
 boar's jowl, fricassee of fish and of sows' udders, wild The principal 
 
 J course. 
 
 duck, teal, which was boiled, hares, roasted fowl, a 
 flour pudding, and loaves of Picentian bread. The 
 menu of the dessert, if there was any, is not preserved. 
 Certainly a copious bill of fare ! Enough to finish off 
 the partakers ! But the feast, we may rest assured, 
 was among the most sumptuous, for otherwise Macro- 
 bius, who lived four or five centuries after it occurred, 
 would not have furnished us with our account of it as 
 he has done. Moreover and this explains everything 
 the repast was gotten up for some priests. 
 
 After all, gormandizing was rarer at Rome than is 
 generally believed. But a Roman loved to cut a dash, 
 and when he received guests at his table he had an 
 opportunity for doing so which he did not like to lose. 
 
 Let us try, by gathering together and arranging the 
 scraps of information that Petronius and Martial have 
 left us, to present to our readers a vivid picture of one 
 of these state dinners. 
 
 The Romans had three regular meals a day : break- Order of 
 fast, at about nine o'clock ; luncheon, in the middle of meals, 
 the day ; and dinner, at three or four o' clock in the 
 afternoon. The latter was the meal to which friends 
 and acquaintances were invited. The Romans had a 
 supper sometimes late in the evening, but this was not a 
 regular meal. 
 
 According to Varro, a host who regarded his own 
 comfort, and who wished to make it as pleasant as 
 possible for his friends, would not receive at his table
 
 170 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Number of 
 guests invited. 
 
 less than three persons, nor more than nine "not less 
 than the Graces, nor more than the Muses" seems to 
 have been for a long time at Rome an axiom in the 
 code of etiquette. But under the empire this axiom 
 became obsolete ; for custom authorized those invited to 
 bring with them friends who had not been asked ; the 
 latter were called "shadows," because they were 
 fancifully regarded as the shadows cast by those who 
 brought them. Owing to this custom, the number of 
 guests was often very large. Moreover, at the public 
 
 Dress for the 
 iable. 
 
 WINTER DINING-ROOM OF THE POMPEIIAN HOUSE AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, 
 N. Y. Franklin W. Smith, architect. 
 
 dinners given by the emperors a vast number of covers 
 were laid as many as six hundred on one occasion. 
 The example set by the court in this, as in many other 
 particulars, was followed by private individuals. 
 
 Those Romans who were well versed in the rules of 
 etiquette never dined in the toga. They wore at table
 
 Society. 171 
 
 special garments, which they never wore anywhere 
 else ; and when they were going to dine out they 
 would send these garments to their host's house, 
 unless he was to furnish them some for the occasion. 
 When the guests were assembled in the dining-hall, the 
 host assigned to each one his place. In early times, it 
 was the style to have a square table, with a couch or 
 divan on each of three of its sides ; the fourth side was Precedence at 
 
 table. 
 
 left free for the attendants to put down and remove 
 dishes. Each couch was calculated to hold three 
 occupants. The couch of honor was the center one ; 
 the couch to the left of this was second in point of 
 honor, and the one to the right was the least honorable. 
 The last would be occupied by the host, his wife, and 
 perhaps their child, while the two first would be re- 
 served for guests. At the end of the republic round 
 tables were introduced, and then a single semi-circular 
 couch was used, called, on account of its form, a sigma, 
 the name of the Greek letter ? (English s), whose 
 ancient form was C. 
 
 These tables were almost always very costly. The 
 
 , J J Costly tables. 
 
 favorite material for them was citrus wood. We have 
 already spoken of the fact that Cicero owned a table of 
 citrus wood worth 500,000 sesterces (about $21,250), 
 and other tables are mentioned by the ancient authors 
 which cost as much as 1,400,000 sesterces (about 
 $59,500); they were ornamented with mosaic, mother 
 of pearl, pearls, and ebony. Before table-cloths were 
 used it is easy to comprehend why the ancients should 
 have indulged their taste for elegant tables, but in the 
 time of the Antonines table-cloths began to be fashion- 
 able, and still the rich would buy tables as costly as 
 ever. 
 
 The Romans had the art of setting a table to pro-
 
 172 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 duce a most sumptuous effect. A handsome center- 
 theTabie n f pi ece would occupy the middle. The centerpiece on 
 the table of Trimalchio, a character in the romance of 
 Petronius, was in the form of a globe ' ' upon which 
 were represented the twelve signs of the zodiac. 
 Below each sign the host had caused to be placed 
 dishes which on account of their appearance or their 
 nature had some connection with the constellation 
 represented. Under the Ram were chick-peas, under 
 the Bull, a roast of bee}, etc. ... In the center of 
 this beautiful globe a tuft of grass, artistically carved, 
 supported a honey-comb." But Trimalchio was only 
 an eccentric gentleman of poor taste ; a man of culture 
 as well as of means would adopt a more simple method 
 of decoration. Nonnius Vindex had for a centerpiece a 
 statuette of Hercules, done by the sculptor Lysippus. 
 Although it occupied less room than Trimalchio' s 
 globe, it was no less costly. 
 
 Other table ornaments were beautiful candelabra from 
 mints rna -^Egina, murrhine vases, dishes of rock crystal, silver- 
 ware marked with the owner's initials. The father- 
 in-law of Seneca, Pompeius Paulinus, when starting off 
 to command the Roman army in Germany, carried with 
 him between eight and nine thousand pounds of table 
 silver. Such extravagance astonishes us ; but it would 
 surprise us no less, if we were able to take our place at 
 one of those overloaded tables, to find no napkins and 
 no knives. The guests brought their own napkins 
 with them, and as to knives and forks, the custom of 
 serving the food cut up into small bits rendered them 
 unnecessary. At each person's place two spoons were 
 laid, a large one and a small one, and sometimes a few 
 toothpicks. A silver toothpick was a mark of luxury, 
 ordinary ones being of wood or quill.
 
 Society. 173 
 
 An elaborate dinner was served in several courses 
 the number rose to eight or nine under the empire. The courses of 
 
 a dinner. 
 
 But there were three indispensable courses the ante- 
 past or relish, the dinner proper, and the dessert. The 
 antepast consisted of shell fish ; but oysters, which 
 served to awaken the appetite of the diners, seem to 
 have been eaten in the middle of the repast to revive it. 
 At the dinner proper the pieces de resistance appeared ; 
 then the waiters brought in the sauces poppy sauce, 
 made from the juice of poppy seeds roasted and crushed ; 
 garum sauce, made of the entrails of fish preserved in 
 wine or vinegar and seasoned with pepper, salt, etc. 
 Next fowls, fattened pullets, pheasants, sows' udders, 
 and, finally, larger animals, which in the most elegant 
 mansions were brought on the table whole. The dessert The dessert. 
 was composed of pastry and fruit. Since Priapus was the 
 god of the gardens, it was natural that he should preside 
 over this part of the meal ; so the pastry cooks used to 
 make out of their dough figures of Priapus gathering up 
 his robe in front so that a deep pocket was formed in 
 its folds ; when these figures appeared as dessert the 
 pockets would be filled with all kinds of fruit, which the 
 god would seem to be offering to the guests. The final 
 course, moreover, was the time for surprises. Some- 
 times the ceiling of the dining-room would open and 
 flowers would rain down ; sometimes a fountain of per- 
 fumed water would rise from a hidden pipe ; sometimes 
 even and this was a less charming surprise a skeleton 
 would be brought into the dining-room. Petronius, in 
 his romance, records such an occurrence as follows : 
 
 While we were drinking and admiring in detail the magnifi- 
 cence of the feast, a slave placed upon the table a silver 
 skeleton, so well contrived that the vertebrae and the joints 
 moved easily in all directions.
 
 174 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 This was not an extravagant invention of Trimalchio's, 
 but a custom which the Greeks had learned from the 
 Egyptians and transmitted to the Romans. 
 
 In what order were the wines served? It is difficult 
 
 Wines. 
 
 to say. But we know that first came the mead or 
 honey-wine. Martial has left us an enumeration of the 
 famous wines of his day. Just for the sake of curiosity 
 let us run over them. They were the Albanum, the 
 Surrentinum, the Setinum, the Fundanum, the Trifoli- 
 
 THE VINTAGE FESTIVAL. From a painting by L. Alma-Tadema. 
 
 num, which was npt considered very good, the Sig- 
 ninum, which was rather sour, the Pelignum, very 
 muddy, the Massilian, very fragrant, the Tarentine, the 
 Caeretanum, the Nomentanum, and finally the delicious 
 Caecubum, and the generous Falernum, whose praises 
 the verses of Horace have immortalized. 
 
 But a host's chief duty was, not to furnish food and 
 drink this was the business of the steward and the 
 cook but to devise with ingenious taste the amuse- 
 ments, for some kind of entertainment always accom- 
 panied a feast. 
 
 The question in a host's mind always was, "What 
 new diversion can I provide for my guests? Shall I 
 have an artist in the dining-room to mold under their
 
 Society. 175 
 
 eyes plastic figures from soft clay ? Shall I have read- 
 ings from epic poetry? Shall I have some beautiful 
 Andalusian girls exhibit their famous dancing, accom- 
 panied by the flute and castanets, and a choir of 
 singers ? Shall I have a concert of zither players ? Or 
 shall I entertain my guests with a farce or a mime ? ' ' 
 
 There was plenty to choose from. The difficulty 
 always was to make a choice. For custom had 
 rendered some program indispensable. But many 
 complaints were made in regard to these entertainments 
 in the first place that they were too costly, and 
 furthermore that they were carried to excess. Pliny, 
 with his usual prudence and tolerance, expresses his 
 views on the subject as follows : 
 
 I have received your letter, in which you complain of 
 having been highly disgusted lately at a very splendid enter- Pliny's views, 
 tainment, by a set of buffoons, mummers, and wanton prosti- 
 tutes, who were dancing about round the tables. But let me 
 advise you to smooth your knitted brow 'somewhat. I con- 
 fess, indeed, I admit nothing of this kind at my own house ; 
 however, I bear with it in others. "And why, then," you 
 will be ready to ask, "not have them yourself?" The truth is, 
 because the gestures of the wanton, the pleasantries of the 
 buffoon, or the extravagances of the mummer, give me no 
 pleasure, as they give me no surprise. It is my particular 
 taste, you see, not my judgment that I plead against them. 
 And, indeed, what numbers are there who think the enter- 
 tainments with which you and I are most delighted are wholly 
 without interest ! How many are there who, as soon as a 
 reader, a lyrist, or a comedian is introduced, either take their 
 leave of the company, or, if they remain, show as much 
 dislike to this sort of thing as you did to those monsters, as 
 you call them ! Let us bear, therefore, my friend, with others 
 in their amusements, that they in return may show indulgence 
 to ours. Farewell. 
 
 But Martial is less tolerant ; one of his epigrams 
 reads as follows : '
 
 176 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 The eloquent page of Priscus considers "what is the best 
 
 Martial's kind of feast?" and offers many suggestions with grace, 
 
 many with force, and all with learning. Do you ask me, 
 
 what is the best kind of feast ? That at which no flute-player 
 
 is present. 
 
 Martial certainly was not fond of music. But we should 
 remember that the best things may be rendered un- 
 endurable by abuse, and that many hosts, in their 
 excess of zeal, made amusements a bore. 
 
 These interludes at a meal must, in any case, have 
 seriously interfered with talking among the guests. 
 We shall not expect to find, then, at dinner-parties any 
 examples of conversation in Rome. 
 
 Private conversation, as formerly public speaking, 
 Conversation, developed in the open air. Let us enter an exedra at 
 Rome and watch those who are enjoying an hour's 
 recreation there. We find a group of men discussing 
 some topic which seems to be of the most absorbing 
 interest, for their voices are loud, their gestures violent, 
 and their faces expressive of the greatest animation. 
 But soon the conversation becomes less general ; now 
 two or three only sustain it ; the others, one by one, 
 quietly drop away. Those who remain and continue 
 talking with unabated zeal are philosophers, scholars, 
 or grammarians, who could not resist the temptation to 
 enter into a discussion upon some difficult or abstract 
 question. They have driven away the rest of the 
 company, who could not follow them through the 
 intricacies of their argument. 
 
 Outside the temples, near the libraries, in the book- 
 
 A literary con- ~ 
 
 versation. shops, literary people would gather together and dis- 
 
 cuss the latest publications. 
 
 "Pliny," some one would say, "has just sent some 
 new hendecasyllables to Titius Aristo. ' '
 
 Society. 
 
 177 
 
 ' 
 
 "Have you heard," some one else would ask, 
 " about the stupid mistake of Javolenus Priscus? Why, 
 a poet was reading aloud one of his poems, and the first xhe stupid 
 line commenced 'You, Priscus, command' and what Pr 
 did Javolenus do but burst right in, 'I! why, I don't 
 command anything.' The blockhead didn't know it 
 was part of the poem." 
 
 "Statius," some one else would contribute, "is 
 
 PERISTYLE OF THE POMPKIIAN HOUSE AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. 
 Franklin \V. Smith, architect. 
 
 going to give a reading from his 'Xhebai's.' The whole 
 city is overjoyed at the prospect. 
 
 And then struggling authors would complain of their complaints of 
 lot. One of them, who had been unsuccessful in abhors?* ' 
 securing an audience when he gave readings from his 
 manuscript poems, would exclaim : 
 
 "Alas! how unfortunate it is to have a mania for
 
 I 7 8 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 No more 
 Maecenases. 
 
 Compliments 
 exchanged. 
 
 Lively 
 criticism. 
 
 writing ! I might as well put my verses in the cup- 
 board and let the bugs and spiders eat them up, for the 
 day is past of such men as Maecenas ; our rich misers 
 don't know enough to bestow upon talent anything but 
 praise and empty admiration." 
 
 "But," a sympathetic friend would reply, " Macu- 
 lonus lent you a hall in his house in which to give a 
 reading from your poems ; he even had his freedmen 
 help swell the audience, and he distributed here and 
 there applauders possessed of vigorous lungs. ' ' 
 
 "Yes," the other would reply, "but he did not 
 meet the expense of the banquet, nor did he pay for 
 the platform and the chairs for the orchestra which had 
 to be supplied. Just think ! I shall have to pawn my 
 cloak." 
 
 And the self-satisfied poets would overwhelm each 
 other with compliments. 
 
 "You are an Alceus," one of them would say. 
 
 "And you a Callimachus," would be the reply. 
 
 "Your poems have power from all others to wean us." 
 "In yours hold sway all the Graces and Venus." 
 "You marshall your words as if 'twere by magic." 
 "And you are supreme in the realm of the tragic." 
 
 This complaisant dialogue between Vadius and Tris- 
 sotin in Moliere's comedy, "Les Femmes Savantes," 
 strikingly resembles the conversation of their Roman 
 ancestors. 
 
 But praise becomes insipid. There is more spice in 
 criticism ; and we may be sure that it had a large place 
 in the every-day talk among literary men. 
 
 "Piccus," some one would say, "writes his epi- 
 grams on the back side of his pages, and then com- 
 plains that they are opposite to good sense." 
 
 "You make a great mystery, Cinna," some one else
 
 Society. 1 79 
 
 would continue, ' ' out of your poems that no one has 
 seen. 
 
 "Just publish them, friend, 
 
 And the talk will soon end." 
 
 We must suppose, also, that general theories were 
 often discussed. Fruitful topics of conversation were Literary dis- 
 furnished by the never-settled differences between the 
 partisans of native literature and the lovers of Alex- 
 andrianism. Juvenal probably often indulged his keen 
 wit at the expense of the latter, and it is not likely, 
 whatever he may say about it, that he waited until he 
 wrote his first satire to express his disgust at Codrus, 
 the poet who made himself hoarse by reciting his own 
 verses, and who had compelled him so many times to 
 be an unwilling listener to the reading of his "Theseid." 
 
 The ladies and gentlemen of fashionable society used 
 to enjoy meeting each other in the porticoes, richly chat, 
 adorned with statues, and in the public promenades and 
 walks, under the shade of the laurel and plane trees. 
 Here they would chat together, praise the latest exhi- 
 bition of ballet-dancing, discuss the merits of this or 
 that gladiator, wax enthusiastic over the triumph of the 
 horse who had won in the last races of the Circus 
 Maximus, or take sides for the blues or the reds, colors 
 worn to distinguish the contestants in the games of the 
 circus. There was much talk, too, about love affairs, 
 especially among the ladies. 
 
 In short, gossip flourished in Rome as much as in 
 any little country village. A girl could not be pretty in 
 Rome with impunity. Slander, Propertius tells us, 
 was the punishment for beauty. This eager delight in 
 gossip led to frequent intrusion into people's private 
 affairs, and sometimes even to espionage. 
 
 Hence arises [said Seneca] the most frightful of all forms of
 
 180 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 baseness spying into the secrets of individuals, besides 
 attempting to find out many things that one can neither listen 
 to nor communicate without danger. 
 
 It was of no use to try to escape from eyes always 
 
 Espionage. , , . , -11 -\r 
 
 on the watch, from ears always strained to hear. You 
 could not conceal your life ; you lived in an open 
 house. 
 
 Juvenal, in one of his satires, writes : 
 
 And dost thou seriously believe, fond swain, 
 The actions of the great unknown remain ? 
 Poor Corydon ! even beasts would silence break, 
 And stocks and stones, if servants did not, speak. 
 Bolt every door, stop every cranny tight, 
 Close every window, put out every light ; 
 Let not a whisper reach the listening ear, 
 No noise, no motion ; let no soul be near ; 
 Yet all that passed at the cock's second crow, 
 The neighboring vintner shall, ere daybreak, know, 
 With what besides the cook and carver's brain, 
 Subtly malicious, can in vengeance feign ! 
 
 Martial, in his portrait of the coxcomb, has taken off 
 marvelously well the commonplaces of conversation 
 often exchanged among the idle, society people of his 
 day. The following is his epigram (we use Elton's 
 translation): 
 
 They tell me, Cotilus, that you're a beau ; 
 What this is, Cotilus, I wish to know. 
 "A beau is one who, with the nicest care, 
 coxcomb? ' 1 parted locks divides his curling hair ; 
 
 One who with balm and cinnamon smells sweet, 
 Whose humming lips some Spanish air repeat ; 
 Whose naked arms are smoothed with pumice-stone, 
 And tossed about with graces all his own ; 
 A beau is one who takes his constant seat, 
 From morn to evening, where the ladies meet ; 
 And ever, on some sofa hovering near, 
 Whispers some nothing in some fair one's ear ;
 
 Society. 
 
 181 
 
 Why the 
 Romans 
 gossiped. 
 
 Who scribbles thousand billets-doux a day ; 
 
 Still reads and scribbles, reads, and sends away ; 
 
 A beau is one who shrinks, if nearly pressed 
 
 By the coarse garment of a neighbor guest ; 
 
 Who knows who flirts with whom, and still is found 
 
 At each good table in successive round ; 
 
 A beau is one none better knows than he 
 
 A race horse, and his noble pedigree "- 
 
 Indeed? Why, Cotilus, if this be so, 
 
 What teasing, trifling thing is called a beau ! 
 
 Slander and frivolity such was the substance of the 
 fashionable conversation at Rome. We must admit, 
 however, that the Romans had an excuse, which happily 
 we of to-day have not, for idle and mischievous conver- 
 sation. They slandered private individuals because 
 they could not criticise public men ; they discussed 
 petty subjects because great ones were forbidden. 
 
 To-day we are not afraid to talk about politics and to 
 express ourselves very freely ; there is scarcely a social politics a for- 
 
 .... i J T- bidden topic of 
 
 gathering where they are not touched upon, bvery conversation. 
 
 one thinks he has a right to his own opinion on this 
 
 subject, and even the ladies must have 
 
 their say. At certain epochs of the 
 
 empire politics were a forbidden topic 
 
 of conversation. There were, indeed, 
 
 even at such epochs, those moving in 
 
 social circles who liked to make a show 
 
 of knowledge in matters of state ; but 
 
 what was their information worth ? 
 
 The following epigram of Martial's 
 throws some light upon this question : 
 
 These are the contrivances, Philomusus, 
 by which you are constantly trying to secure 
 a dinner : inventing numbers of fictions, and 
 retailing them as true. You are informed 
 of the counsels of Pacorus at the court of 
 
 WOMAN'S HKAD. 
 Vatican Museum, Rome.
 
 182 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 Fictitious 
 news. 
 
 Spies and 
 informers. 
 
 The law of 
 majestas. 
 
 The terrible 
 power of 
 informers. 
 
 Parthia ; you can tell the exact numbers of the German and 
 Sarmatian armies. You reveal the unopened dispatches of the 
 Dacian general ; you see a laureled letter, announcing a vic- 
 tory, before its arrival. You know how often dusky Syene has 
 been watered by Egyptian floods ; you know how many ships 
 have sailed from the shores of Africa ; you know for whose 
 head the Julian olives grow, and for whom the Father of 
 Heaven destines his triumphal crowns. A truce to your arts ; 
 you shall dine with me to-day, but only on this condition, 
 Philomusus, that you tell me no news. 
 
 But as soon as a person began to talk about the 
 plans of the emperor, about his friends or his victims, 
 he was in danger. There were spies everywhere and 
 it was no safer to listen than to talk. 
 
 We should have lost [said Tacitus] with our free speech, 
 our memories, if it had been as easy to forget as to keep still. 
 
 The informers were always on the alert, and hovered 
 about armed with the formidable law of majestas, which 
 made it treason to utter a syllable reflecting criticism 
 upon the government, and they spread terror every- 
 where. The ancient writers have left us startling testi- 
 mony upon the subject of this universal dread that 
 rested upon Roman society. 
 
 Never [said Tacitus, speaking of the reign of Tiberius] did 
 greater consternation and alarm prevail in Rome. People 
 trembled in the presence of their nearest relatives. They 
 scarcely dared approach each other or speak to each other. 
 Every ear was suspected, whether known or unknown. Even 
 mute and inanimate things inspired dread. People glanced 
 anxiously at the walls and the ceiling. 
 
 There had been so many examples of the terrible- 
 power of the informers. It was an informer who had 
 caused the death of Valerius Asiaticus ; it was due to 
 an information that Rusticus Arulenus, Helvidius Pris- 
 cus, and so many other worthy men had been sent into
 
 Society. 183 
 
 exile. There were so many instances that could be 
 cited of the perfidy and wickedness of these odious 
 men. No one had forgotten the story of Sabinus. A 
 traitor by long and skilful maneuvering had won his 
 friendship ; then he invited him to his house, and while 
 Sabinus, in perfect trust, gave vent to his indignation 
 against the tyranny of Tiberius, three senators were 
 listening, crouched in the roof of the informer's house, 
 so that they might report what they heard to the 
 emperor. 
 
 These despicable rascals often became important per- 
 sonages. Domitius Afer and Regulus, both informers, The wealth of 
 had speedily attained wealth. The latter, according to 
 Pliny, possessed 40,000,000 sesterces (about $1,700,- 
 ooo). They were powerful, and enjoyed their power 
 with insolence. One day some one spoke before the 
 informer Metius Carus of one of his victims, furiously 
 attacking his character. "What business have you," lence. 
 exclaimed Carus, " with my dead ? " 
 
 It was not only under the bad emperors that in- 
 formers exercised their detestable influence. Pliny, at 
 the succession of Trajan, uttered a cry of joy upon 
 seeing the punishment which a few of them suffered. 
 
 Memorable spectacle! [he wrote]. A flotilla loaded with 
 informers is abandoned to the winds. It is compelled to punished! 
 spread its sails to the tempests and to follow the angry waves 
 wherever they may carry it. One loves to watch these ships as 
 they scatter after leaving the harbor. And it is not for one 
 day only, it is forever that you [Trajan] have repressed the 
 audacity of these informers by overwhelming them with 
 fearful punishment. They try to seize wealth which does not 
 belong to them let them lose what they have of their own. 
 They burn to drive others out of their homes let them be 
 snatched away from their own hearths, ... let their 
 hopes cease to be greater than their fears, and let them feel as 
 much dread as they inspire.
 
 1 84 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Martial's 
 warning. 
 
 An informer at 
 Nerva's table. 
 
 A bright reply. 
 
 Systematic 
 business 
 carried on by 
 informers. 
 
 But is not this the exaggeration of the panegyric 
 style? Was such complete safety as Pliny claims 
 secured under Trajan ? It seems doubtful. Under 
 Nerva, who was neither a bad emperor nor a wicked 
 man, Martial, inviting six friends to dinner, warns them 
 to avoid dangerous subjects of conversation. 
 
 Let my guests [he said] talk about the blues and the greens 
 of the circus [colors worn by contestants], for I do not want 
 my hospitality to be the cause of any one's being accused of 
 crime. 
 
 Veiento, who made his fortune by informing, used to 
 dine at this same Nerva's table. One day the conver- 
 sation turned upon a certain Messalinus, an informer 
 under Nero, who had caused many victims to perish. 
 His crimes were recounted, and, as he was no longer to 
 be feared, they were not smoothed over nor excused. 
 
 "What do you think," asked the emperor, "would 
 have been his fate had he lived now ? ' ' 
 
 And one of the guests, who was not afraid to speak 
 out, said, casting a sly glance at Veiento, ' ' He would 
 have dined with you." It is Pliny himself who tells us 
 this anecdote. 
 
 The fact is that under the empire informers carried 
 on a systematic business. From the beginning of the 
 empire a secret police existed in Rome. According to 
 Dion Cassius, Maecenas had declared to Augustus that 
 it was absolutely necessary to employ spies throughout 
 the empire. The celebrated informers, Regulus and 
 Domitius Afer, were, so to speak, volunteers ; but 
 there was a whole class of men who were regularly 
 enlisted in the service and organized after the fashion, 
 perhaps, of the police of the Persian kings. Slavery, 
 from the time that Augustus found means to evade the 
 ancient law making a slave's information worthless in a 

 
 Society. 185 
 
 court of justice, furnished precious auxiliaries to the 
 body of informers ; for as soon as a master gave a 
 slave cause for complaint, the slave could take his 
 revenge by informing against his master. 
 
 Even the army was employed in this wretched busi- 
 ness. We know that Hadrian formed a special corps 
 of soldiers, called "foragers," who were nothing less "Foragers." 
 than spies. 
 
 It is by allowing your confidence to be too quickly won 
 [said Epictetus] that you fall into the traps set by the soldiers. 
 A military man in citizen's clothes sits down beside you and 
 begins to criticise the emperor. You, following his lead, and 
 taking his boldness as a pledge of his sincerity, you, I say, in 
 your turn, express your opinion ; and the result is that you are 
 put in chains and cast into prison. 
 
 Let us remember that at Rome there was no free 
 public press, for the official journal contained on the 
 burning questions of the day only what the government 
 saw fit to publish, besides items of court news and 
 announcements of events in families of rank and in high 
 life. Let us not forget that the public rostrum had NO freedom of 
 been torn down. And if we reflect also upon the 
 tyranny which oppressed all the emperor's subjects, 
 which was relaxed only at rare moments, without being 
 ever completely abolished, we shall be more indulgent 
 toward the gossips of Rome, and we shall be able to 
 excuse them for having preferred to say nothings than 
 to say nothing.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Necessity of 
 diversion. 
 
 The spectacles. 
 
 The games. 
 
 " Bread and 
 games." 
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 THIS Roman society, whose activity was so limited, 
 whose members were not allowed to express noble 
 thoughts or to engage in the discussion of great ques- 
 tions, felt the necessity for some diversion of absorbing 
 interest. The emperors saw this and provided the 
 spectacles. 
 
 The spectacles comprise chariot races and other ath- 
 letic contests, gladiatorial shows, beast-fighting, exhi- 
 bitions of trained animals, and dramatic representations. 
 Those of the spectacles which had the character of con- 
 tests are also called games. 
 
 After the close of the republic the games were no 
 longer religious in character ; in the hands of the party 
 chiefs they became simply an instrument for acquiring 
 popularity. The young Caelius, for instance, when tired 
 of pleasure and ambitious for power, begged of Cicero, 
 then praetor in Cilicia, to send him some panthers, con- 
 vinced that they would be a great attraction in the 
 spectacles which he intended to give for the purpose of 
 winning for himself the popular favor before running for 
 office. Caelius had not the slightest idea of adding to 
 the splendor of the fetes celebrated in honor of the gods. 
 
 The emperors, too, were influenced solely by motives 
 of self-interest when they spent money on the spectac- 
 ular shows. Juvenal has made familiar the phrase 
 ' ' Bread and games, ' ' and this was indeed the cry of the 
 masses, idle, or at least busy, with trifles. If a prince 
 
 186
 
 Amusements. 
 
 187 
 
 heeded this cry he was sure to win for himself warm 
 partisans. Thirty years after the death of Nero there Nero's popu- 
 were still those who refused to believe that he had lanty- 
 perished, who were waiting and wishing for his return, 
 and who cherished a tender memory of him. People 
 had forgotten that he had burned Rome ; they remem- 
 bered only the magnificence of his spectacles. The 
 
 AMPHITHEATER IN POMPEII. 
 
 eames had become an instrument of power, and this The games an 
 
 . instrument of 
 
 fact was perfectly understood by that pantomimist power. 
 Pylades, who said to Augustus, "Your interest depends 
 upon our occupying the attention of the people." 
 
 These games, which had taken the place of the speeches 
 given in the public square by the orators and statesmen 
 of the past, owed their success in part to the fact that 
 they contained some elements of the passion and storm 
 that had belonged to the ancient forum. They fur- 
 nished to the people their only occasions for gathering 
 together, for manifesting their sympathies or their antip-
 
 1 88 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 athies, for expressing their wishes to the sovereign. 
 
 The people would ask for the representation of a certain 
 
 piece, for the emancipation of a certain gladiator, for 
 
 The games the pardon of a criminal condemned to fight with the 
 
 furnish occa- 
 sions for popu- w ild beasts. These southerners, noisy and violent, had 
 
 lar demonstra- 
 tion- a craving for collecting in crowds, for mingling their 
 
 voices in the shouts that arose from a great amphithe- 
 ater, for feeling within them that tempestuous breath 
 which Horace compares to the roaring of the Tuscan 
 sea. The rulers did not hesitate to satisfy this craving, 
 for rarely did the popular demonstrations relate to any- 
 thing but the games themselves. If sometimes they 
 assumed a political character, as when the knights 
 asked of Augustus the abolition of a severe marriage 
 law, or when the people, under Caligula, protested 
 against the burdensome taxes, the emperor had the 
 resource of leaving the entertainment or of suppressing 
 the demonstration, according to his temperament. 
 
 So the rulers did not stint their expenditures for these 
 
 The cost of the 
 
 games. shows, which were free from danger and advantageous 
 
 in so many ways. In 51 A. D. large sums had been drawn 
 from the public treasury to defray the cost of the games 
 760,000 sesterces (about $32,370) for the so-called 
 Roman games, 600,000 sesterces (about $25,500) for the 
 plebeian games, 380,000 sesterces (about $16,150) for 
 the games in honor of Apollo, 10,000 sesterces (about 
 $425) for the Augustan games. And be it understood 
 that these figures represent only the outlay of the state. 
 The individuals who gave the entertainments contrib- 
 uted largely to them from their own resources. Herod 
 
 Judaea. of Judaea spent upon a fete which he instituted in honor 
 
 of Augustus nearly 500 talents (about $589,600). And 
 this is only one example among a hundred. We must 
 add also that many who undertook such enormous ex-
 
 Amusements. 1 89 
 
 penditures did not do so voluntarily, but were driven to 
 it by motives of self-defense ; and the senators felt 
 obliged by their position to contribute toward the sup- 
 port of the games. These heavy financial burdens were 
 a sort of tax levied upon the aristocracy in the interests 
 of the masses, and they caused the ruin of many a noble 
 family. 
 
 During the early history of the empire the splendor 
 of the shows steadily increased, and the time which they 
 occupied became longer and longer. Under the re- 
 public there were seven annual spectacles which lasted 
 sixty-six days in all. Augustus does not seem to have 
 modified this number of holidays, but under Tiberius it 
 was raised to eighty-seven. Celebrations of victories, Number of 
 
 J holidays 
 
 consecrations of temples, anniversaries of emperors increased, 
 brought the number up to one hundred and thirty-five 
 days in the time of Marcus Aurelius, and under Nero t 
 there was a senator, the juris-consult Caius Cassius, 
 who, alarmed at the increasing number of holidays, 
 demanded a law to limit them. 
 
 For the ancients, in fact, the theater was not, as with 
 us, a diversion and recreation after a day's work. The 
 games took place in the morning, that is to say at the 
 only time when it was possible to engage in business, 
 and it was not unusual for them to be prolonged until a 
 late hour of the afternoon, and sometimes even into the 
 night. 
 
 This encouragement of idleness justifies the condem- 
 nation pronounced upon the spectacles by the moralists encouraged, 
 of the time. In fact, the games were making of the 
 Roman people a population of beggars. And we shall 
 see, as we study the games in detail, that their de- 
 moralizing influence did not stop here. 
 
 The games most in favor with the people and with
 
 190 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 The Circus 
 Maximus. 
 
 society in general were the games of the circus. The 
 horse races, introduced into Rome from Greece, be- 
 came, according to Tacitus, very popular. At first 
 the spectators sat upon wooden steps temporary con- 
 structions, removed as soon as the races were over. 
 But following the example of Pompey, who had been 
 the first to build a theater of stone, Julius Caesar gave 
 to the Romans a permanent circus, or race course the 
 Circus Maximus. 
 
 The Circus Maximus was among the most magnificent 
 buildings of the world's capital. It was situated in the 
 oblong valley comprised between the almost parallel 
 
 CIRCUS MAXIMUS. From a painting by Gerome. 
 
 sides of the Palatine and Aventine Hills. It was three 
 and a half stadia (2,121 feet) long, and four plethra 
 (404 feet) broad. An exterior wall, circular at one 
 end and straight at the other, inclosed the entire space. 
 Inside this wall and against it were tiers of seats, the 
 straight end only being left free. These seats were of 
 stone, except those near the top, which were made of 
 wood ; and this seems to have been the case even after
 
 Amusements. 191 
 
 Nero, Domitian, and Trajan had enlarged and embel- 
 lished the circus. But several terrible accidents must 
 have shown the danger of wooden seats. They fre- Frequent 
 quently gave way, as they did once under Augustus acc 
 when 1,100 lives were lost. But such catastrophes did 
 not discourage the public. In the time of Caesar the 
 circus could seat 150,000 spectators ; this figure under 
 Titus rose to 250,000, according to Pliny the Elder ; 
 and we may well believe that no seats were left empty, 
 for we learn from Seneca that the shouts which arose 
 from the assembly were heard even in the suburbs of 
 Rome. It was, however, only the lower classes who 
 suffered from these accidents ; the places nearest the 
 race-course were set apart for the senators, and just 
 above the senators sat the knights. The common 
 people were crowded together on the wooden seats 
 which rose to the top of the exterior wall. Distin- 
 guished people, therefore, could attend the circus 
 without danger ; the plebeians alone enjoyed this pleas- 
 ure at the risk of their lives. 
 
 A canal ten feet broad and ten feet deep separated 
 the lowest tier of seats from the course, and served as 
 the boundary of the hippodrome. 
 
 The vast oblong space which formed the central area, 
 and on which was usually sprinkled a fine brilliant sand, The central 
 was divided lengthwise into two parts by a wall, called 
 the spine, because its position on the shining surface of 
 the sand was similar to that of the backbone in the 
 human frame. Its top was decorated with statues or 
 columns, and in the middle stood a monolithic obelisk 
 of oriental granite. In addition to these ornaments, at 
 each end of the spine was a set of seven marble eggs 
 
 . The spine. 
 
 mounted upon a shrine. One egg from each shrine 
 was removed by a slave after each round or lap of a
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 The goals. 
 
 The carceres. 
 
 The 
 
 Circensian 
 
 parade. 
 
 race was run there being usually seven laps to each 
 race. The spectators were thus aided in keeping in 
 mind the progress of the race. 
 
 The spine occupied less than two thirds of the length 
 of the arena, leaving at either end a passage. At each 
 extremity of the spine, at a little distance from it, was 
 placed a goal, consisting of three tall conical objects, 
 made after the time of Claudius of gilt bronze, and 
 decorated with bands in relief. These goals formed the 
 turning-points for the chariots. 
 
 From the straight end of the circus opened thirteen 
 arcades. The central arcade, higher and wider than 
 the others, was an entrance for spectators, and also for 
 the formal procession with which the games began. 
 The other twelve arcades were chambers where the 
 horses and chariots stood before the commencement of 
 a race. They were called carceres, or prisons. 
 
 Finally, to close this description, let us say that a 
 balcony placed over the principal entrance was reserved 
 for the president of the games. When it was time for a 
 race to begin, he gave the signal for starting by throw- 
 ing down a purple napkin. 
 
 The games, which had at first a religious motive, 
 kept up the tradition of their early character by always 
 opening with a solemn procession, called the Circensian 
 parade. 
 
 Let us imagine ourselves among the spectators at one 
 of the Roman chariot races. The procession forms on 
 the Capitoline Hill, passes down its sacred side, crosses 
 the forum, the Vicus Tuscus, the Velabrum, the cattle 
 market, and finally enters the circus, led by the pre- 
 siding magistrate, standing in a chariot and wearing the 
 dress of a triumphant general. His chariot is followed 
 by musicians playing loudly upon their instruments and
 
 Aimisements. 193 
 
 by a crowd of clients dressed in white togas. Then 
 come statnes of the gods, borne upon litters or carried 
 in richly ornamented chariots and accompanied by the 
 priests grouped in their religious corporations. This 
 magnificent parade is welcomed by the cheers and 
 acclamations of the crowd ; but under the empire this 
 demonstration lacks all enthusiasm. It has become an 
 empty form like the procession itself ; for the parade, An empty form ' 
 splendid as it is, has grown monotonous, the religious 
 sentiment connected with it has disappeared, and it no 
 longer arouses curiosity. From the time of Tiberius 
 the words "tiresome as the Circensian parade" were a 
 proverb. The spectators are in a hurry for the for- 
 mality to end, they are impatient for the races to begin. 
 At last the signal is given ; the gates of the prisons 
 are flung open and the contestants appear. They are 
 standing in their two-wheeled chariots, which are 
 usually very light and almost always drawn by four 
 horses abreast. These charioteers are slaves or hire- The 
 lings who drive for the owners of the horses. They are charloteers - 
 dressed in short, sleeveless tunics, with close-fitting 
 caps upon their heads ; the reins are wound about their 
 waists, and each one has in his girdle a knife for 
 cutting himself free from the reins in case of accident, 
 and he carries in his hand a whip with a double lash. 
 Their places in the prisons were designated in advance 
 by lot under the supervision of the president of the 
 games. 
 
 | Leaning over the necks of their horses, excited by 
 the cries and the tumult of the crowd, who either hoot n 
 them or cheer them, they fling themselves into the con- 
 test. They must make the course seven times, seven 
 times they must turn around the goals. As the con- 
 testants are usually numerous, as each round is eagerly
 
 194 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' 's Time. 
 
 Receivin 
 
 disputed, they often come together in the narrow pas- 
 sage at the end of the spine often they run into each 
 other, and then there is, according to the expression of 
 Sophocles, a shipwreck of men, horses, and chariots. 
 The one who has been able to avoid this danger, the 
 one who, after the seven eggs have been removed, 
 g the arrives first at the chalk-line in front of the balcony 
 
 occupied by the presid- 
 ing officer, is proclaimed 
 victor by the herald. 
 Descending out of his 
 chariot, he receives from 
 the sedile a branch of 
 Idumaean palm, or a 
 wreath of gold and silver, 
 wrought in imitation of 
 laurel, or the more sub- 
 stantial but less brilliant 
 prize of a sum of money. 
 The races between 
 four-horse chariots were 
 the most ordinary. But 
 as the games of the circus 
 were very lengthy (under 
 Trajan there would be as 
 many as forty-eight races 
 in one day) it became 
 necessary to introduce 
 
 CHARIOTEER. Vatican. sQme ^^ ^ them 
 
 Accordingly, you might see sometimes chariots har- 
 introduced into nessed to two horses only ; some drivers would have a 
 
 the races. . ' 
 
 third horse in front of the two ; others, but they were 
 veritable virtuosos, would have themselves drawn by 
 six, seven, or eight horses. Of course such daring 
 
 ^
 
 Amusements. 195 
 
 originality was much admired by the spectators. The 
 way once open for eccentricities, they were carried very 
 far. Did not Elagabalus conceive the idea of having 
 himself drawn by four camels ? And is he not also the 
 individual who had two, three, or four beautiful women 
 harnessed to the chariot in which he rode? Yes, he 
 indulged in these whims in his own private circus. But 
 in the time of Nero the Circus Maximus itself was the 
 scene of a peculiar exhibition. The praetor Aulus Fab- 
 ricius appeared there in a chariot drawn by trained 
 dogs. The regular horse-drivers had refused to drive 
 his horses for him in a race, although he offered them 
 a reasonable price, and this was his original way of 
 showing that he was not beaten. 
 
 But the circus offered a more interesting sight than the 
 spectacle, and that was the spectators. One must have Enthusiasm of 
 
 the spectators. 
 
 been present at a bull-fight in Spain, he must have seen 
 a whole population, as if out of their senses, now stamp 
 with enthusiasm, now howl in anger, now applaud with 
 all their might the bull-fighter, now fling at him a mar- 
 velous variety of insults ; he must have seen the women 
 throw their bouquets and even their jewels at the daring 
 or skilful champion, cheer him and waft kisses to him, 
 or hurl upon the coward or the clown the most unex- 
 pected weapons he must have been a witness of this 
 delirium, which is so contagious, if he would form any 
 idea of the conduct of the Romans at these games of the 
 hippodrome. The spectators would take the part of 
 this horse, or this driver, they would encourage their 
 favorite with gesture and voice, hooting his adversaries. 
 If your neighbor did not sympathize with you in your 
 preferences, then followed quarrels, and often even blows. 
 Moreover, there were no actors in these games more 
 
 .... ... , Honors paid to 
 
 feted than certain celebrated horses. It was not unusual horses.
 
 196 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 to gild their hoofs, and it even became customary for 
 them to receive money and presents. Volucris, the 
 favorite horse of Lucius Verus, obtained one day a 
 bushel of gold pieces. Hadrian constructed for his 
 horse, Borysthenes, a tomb bearing an inscription which 
 is still preserved ; and this is not an isolated fact ; it 
 would be easy to cite many other similar examples. 
 Can we be surprised after this at the stories about Ca- 
 
 incitatus. ligula and his horse Incitatus ? He gave him a com- 
 
 plete house, with slaves and furniture, and insisted upon 
 his friends going to dine with him, and invited him to 
 his table. He did not have time to raise his horse to 
 the consulship, but, having had himself made pontifex, 
 he took Incitatus for his colleague in the priestly office. 
 Such follies astonish our most rabid sportsmen ; but 
 perhaps they only caused a smile to curl the lips of the 
 Romans, who were conscious that they all had a taint 
 of this mania in their blood. 
 
 The charioteers were second to their beasts in the favor 
 
 charioteers of the people, and yet they were treated in a manner 
 
 lionized. ' 3 
 
 to satisfy the most exacting. They were lionized ; if 
 they appeared in public a numerous retinue of faithful 
 admirers surrounded them. They could with impunity 
 indulge in excesses the most intolerable. From the 
 beginning of the empire the shameful custom was 
 established of allowing them, on certain days, to wander 
 through the city, committing, as if in fun, tricks of 
 cheating and theft. Under Nero a law was passed to 
 check this singular license, but it could not put an end 
 to the insolence and effrontery of these drivers. Had 
 they not succeeded in winning all that heart could 
 desire fortune and honors? Did not Caligula make 
 The effrontery to Eutyches a present of 2,000,000 sesterces (about 
 charioteers. $85,000)? Did he not employ the praetorians to con-
 
 Amusements. 197 
 
 struct stables for the horses of this favored driver? 
 Did not Elagabalus raise the mother of the charioteer 
 Hierocles from the condition of slavery to consular rank ? 
 The people were partly responsible for the extrava- 
 gance of the emperors ; at the circus they would take 
 the side of a certain faction, and applaud the charioteers 
 who represented it. Their enthusiasm for the greens or 
 the blues was among the liveliest passions which they 
 were capable of feeling. What, then, were these fac- 
 
 . . , i , , . The factions. 
 
 tions which are mentioned so frequently by the histo- 
 rians of the Roman Empire ? 
 
 As the magnificence of the games constantly in- 
 creased, it became impossible for the donors to meet 
 the expense which was involved. Companies were 
 then formed of capitalists and owners of studs who 
 undertook the running of the games. As there were 
 usually four chariots which entered the lists at a time to 
 contend for the prize, so there were four great com- 
 panies who were distinguished by the color of their 
 chariots and the tunics of their drivers Hence we 
 have the four factions represented by the colors white, 
 red, blue, and green. Domitian established two new 
 factions the purple and the gold. It seems that later 
 the blues and the greens absorbed the other factions. 
 This must have been an important event, for these 
 were the colors which especially excited the passions of Thepowerof 
 the people, more even than the betting or the skill of ^cite'the l 
 the drivers. Pliny, in the following letter, laments this P e P |e - 
 symptom of intellectual and moral decadence : 
 
 I have spent these several days past in reading and writing, 
 with the most pleasing tranquillity imaginable. You will ask, 
 " How can that possibly be in the midst of Rome ? " It was 
 the time of celebrating the Circensian games, an entertainment 
 for which I have not the least taste. They have no novelty,
 
 198 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 no variety to recommend them, nothing, in short, one would 
 wish to see twice. It does the more surprise me, therefore, 
 that so many thousand people should be possessed with the 
 childish passion of desiring so often to see a parcel of horses 
 gallop, and men standing upright in their chariots. If, indeed, 
 it were the swiftness of the horses or the skill of the men that 
 attracted them, there might be some pretense of reason for it. 
 But it is the dress they like ; it is the dress that takes their 
 
 fancy. And if, in the midst of the course and contest, the 
 Pliny s lament. 
 
 different parties were to change colors, their different partisans 
 
 would change sides, and instantly desert the very same men 
 and horses whom just before they were eagerly following with 
 their eyes, as far as they could see, and shouting out their 
 names with all their might. Such mighty charms, such won- 
 drous power reside in the color of a paltry tunic ! And this 
 not only with the common crowd (more contemptible than the 
 dress they espouse), but even with serious-thinking people. 
 When I observe such men thus insatiably fond of so silly, so 
 low, so uninteresting, so common an entertainment, I con- 
 gratulate myself on my indifference to these pleasures ; and 
 am glad to employ upon my books the leisure of this season, 
 which others throw away upon the most idle occupations. 
 Farewell. 
 
 But what could avail against this general frenzy the 
 words of a few literary men ? 
 
 Gladiatorial Next to the chariot races, the gladiatorial contests 
 
 attracted the population of Rome. 
 
 The amphitheaters, where these contests took place, 
 were at first, like the circus, constructed of wood. 
 Their architecture was a modification of that of the 
 Greek theaters. In the year 53 B. C. Caius Scribonius 
 Curio built, according to Pliny the Elder, a double 
 theater, composed of two semi-circular wooden theaters 
 
 A double set on pi vots > so tnat they could be whirled around, 
 
 spectators and all. When turned back to back they 
 formed two separate theaters, and when turned face to 
 face they formed an amphitheater of the usual shape in
 
 Amusements. 
 
 199 
 
 which all the spectators faced the center. In the 
 morning dramatic exhibitions could be given in the two 
 theaters separately, and in the afternoon the two 
 assemblies of spectators, without having been disturbed, 
 could be thrown into one, and could witness together a 
 gladiatorial show. 
 
 But soon buildings were erected on purpose for these 
 
 Construction of 
 
 shows. Wood alone was used in the construction of amphitheaters. 
 
 THE CoLossEt'M AT ROME. 
 
 the amphitheaters of Julius Caesar and of Nero. But 
 during the ten last years of the first century of the 
 Christian era, under the Flavian emperors, that colossal 
 structure of stone was built which well deserves its 
 name, the Colosseum, and which we still admire as the Colosseum 
 most imposing relic of a crumbled world. 
 
 At first the gladiatorial shows were closely associated 
 with religion. They constituted a part of funeral cere- 
 monies. Instead of sacrificing defenseless men on the 
 tomb of the dead, it seemed less cruel to make them
 
 2oo Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 fight and kill each other ; it was, to use Tertullian's 
 
 Origin of the expression, a more humane atrocity. The first contest 
 
 show 3 ' of this sort was witnessed by the Romans in 264 B. C. , 
 
 when Marcus and Decimus Brutus, at the obsequies of 
 
 their father, had three pairs of gladiators fight in the 
 
 cattle market. 
 
 This kind of spectacle was rapidly developed. Its 
 original object was soon forgotten ; gladiatorial contests 
 were not long limited to funerals, but were given a 
 place in almost all public solemnities and entertain- 
 ments. They became so popular that the magistrates 
 felt obliged upon their entrance into office to amuse the 
 people with them, and candidates would give them as a 
 The alarming means of winning votes. It even became necessary to 
 
 development of .-,... , . 
 
 the gladiatorial pass a law limiting the number of gladiators that might 
 be brought forward upon a single occasion. But this 
 law did not prevent Julius Caesar, in 65 B. C. , from 
 giving a spectacle in which three hundred pairs of 
 combatants fought at once. Certainly progress had 
 been made in the two centuries since Marcus and 
 Decimus Brutus. But the limit had not been reached. 
 In the games given by Augustus ten thousand men 
 descended into the arena, and Trajan, when he cele- 
 brated his victory over the peoples of the Danube, 
 exhibited the same number. 
 
 The Romans were not satisfied with the tragic emo- 
 tions which these vast slaughters must have excited in 
 them ; they brought to the amphitheater their taste for 
 sumptuous elegance and their refined curiosity. The 
 victims in these bloody sports had to array themselves 
 for death in brilliant apparel. At the games which 
 
 The dress of Julius Cassar gave as aedile, the equipment of the 
 
 nts ' gladiators was silver ; at games given by Nero it was of 
 
 amber, or at least of amber mosaic work. The people
 
 Atmisements. 201 
 
 required also that there should be variety in the spec- 
 tacle ; and therefore it was necessary that the combat- 
 ants should be of different races, and should exhibit 
 their skill in the use of their national weapons. So the 
 Samnites, the Thracians, and the Gauls, who had suc- 
 ceeded in amusing the people under the republic, gave 
 place, under the empire, to tattooed savages from the 
 island of Britain, to blond Germans from the banks of 
 the Danube, to Suebi and Dacians, to dusky Moors, 
 brought from the villages of Atlas, to negroes from the 
 interior of Africa, and to the nomads from some steppe 
 of the region now known as Russia. 
 
 How was the army of gladiators recruited ? 
 
 When a man committed a capital crime, such as Recruitai of 
 
 1-1 M j- u gladiators. 
 
 highway robbery, sacrilege, or incendiarism, he was 
 sent to one of the gladiatorial schools, of which we 
 shall presently speak. But Roman citizens were not 
 liable to this punishment. Another source of supply 
 was furnished by prisoners of war. Slaves also were 
 often trained as gladiators, their masters having during 
 the first century of the empire the unrestricted right to 
 sell them for the arena. Hadrian, however, tried to 
 put a stop to this by law. But the slaves themselves 
 were not unwilling to enter the schools of gladiators. 
 For was not this a means, perilous without doubt, but 
 quick, of escaping from servitude? At the end of 
 three years they might receive an honorable discharge 
 from the arena, in token of which a foil would be 
 presented to them, and at the end of five years they 
 might even win their freedom and have the right to 
 wear the pileus, or liberty-cap. The ranks of the 
 gladiators were also recruited by freedmen and Roman 
 citizens, who having squandered their estates vol- 
 unteered to bind themselves to a trainer of gladiators
 
 2O2 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 The popu- 
 larity of 
 gladiators. 
 
 for a certain time. Even men of birth and fortune 
 sometimes entered the lists to gratify their pure love of 
 fighting. 
 
 When we consider the perils of such a profession, 
 
 when we remember 
 the infamy with 
 which it was branded 
 by the Roman law, 
 we are tempted to 
 suppose that the 
 number of these vol- 
 unteers must have 
 been very limited. 
 But such was not the 
 fact. The gladiators 
 enjoyed a popularity 
 almost equal to that 
 of the charioteers of 
 the circus. Al- 
 though under the 
 ban of society, they 
 were often the favor- 
 ites of fashion. 
 Their portraits were 
 displayed in shop 
 windows ; they were 
 multiplied upon 
 vases, glass lamps, 
 and gems, and, what 
 was not less flatter- 
 
 GLADIATOR IN MOSAIC. National Museum, ! n g > they were 
 
 Naples - sketched as deco- 
 
 rations upon walls. Like our legendary bandits, they 
 made fair ladies sigh, and society women thought it
 
 Amusements. 203 
 
 quite the thing to have a gladiator for a lover. Juvenal, 
 in one of his satires, expresses his disgust at this con- 
 dition of public morals : 
 
 The influence 
 Hippia, who shared a rich patrician s bed, of gladiators 
 
 To Egypt with a gladiator fled. over women - 
 
 Without one pang the profligate resigned 
 
 Her husband, sister, sire ; gave to the wind 
 
 Her children's tears ; yea, tore herself away 
 
 (To strike you more) from Paris and the Play ! 
 
 And though, in affluence born, her infant head 
 
 Had pressed the down of an embroidered bed, 
 
 She braved the deep (she long had braved her fame ; 
 
 But this is little to the courtly dame) 
 
 And, with undaunted breast, the changes bore, 
 
 Of many a sea, the swelling and the roar. 
 
 To win such glorious triumphs, to make such brilliant 
 conquests, it was not necessary for the combatants of 
 the circus to have the beauty of an Adonis. It was 
 their profession that the ladies loved. For Juvenal 
 continues : 
 
 But by what youthful charms, what shape, what air, 
 
 Was Hippia won? The wanton well might dote ! The fascinating 
 
 For the sweet Sergius long had scraped his throat, qualities of a 
 
 Long looked for leave to quit the public stage, 
 
 Maimed in his limbs, and verging now to age. 
 
 Add, that his face was battered and decayed ; 
 
 The helmet on his brow huge galls had made, 
 
 A wen deformed his nose, of monstrous size, 
 
 And sharp rheum trickled from his bloodshot eyes ; 
 
 But then he was a swordsman ! that alone 
 
 Made every charm and every grace his own ; 
 
 That made him dearer than her nuptial vows, 
 
 Dearer than country, sister, children, spouse 
 
 'Tis blood they love ; let Sergius quit the sword, 
 
 And he'll appear, at once so like her lord ! 
 
 Did not the women, by their attitude of adoration
 
 204 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 toward prize-fighters, supply young men in quest of 
 
 fortune with a very strong motive for scorning danger 
 
 and public opinion ? And for many youths was it not 
 
 The aristocracy a pleasure merely to shock staid and proper people ? 
 
 in the arena. r * t r _ \ r r 
 
 The Roman patrician, who found himself in the first 
 years of the empire no longer important, sought for 
 means to make himself talked about ; many a young 
 noble, who bore a name honored in the ancient re- 
 public, experienced a strange delight in herding with 
 the rabble, and tried to win celebrity by the excess of 
 his degradation. So it was not unusual for repre- 
 sentatives of the aristocracy to descend into the arena. 
 Such a one was Gracchus, whom Juvenal in one of his 
 satires describes : 
 
 Gracchus Gracchus steps forth : No sword his thigh invests 
 
 No helmet, shield such armor he detests, 
 Detests and spurns ; and impudently stands, 
 With the poised net and trident in his hands. 
 The foe advances lo ! a cast he tries, 
 But misses, and in frantic terror flies 
 Round the thronged Cirque ; and, anxious to be known, 
 Lifts his bare face, with many a piteous moan. 
 " 'Tis he ! 'tis he ! I know the Salian vest, 
 With golden fringes, pendant from the breast ; 
 The Salian bonnet, from whose pointed crown 
 The glittering ribbons float redundant down. 
 O spare him, spare ! " The brave pursuer heard 
 And, blushing, stopped the chase ; for he preferred 
 Wounds, death itself, to the contemptuous smile, 
 Of conquering one so noble, and so vile ! 
 
 For those who sought neither the love of women nor 
 Fortunes made the notoriety of degradation, the desire of gain was a 
 sufficient motive to recommend to them the gladiator's 
 profession. Through it they could speedily make their 
 fortunes ; and although some discharged gladiators, 
 probably lawless by nature, tramped the highways as
 
 Amusements. 205 
 
 beggars, many others who preferred a regular life re- 
 tired after having made their fortunes into some beauti- 
 ful country house. 
 
 In spite of all precautions, the games of the arena 
 became so wonderfully popular, the destruction of men 
 was on so large a scale, that sometimes combatants 
 were lacking. Then the laws which regulated their 
 recruital were unscrupulously disregarded. Conscrip- Conscriptions, 
 tions and arbitrary imperial acts were resorted to. The 
 number of criminals figuring in the arenas of the time is 
 so great in fact that it excites our suspicion as to the 
 justice of the decisions by which they had been con- 
 demned. Agrippa, king of the Jews, produced in the 
 amphitheater of Beirut 1,400 wretches, all accused of 
 capital crimes, and Hadrian, upon one occasion, made 
 300 fight. The judges of the time would have had 
 their hands full if they had been obliged to observe all 
 the legal forms in passing sentence upon such multi- 
 tudes. The judicial proceedings must then have been 
 very summary ; and often sentences were executed 
 before being pronounced to avoid loss of time. 
 
 For the training of those who chose the profession 
 
 .... ii'iiTTi Gladiatorial 
 
 of gladiator, schools were early established. Under schools. 
 Domitian four such schools were founded the Great 
 School, the Gallic School, the Dacian School, and the 
 School for Beast-fighters. These schools were care- 
 fully supervised and conducted on scientific principles. 
 Besides the sleeping apartments for the pupils (and 
 what pupils !) they contained each one an arsenal, a 
 workshop for manufacturing arms, and, what was very 
 essential, a chamber in which to lay out the dead. A 
 large faculty of instructors and officers of administration 
 was connected with each institution. These strange 
 schools were all under the control of the emperor, who
 
 206 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 A school at 
 Pompeii. 
 
 The discipline 
 of the schools. 
 
 Grading 
 system in the 
 schools. 
 
 usually appointed for superintendents men of eques- 
 trian rank, and often retired military officers. 
 
 Some of these gladiatorial schools were located out- 
 side of Rome. There was one at Capua, one at 
 Praeneste, and one at Alexandria. One has been ex- 
 cavated at Pompeii. It is a vast quadrangular area, 
 973 feet long by 139 feet wide, surrounded by chambers 
 about ten feet square, without windows, opening upon 
 the court within. These cells, seventy in number, 
 belonged to the gladiators. There is no trace of com- 
 fort about them. 
 
 The discipline of these schools was very severe. The 
 men who devoted themselves to the business of prize 
 fighting were likely to be dangerous. So when not 
 performing upon the arena they were disarmed and 
 kept in strict confinement. Soldiers were employed to 
 maintain order ; every infraction of the rules was 
 severely punished, often by the application of the whip 
 or of hot irons ; and we cannot suppose that the 
 wretches who were subjected to this treatment found 
 adequate compensation for so much suffering in the 
 careful provisions that were made to keep them in good 
 physical condition. 
 
 It was probably as a precaution against revolt among 
 the pupils of these schools that they were compelled 
 constantly to practise gymnastic exercises. They were 
 frequently subjected to physical tests, and they were 
 graded according to their skill and their endurance. 
 Thus there was established among them a sort of 
 hierarchy. In the lowest rank were the novices, the 
 recruits, who could only lunge at the wall ; with heavy, 
 blunt swords they had to thrust against a manikin. 
 Later, when they had been tried in a real combat, if 
 they acquitted themselves honorably they were re-
 
 Amusements. 207 
 
 warded with a rectangular plate bearing the date of 
 their advancement, and henceforth they were veterans. 
 Through later achievements they rose in rank step by 
 step. 
 
 In the equipment of gladiators and in their manner of 
 fighting there was great variety. To enumerate and 
 describe the fifteen kinds of gladiators who ordinarily 
 appeared in the arena belongs rather to a treatise on 
 archaeology than to a history of manners. Without 
 trying, then, to give the complete catalogue, we shall 
 be satisfied with indicating the principal kinds. There Methoc j s of 
 were the Andabatce, who wore helmets without any fi s htin s- 
 aperture for the eyes, so that they afforded mirth to the 
 spectators by fighting blindfold ; the Dimachceri, who 
 used two swords ; the Eguestres, mail-clad horsemen, 
 like the medieval knights, who rushed against each 
 other across the arena ; the Essedarii, who, mounted 
 in chariots, hurled missiles at each other, or alighted to 
 engage in hand-to-hand sword combat ; the Hoplomachi, 
 whose entire bodies, with the exception of the breast, 
 were protected by heavy armor. Foreign gladiators 
 used their national weapons, and fought in the fashion 
 of their own country. Surely the sovereign people 
 had the opportunity of becoming familiar with the 
 various ways in which people killed each other. 
 
 As the day approached when a gladiatorial spectacle 
 was to take place, the donors of the entertainment 
 neglected no means of advertising it. Handbills gave 
 to the people all the details which might interest or 
 attract them. The following announcement, for in- 
 stance, has been discovered at Pompeii : " The gladia- 
 tors of the aedile A. Suettius Curius will fight May 3ist 
 at Pompeii. There will be beast-fighting, and the 
 spectators will be well sheltered by an awning." This
 
 208 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 Before the 
 combat. 
 
 last assurance was very important, for sometimes it 
 happened that the pleasure of the occasion would be 
 interfered with by the rain or the hot sun. So when a 
 
 "AvE, C/ESAR, IMPERATOR." From a painting by Gerome. 
 
 donor could not take the precaution that A. Suettius 
 Curius took, he inserted in his handbill the clause, "if 
 the weather permits." 
 
 The day before the combat the gladiators sat down 
 to a public feast. This was the prelude to the spec- 
 tacle, more interesting for the observer than the spec- 
 tacle itself. What a sight they were ! Those who had 
 not yet lost all human feelings would bid farewell to 
 their beloved ones, while the others, who had been 
 brutalized by their occupation, would gorge them- 
 selves with the meats and wines, careless of the mor- 
 row. At the appointed hour they all descended into the 
 arena. In full dress they passed in procession before the 
 donor of the entertainment, at Rome before the em- 
 peror, whom they saluted in the famous words, ' ' Caesar, 
 those who are about to die salute thee. " Then an
 
 Amusements. 209 
 
 officer examined their swords to see if they were suf- 
 ficiently sharp, and this formality concluded the spec- 
 tacle began. 
 
 First there was sham fighting, exhibitions of skilful c 
 
 Sham fighting. 
 
 fencing. Soon the trumpets gave the awful signal for 
 the slaughter to begin, and the conflict was taken up in 
 earnest to the sound of horns, fifes, and flutes ; such 
 music, well worthy of accompanying such a spectacle, 
 must have produced discords which would have grated 
 upon sensitive ears. By turns appeared the different 
 kinds of combatants which we have enumerated, and The conflict, 
 also others whose equipment and methods of fighting 
 were amusing by reason of their oddity ; for instance, 
 there were the Retiarii, or net-fighters, who were pro- 
 vided with a net to cast about their antagonists, so as to 
 entangle them in its meshes before attempting to stab 
 them. 
 
 When a combatant is seriously wounded and unable 
 to defend himself longer, his life or death depends upon vanquished. '* 
 the pleasure of the president, who usually allows the 
 people to decide the fate of the miserable man. 
 Stretched upon the ground, the wounded gladiator 
 raises his finger as a token of submission ; the crowd 
 shout, clap their hands, wave handkerchiefs he is 
 saved ; they depress their thumbs in silence the con- 
 queror plunges his sword into the helpless body of the 
 victim. 
 
 In the intervals between these horrible dramas, 
 attendants rush in, drag off the corpse by a hook to an 
 apartment for the slain, turn over the bloody earth of 
 the arena with spades, and sprinkle fresh sand. 
 
 The public were not always satisfied with single com- 
 bats ; and the emperors sometimes gave them the 
 pleasure of witnessing wholesale slaughters. For such slaughter.
 
 2IO 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 The sack of a 
 village. 
 
 Mock sea- 
 fights. 
 
 an exhibition the amphitheater was too small, and 
 larger places were sought. Julius Caesar gave, in the 
 Circus Maximus, the representation of a battle in which 
 five hundred foot soldiers and three hundred cavalry- 
 men took part, besides twenty elephants, carrying upon 
 their backs towers filled with armed men. Claudius, 
 after the conquest of the island of Britain in 44 A. D., 
 gave a representation on the Campus Martius of the 
 taking and the sack of a village of that country. He 
 himself presided over this exhibition, dressed in a 
 
 " POLLICE VERSO." From a painting by Gerome. 
 
 military cloak. Claudius understood well how to ob- 
 tain good scenic effects, for, according to Suetonius, 
 he succeeded in producing an illusion of reality. 
 
 The historians of the empire frequently mention 
 mock sea-fights. The people insisted upon witnessing 
 all forms of death. Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, 
 and Nero gave spectacles of this kind. But, according 
 to Martial, nothing surpassed the magnificence of the
 
 Amusements. 211 
 
 mock sea-fights of Domitian and of Titus, as the follow- 
 ing epigram of his bears witness : 
 
 Thetis and Galatea have beheld in the waves wild animals 
 previously unknown to them. Triton has seen chariots glow- 
 ing along the foaming ocean course, and thought the steeds of 
 his master were passing before him ; and Nereus, while he 
 was preparing fierce contests with bold vessels, shrunk from 
 going on foot through the liquid ways. Whatever is seen in 
 the circus and the amphitheater, the rich lake of Caesar has 
 shown to thee. Let Fucinus and the ponds of the dire Nero 
 be vaunted no more ; and let ages to come remember but this 
 one sea-fight. 
 
 In enumerating the different kinds of gladiators, we 
 purposely omitted to mention the beast-fighters. Their 
 profession deserves a separate study. 
 
 Early in the history of Rome we find isolated in- 
 stances of criminals who were punished by being torn Origin of beast- 
 to pieces by wild animals. In 186 B. C. , M. Fulvius 
 Nobilior, who had collected a large number of lions 
 and panthers, was the first to give as a show a combat 
 in which beasts took part. Such exhibitions soon 
 became very common and exceedingly popular, and 
 they were classed among the regular spectacles, like the 
 games of the arena, to which they served often as a 
 prelude. 
 
 The conquest of Asia and of Africa must have been 
 an important factor in the development of this form of 
 amusement. In these recently subdued countries vast 
 expeditions were organized to procure for the amphi- Hunting 
 theater curious or ferocious animals. A new profession, profession, 
 even, sprang into existence that of hunting, and the 
 emperor Macrinus, before his elevation to the throne, 
 is supposed to have engaged in the importation of 
 animals. Certain it is that a very general interest was 
 aroused in the catching of wild beasts, as many treatises
 
 212 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 on the subject, which are still extant, bear witness. 
 Nemesianus describes the method of catching bears, 
 stags, wolves, and foxes in nets whose meshes are con- 
 cealed with feathers ; ^lianus tells how to take pan- 
 thers in Mauritania, by means of traps in which spoiled 
 meat is used for bait ; Appianus describes another 
 method for capturing the same animal ; Achilles Tatius, 
 the Alexandrine, shows how the hippopotamus may be 
 allured into a pit ; and Diodorus informs his readers 
 how the same animal may be harpooned, and also how 
 the crocodile may be caught in a net ; Pausanias de- 
 scribes the hunting of the bison, and Arrianus the 
 lassoing of the wild ass in Numidia by horsemen. 
 
 Hunting we see had become an art at this time, and 
 sdentiffc 0f the ^ seems surprising that natural history under such 
 favorable circumstances did not make more progress. 
 There is scarcely any fact which proves in a more con- 
 clusive manner than this the absence of the scientific 
 spirit among the Romans. What excellent opportuni- 
 ties for observation a naturalist would have had in the 
 imperial parks and menageries ! The collection of the 
 emperor Phillipus, 248 A. D. , contained thirty-two 
 elephants, ten elks, ten tigers, sixty lions, thirty leop- 
 ards, ten hyenas, one rhinoceros, one hippopotamus, 
 ten giraffes, twenty wild asses, and forty wild horses, 
 besides other varieties of animals. The Romans of this 
 time saw many specimens of rare animals, which have 
 not been seen since in Europe until recently. While 
 the Zoological Gardens of London and the Jardin des 
 Plantes of Paris have experienced much difficulty in 
 obtaining one hippopotamus, the emperor Commodus, 
 as a mere pastime, killed four in one day. In the 
 year 80 A. D. , at the dedication of the great Flavian 
 amphitheater, Titus exhibited 9,000 wild animals of
 
 Amusements. 213 
 
 various kinds, and Trajan, at his second Dacian cele- 
 bration, 1 66 A. D., produced in the arena n,ooo 
 beasts. 
 
 Combats in which animals took part occurred in the 
 morning, beginning at dawn. Lions were matched Beast-fights, 
 against tigers, elephants against bulls ; a rhinoceros 
 sometimes was made to contend with a bear, cranes 
 fought each other, and wild boars did likewise. But 
 the interest of the spectators did not rise to its height 
 until men entered the lists against wild beasts. 
 
 The beast-fighters were divided into two classes : the 
 beast-fighters proper and the hunters. They were fighters! 5 
 drawn from the same sources as were the gladiators 
 from among prisoners of war, criminals, slaves, and a 
 few of them were volunteers. They also had schools in 
 which they received their training. 
 
 The beast-fighters proper appeared in the arena 
 dressed in a simple tunic, without helmet, buckler, or 
 cuirass. Sometimes even their right arm was bound ; 
 the only weapon allowed them was a lance, or rarely a 
 sword. The hunters, who seem to have occupied a 
 
 , . , The hunters. 
 
 superior rank in the hierarchy, were better armed. 
 The Parthians, who were very skilful archers, were 
 probably classed among the hunters, as well as special- 
 ists like the bull-fighters. 
 
 Sometimes it happened that the spectators had to 
 
 Undisguised 
 
 wait too long for the sight of death and their interest brutality. 
 flagged. There was a very simple remedy for this. 
 A criminal was bound to a stake, and the people feasted 
 their eyes on the victim's agonies as he was torn by the 
 wild beasts. Sometimes also (for cruelty is ingenious) 
 the Romans indulged their brutal taste for reality by 
 making some bloody spectacle represent a mythological 
 tale. The pantomime of Orpheus is an illustration of
 
 214 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 The pantomime thj s form of spectacle. The part of the Thracian poet 
 
 of Orpheus. 
 
 was taken by a condemned criminal. He appeared 
 coming out of a hole in the ground which was sup- 
 posed to be Hades. All nature seemed enchanted by 
 his music ; the trees and the rocks moved from their 
 places and followed him ; the wild animals, as if tamed, 
 surrounded him. But soon, when this idyllic scene had 
 lasted long enough, a bear was let loose, which fell 
 
 upon the victim and tore him to 
 
 pieces. 
 
 Between these tragic spectacles 
 
 interludes were often given of a dif- 
 
 ferent character. Sometimes they 
 Exhibitions of Ofl consisted in the exhibition of trained 
 
 trained animals. 
 
 animals. Animal trainers were 
 numerous at Rome from the time of 
 Augustus and even before. Was 
 not Mark Antony seen riding with 
 the courtesan Citheris in a chariot 
 drawn by lions ? We may say, and 
 we say it without much regret, that 
 the art of training animals has pro- 
 gressed but little since this time. 
 What prodigies of patience must 
 have been required to teach lions to 
 catch hares in the arena, and then to 
 play with them as a cat does with a 
 mouse, and finally to let them go ! 
 
 GREAVE. & 
 
 Stags were taught to obey the rein 
 
 and panthers to bear the yoke. Peaceful antelopes 
 
 were taught to be fierce, and a pair of these animals, so 
 
 mild by nature, would fight together until one or both 
 
 Feats per- fell dead. With the elephants especially wonders were 
 
 iennants. accomplished. They could exhibit feats of dancing and
 
 A museme nts. 215 
 
 of rope-walking. Four elephants were once trained to 
 carry a fifth. And Pliny the Elder narrates that out of 
 a company of elephants that were being trained to- 
 gether, one of the pupils, who was slower to learn 
 than the others, was discovered one night repeating his 
 lesson. 
 
 However strange it may seem, we cannot deny the 
 fact that the Romans were passionately fond of bloody Fondness of 
 
 ' * the Romans for 
 
 games. Juvenal, who cherishes so many noble senti- bloody games. 
 
 ments, waxes very indignant when a certain patrician 
 
 enters a gladiatorial combat. Is it because the satirist 
 
 has a horror of bloodshed ? By no means ; he thinks 
 
 that this patrician dishonors his noble name, not his 
 
 humanity. Pliny the Younger, whose soul was so full 
 
 of sweet and tender feelings, knows of no better way for 
 
 a husband afflicted by the death of his wife to honor her 
 
 dear memory than for him to give a gladiatorial show. 
 
 You did perfectly right [he says in one of his letters] in 
 promising a gladiatorial combat to our good friends, the p^Jfo/a 
 citizens of Verona, who have long loved, looked up to, and gladiatorial 
 honored you ; while it was from that city too you received 
 that amiable object of your most tender affection, your 
 late excellent wife. And since you owed some monument or 
 public representation to her memory, what other spectacle 
 could you have exhibited more appropriate to the occasion ? 
 Besides, you were so unanimously pressed to do so that to 
 have refused would have looked more like hardness than 
 resolution. The readiness, too, with which you granted their 
 petition and the magnificent manner in which you performed 
 it is very much to your honor ; for a greatness of soul is seen 
 in these smaller instances, as well as in matters of higher 
 moment. I wish the African panthers, which you had largely 
 provided for this purpose, had arrived on the day appointed, 
 but though they were delayed by the stormy weather, the 
 obligation to you is equally the same, since it was not your 
 fault that they were not exhibited. Farewell.
 
 2i6 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Pliny, in his panegyric addressed to Trajan, praises 
 orrnf'arT 1186 *^ e em P eror f r having revived the taste of the people 
 for these frightful spectacles : 
 
 Spectacles have been given, not those characterized by 
 effeminacy and corruption which tend to enervate and degrade 
 the mind, but those which teach men to bear wounds with 
 courage and to scorn death, by showing, even in slaves and 
 criminals, the love of glory and the desire for victory. And 
 what magnificence the emperor has displayed in these games ! 
 With what justice he has presided, entirely free from preju- 
 dice ! He has refused nothing that the people asked ; he has 
 offered what they did not ask ; and more than this, he has 
 invited us to express our desires, and then he has anticipated 
 them by pleasant surprises. 
 
 Seneca's protest Seneca, perhaps, is the only one at this time who 
 bariw S ofthe bar protested against this barbarity ; and, inspired by a 
 games. feeling of respect for human life, he wrote one of his 
 
 most eloquent pages. 
 
 It happened [he says] that I went to an afternoon entertain- 
 ment. I was expecting pleasant games, clever jokes, some 
 kind of recreation to rest my eyes, weary with the sight of 
 human blood. What a mistake was mine ! Former contests 
 were child's play. All trifling is put aside and there is nothing 
 but unrelieved assassination. The combatants have no de- 
 fensive armor : their naked breasts are exposed. Not a 
 An afternoon s . ' 
 
 entertainment, stroke which does not do its work. . . . What is the use 
 of shields? or of skill? Such things only postpone death. In 
 the morning men are thrown as food to the lions and bears, 
 and in the afternoon to the spectators. . . . The issue of 
 every combat is death. . . . 
 
 " But," my neighbor says to me, " that man whom you pity 
 was a highway robber." 
 
 " Very well, let him hang." 
 
 " But he killed a man." 
 
 "Let him be condemned to death, in his turn. He de- 
 serves it. But you, what have you done, wretch, that you 
 should be condemned to behold such a spectacle ? " 
 
 Then the people cry out,
 
 Amusements. 217 
 
 " Kill him ! strike him ! burn him ! Why does he meet the 
 sword so timidly ? Why strike back with so little courage ? The people 
 Why die so reluctantly ? ' ' ft ofbfcd. 
 
 They inflict upon each other wound after wound. 
 
 " Bravo ! Aim at the breast. Give it to him ! " 
 
 At last there is an intermission in the spectacle. 
 
 "While we are waiting, let's have the men killed, that no 
 time be lost." 
 
 Ah ! Romans, do you not understand that evil deeds return 
 upon those who commit them ? 
 
 These noble sentiments, clothed in such strong and 
 emotional language, will be expressed later by Christian 
 preachers and writers. But not a man of them will 
 make a more stirring appeal than the last philosopher 
 of antiquity, not one will proclaim with more eloquence 
 the great principle " man is sacred to man." 
 
 The loss of liberty, this taste for coarse or bloody 
 representations of reality, scarcely allowed the true 
 theater to exist under the empire. 
 
 The decadence of the drama had already begun 
 
 11 r The decadence 
 
 toward the close of the republic. As the small farm- of the drama, 
 ers disappeared the division grew more and more 
 marked between the two classes who listened to the 
 tragedies of Ennius and of Pacuvius, and the comedies 
 of Plautus and of Terence ; the knights became more 
 refined and more rare, and the common people coarser 
 and more numerous. The ' ' Clytemnestra ' ' of Attius 
 was tolerated only because the action called for an 
 interminable procession of mules ; the attraction in 
 ' ' The Trojan Horse ' ' of Naevius was the exhibition 
 of three thousand craters (mixing bowls for wine). A 
 certain actor would be applauded before he opened 
 his mouth, because he wore a violet robe, dyed at 
 Tarentum. The costume and the scenery were what 
 drew people to the theater. The pleasure to the ears
 
 218 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 The theaters 
 of Rome. 
 
 The Atellan. 
 
 was nothing, the pleasure to the eyes was everything. 
 
 And yet Rome had three magnificent theaters : that 
 of Pompey, which seated as many as 40,000 spectators, 
 that of Balbus, which seated 30,000, and that of Mar- 
 cellus, which seated 20,000. Dramatic representations 
 were frequently given ; on festival days probably all the 
 theaters were in use at once. But these entertainments 
 were much less popular than those of the circus or the 
 arena ; the actors were not such favorites as the char- 
 ioteers and the gladiators. 
 
 But the donors of the dramatic representations did 
 not scruple to make concessions to the taste of their 
 audiences. There were no plays which made a study 
 of character or a profound and delicate analysis of the 
 passions. An attempt to introduce such plays would 
 have been useless. 
 
 The two varieties of the drama which prevailed under 
 
 the empire, the 
 
 KT 
 
 . i only ones which 
 
 ^^^^^'^^^^MMMMMH^MMKJ^^nDa^^m 
 
 ' iff Bg, I the public seem 
 
 to have toler- 
 ated, were the 
 Atellan and the 
 mime. 
 
 The Atellan 
 was already 
 popular at 
 Rome about the 
 second century before Christ. It was of Etruscan 
 origin, and it was easier to represent on the stage than 
 the farces and comedies of Greek origin. The Atellan, 
 briefly, was a comic play in which the dialogue was 
 largely extemporaneous. The actors were supplied 
 with a certain theme and then improvised their parts. 
 
 THEATER AT HERCULANEUM. Restoration.
 
 Amusements. 219 
 
 The Atellan is the prototype of what is called in Italy 
 to-day the Commedia delT arte. Furthermore, the 
 characters in the Atellan were all masked. The Roman 
 youths therefore could appear in it as actors without 
 losing caste. 
 
 About the time of Sulla two men of talent. Pompo- _ 
 
 Pompomus and 
 
 nius and Novius, wrote Atellans in a truly literary Novms. 
 style ; after this the fortune of the Atellan was secure. 
 It had won the favor of the people, and it kept it until 
 the end of the empire. 
 
 It is not difficult to comprehend the popularity of the 
 
 The subjects of 
 
 Atellans if we consider the subjects which they treated, the Atellans. 
 They represented scenes from country life and from the 
 lives of workmen and shopkeepers, and this could not 
 fail to please the low tastes of the public which hence- 
 forth laid down the law to the theater. Some of the 
 titles of these dramas have been preserved : ' ' The 
 Cowherd," "The Vintagers," "The Baker," "The 
 Sick Pig," "The Fishermen," "The Fullers," "The 
 Slave Merchant," etc. There was a great deal of 
 caricature in these plays and the wit was broad and 
 vulgar. 
 
 However, the freedom of the Atellans was reserve 
 and good taste, charming elegance, as Donatus, the 
 teacher of Saint Jerome, says, compared to the obscenity 
 of the mimes. 
 
 The mimes, like the Atellans, became popular about 
 
 t rr-ii TI < T 1- x- 1 r The indecency 
 
 the time of Sulla. In the time of Julius Caesar and of ofthe mime?. 
 Augustus flourished the celebrated mimographers Deci- 
 mus Laberius, Publius Syrus, and C. Mattius. These 
 writers, by their talent, elevated the farce to the dignity 
 of literature, but they could not overcome the power of 
 tradition, and obscenity seemed to be the law of this 
 species of composition. Ovid, who certainly does not
 
 220 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 err by excess of prudery, expresses indignation upon 
 seeing women at these representations : 
 
 It is not simply that the language defiles their ears ; their 
 eyes become accustomed to the most indecent scenes. If a 
 faithless wife has invented a new trick to deceive her husband 
 they applaud, and the palm is awarded to her. 
 
 The mimes can scarcely be said to have had plots. 
 Absence of plot. They were burlesque scenes, abounding in coarse 
 humor and practical jokes. A lover, perhaps, would 
 be represented caught hiding in a closet ; he would be 
 dragged out, and blows and kicks would bring the 
 scene to a termination. 
 
 Besides the brutality of the public, which would be a 
 sufficient explanation of the popularity of this kind of 
 amusement, the presence of women among the actors 
 contributed largely to its success. This feature was a 
 unique exception to the rule of the ancient theater. In 
 all the other exhibitions men only took part. Actresses 
 
 Actresses. . . 
 
 have always and everywhere exercised a strange fasci- 
 nation ; and the actresses in the mimes, being less 
 numerous than those in our modern comedies, must 
 have been all the more an attraction. Of course they 
 had their adventures. Cicero once pleaded for a young 
 man who had eloped with one of them. And, as is 
 usually the case, their adventures prepared the way for 
 their theatrical success, and their theatrical success for 
 their adventures. 
 
 The list of characters to be taken by the actors and 
 
 The cast of * 
 
 characters. actresses of the mimes presented very much the same 
 variety that we find in connection with modern theat- 
 rical companies. There was the eldest son, the father 
 of noble rank, the rich man, the scoffer, and the 
 simpleton. 
 
 While these new kinds of dramatic representation
 
 Amusements. 221 
 
 flourished, the ancient tragedy declined. One reason 
 for this was that it received no encouragement or 
 support from the government. For had it not, in the 
 hands of Pacuvius and of Attius, stirred up republican The decline 
 
 r r . of the ancient 
 
 sentiment? Moreover, the people had lost their taste tragedy. 
 for tragedy. They had no longer any interest in the 
 sublime, the poetical, or the ideal. From the reign of 
 Augustus tragic poetry was only a pretext for the dis- 
 play of stage scenery. Horace has remarked upon this 
 decadence. A little later tragedy became nothing but 
 an exercise in declamation. An actor would select 
 from the work of an ancient poet some brilliant, lyric 
 monologue, and deliver it, isolated from its connection, 
 just as with us a singer will give, at a concert, a selec- Dec iamation. 
 tion from an opera. So slight was the interest in the 
 subject matter of the drama that the actors often de- 
 claimed in Greek ; a few of their audience, doubtless, 
 knew enough Greek to misunderstand it, but they 
 would loudly applaud. 
 
 The classic comedy was as much neglected as the 
 tragedy. No new comedies were written, but the plays 
 of Plautus, of Terence, and of Afranius were given now 
 and then. They, however, were only enjoyed by 
 literary people, or people of refinement with a taste for 
 the archaic. Whatever pleasure the general public 
 took in them depended, not upon the poet, but upon 
 the acting. 
 
 The mimes attained a marvelous popularity under 
 
 . . .. . The popularity 
 
 the empire ; they even came to constitute a distinct of the mimes. 
 form of spectacle by themselves. The art of the panto- 
 mimist won the admiration of its most vehement critics 
 and triumphed over the opposition of the partisans of 
 the ancient theater. Under Nero, the philosopher 
 Demetrius expressed the greatest disapproval of panto-
 
 222 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' 's Time. 
 
 ist Paris. 
 
 Schools of 
 pantomimists. 
 
 mimists, and declared them incapable of producing any 
 effect without the accompaniment of choirs and music. 
 The pantomim- But after having seen Paris, the celebrated panto- 
 mimist, he was obliged to confess that he had been 
 mistaken, and he made honorable amends to the artist 
 for his previous hostility. 
 
 There were regular schools of pantomimists. Bathyl- 
 lus, the Alexandrine, and the Cilician Pylades were 
 each the founder of a school. Even the great poets 
 did not disdain writing ballet songs for them. Lucan is 
 supposed to have written fourteen such songs. 
 
 Although not so much raved over as the charioteers 
 of the circus and the gladiators of the arena, the actors 
 of the theater knew something of the intoxication of 
 fame and the triumphs of popularity. Their success 
 often brought them wealth. Vespasian gave 4,000 
 sesterces (about $170) to each of the actors who took 
 part in the festival celebrating the restoration of the 
 Theater of Marcellus ; and yet Vespasian had not a 
 reputation for generosity. But 
 the Roman actors preferred the 
 satisfaction of self-love to the 
 enjoyment of riches. They de- 
 sired success at any price ; and 
 if they could not win it by their 
 talent, they resorted to means 
 which are still employed. Nero, 
 who aspired to be an actor, had 
 skilfully organized the claque. 
 According to his plan there 
 would be distributed over the 
 theater 5,000 vigorous men, 
 divided into squads, each one of 
 GLADIATOR'S HELMET. which had as captain a Roman 
 
 The success 
 of actors.
 
 Amusements. 223 
 
 knight under a salary of 4,000 sesterces (about $170). 
 He had devised a method by which these hired ap- 
 plauders might distinguish between the various degrees 
 of their mercenary enthusiasm. Moderate approval was , 
 
 -\ Methods of 
 
 expressed by ordinary hand -clapping ; when a livelier applauding. 
 
 enjoyment seemed called for, a sharp, almost metallic 
 
 sound was produced by a peculiar method of striking 
 
 the flats of the hands together ; the highest admiration 
 
 was signified by clapping with the hands formed into 
 
 hollows, creating thus a full, explosive sound. The 
 
 actors imitated the imperial example, and according to 
 
 their means made sure of a cordial reception. As far as 
 
 possible they would enlist voluntary partisans and then 
 
 hire professional applauders. Factions were sometimes 
 
 the cause of disturbances and even of violence in the 
 
 theaters. 
 
 Romans is to-day a slang term among the French for 
 hired clappers. Their profession sprang into existence 
 in the Eternal City and there also it became an art. 
 
 In the various spectacles which we have mentioned 
 there was not much to please the taste of literary 
 people. To supply this lack public readings were made publj readin 
 a regular form of entertainment. 
 
 When an optimate, for instance, who has indulged 
 a mania for writing, desires a public for his works, he 
 dismantles some room in his house, puts up a platform, 
 and arranges seats for an audience. Then all his 
 friends are invited to listen to a reading from his works. 
 His freedmen, clients, and slaves, seated on the rear 
 benches, are responsible for keeping the enthusiasm of 
 the audience at a proper pitch. 
 
 Let us illustrate once more how such entertainments 
 were arranged. Rubrenus Lappa, a needy poet, de- 
 sires to make his verses known. Maculonus, his
 
 224 Roman Life in Pliny* s Time. 
 
 patron, puts at his disposal a room of his elegant man- 
 sion. Posters are scattered over the city announcing 
 the place and the hour of the recitation. When the 
 time comes, Rubrenus Lappa, who for the occasion 
 Lappa. has donned his best clothes, ascends the platform, 
 
 unrolls his manuscript, and begins to read it, after 
 having swallowed a glass of warm water to clear his 
 voice. Rubrenus is loudly applauded. The result will 
 be that lovers of literature will go and buy his book, 
 when it appears for sale in the bookstores of the Vicus 
 Tuscus. If he had been hissed, the poor man would 
 have had to pawn his mantle and such articles of 
 furniture as a needy poet might possess. 
 
 Others read their works in public in order to have an 
 opportunity, before publishing, to correct and modify 
 them in accordance with criticisms which may be 
 offered. Pliny belongs to this class. 
 
 Every author [he writes] has his particular reasons for 
 
 Pliny's reasons reciting his works ; mine, I have often said, are, in order, if 
 
 lor reciting ' 
 
 his works. any error should have escaped my own observation (as no 
 
 doubt they do escape it sometimes), to have it pointed out to 
 me. I cannot therefore but be surprised to find (what your 
 letter assures me) that there are some who blame me for 
 reciting my speeches ; unless, perhaps, they are of opinion 
 that this is the single species of composition that ought to be 
 held exempt from any correction. If so, I would willingly 
 ask them why they allow (if indeed they do allow) that his- 
 tory may be recited, since it is a work which ought to be 
 devoted to truth, not ostentation? or why tragedy, as it is 
 composed for action and the stage, not for being read to a 
 private audience ? or lyric poetry, as it is not a reader, but a 
 chorus of voices and instruments that it requires ? They will 
 reply, perhaps, that in the instances. referred to custom has 
 made the practice in question usual ; I should be glad to know, 
 then, if they think the person who first introduced this prac- 
 tice is to be condemned ? Besides, the rehearsal of speeches 
 is no unprecedented thing either with us or the Grecians.
 
 Amusements. 
 
 225 
 
 Still, perhaps, they will insist that it can answer no purpose to 
 recite a speech which has already been delivered. True ; if 
 one were immediately to repeat the very same speech word 
 for word, and to the very same audience ; but if you make 
 several additions and alterations, if your audience is com- 
 posed partly of the same and partly of different persons, and 
 the recital is at some distance of time, why is there less 
 propriety in rehearsing your speech than in publishing it? 
 "But it is difficult," the objectors urge, "to give satisfaction 
 to an audience by the mere recital of a speech" ; that is a 
 consideration which concerns the particular skill and pains of 
 the person who rehearses, but by no means holds good 
 against recitation in general. 
 
 Pliny is sincere without doubt when he speaks thus ; 
 
 , . " 1 i 1 i 1 Praise preferred 
 
 but it seems probable that in general criticism was less to criticism. 
 
 desired than praise, and readers, no doubt, found those 
 
 listeners most agreeable who understood this truth. If 
 
 you wish to make your society pleasant to an author, 
 
 do not be afraid of 
 
 embarrassing him 
 
 with your praise. 
 
 Poetry, history, 
 oratory, comedy, and 
 tragedy all these 
 departments of liter- 
 ature furnished mat- 
 ter for these reci- 
 tations. Pliny read 
 in public his pane- 
 gyric addressed to 
 Trajan, and some of 
 his pleas ; Statius 
 
 read his "Silvae" and extracts from his "Thebai's." 
 The tragedies attributed to Seneca were probably de- f r e a g e e C dj' e s s . 
 livered as recitations, for certainly they were never 
 written to be acted upon the stage ; we purposely 
 
 SHIELD.
 
 226 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 omitted mentioning them when we were discussing the 
 condition of tragedy under the empire. With their 
 brilliant declamations, their witty aphorisms, and their 
 laborious and cold lyrical strains, they give us a very 
 clear idea of what must have been the taste of those 
 who frequented the recitation halls. These listeners, 
 surfeited by an over culture which prevented them 
 The taste of from being surprised into a natural admiration for 
 
 the listeners. , ' 
 
 simple beauties, required to be astonished at the peculi- 
 arities of the style and the novelty of the paradoxes. 
 Subtlety, affectation, oddity were not faults in their 
 eyes ; on the contrary, they were merits. 
 
 But the time came when both readers and listeners 
 were tired of their amusement and the recitation halls 
 stood empty. Pliny complains of the growing indiffer- 
 ence for the public readings, which even in his day was 
 observable. 
 
 This year [he writes] has produced a plentiful crop of 
 
 The indiffer- poets ; during the whole month of April scarcely a day has 
 ence for public 7 . , -1-11 
 
 readings. passed on which we have not been entertained with the re- 
 
 cital of some poem. It is a pleasure to me to find that a taste 
 for polite literature still exists, and that men of genius do 
 come forward and make themselves known, notwithstanding 
 the lazy attendance they get for their pains. The greater part 
 of the audience sit in the lounging places, gossip away their 
 time there, and are perpetually sending to inquire whether 
 the author has made his entrance yet, whether he has got 
 through the preface, or whether he has almost finished the 
 piece. Then at length they saunter in with an air of the 
 greatest indifference, nor do they condescend to stay through 
 the recital, but go out before it is over, some slyly and 
 stealthily, others again with perfect freedom and unconcern. 
 And yet our fathers can remember how Claudius Caesar, walk- 
 Claudius ing one day in the palace and hearing a great shouting, in- 
 quired the cause ; and being informed that Nonianus was 
 reciting a composition of his, went immediately to the place, 
 and agreeably surprised the author with his presence. But
 
 Amusements. 227 
 
 now, were one to bespeak the attendance of the idlest man 
 living, and remind him of the appointment ever so often, or 
 ever so long beforehand, either he would not come at all, or, if 
 he did, would grumble about having "lost a day"! for no 
 other reason but because he had not lost it. So much the 
 more do those authors deserve our encouragement and 
 applause who have resolution to persevere in their studies, 
 .and to read out their compositions in spite of this apathy or 
 arrogance. 
 
 This indifference was destined to go on increasing. 
 
 Decline in liter- 
 
 The literary activity of the Romans gradually declined, ary activity, 
 until the day when their language and literature per- 
 ished, and in their place sprang up the languages and 
 literatures of modern Western Europe.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TRAVELING. 
 
 THE splendor of the Eternal City, the magnificence 
 of its buildings, the gaiety of its festivals, the renown of 
 its professors and of its artists attracted strangers to it 
 in crowds. But while the world flowed into Rome, 
 Rome itself spread out over the world. 
 
 In our day traveling has become common and very 
 
 The popularity popular. The safety of the roads, the rapidity of the 
 means of transportation, the constant progress toward 
 unity in manners and customs, all this tempts us to leave 
 home, and again enables us to feel at home wherever we 
 go- 
 
 The condition of things was the same for the Romans 
 about the second century of the Christian era. To the 
 period of war had succeeded the period of organization. 
 After having conquered the world, Rome "pacified" it. 
 
 The magnifi- All parts of the empire were united by a magnificent 
 
 ofroaTs* system of roads. 
 
 You have [said the rhetorician Aristides] measured the 
 earth from end to end, you have spanned the rivers with 
 bridges, penetrated the mountains with carriage roads, peopled 
 the deserts, and established everywhere order and discipline. 
 There is no need now for a descriptive catalogue of the earth 
 with an account of the customs and laws of all the nations ; 
 for you have become guides for the whole world ; you have 
 opened all its doors and given to each man the opportunity to 
 see everything with his own eyes. 
 
 Hyperbole is a figure dear to the rhetorician Aristi- 
 des ; but there is no exaggeration in the above passage. 
 
 228
 
 Traveling. 229 
 
 The network of Roman ways covered in truth the 
 entire empire. Everywhere have been found traces of 
 these marvelous constructions. Furthermore, in order 
 to facilitate traveling, road-books were published con- Guide-books, 
 taining maps and information as to stations, distances, 
 and places where one could stay over night. On the 
 site of Vicarello in Etruria were found, among other 
 objects, three silver traveling-cups, shaped like mile- 
 stones, and having engraved upon them a list of 
 stations and distances from Gades to Rome. 
 
 The science of geography was dawning. Strabo, The beginning 
 whose life extended into the reign of Tiberius, had fgeography. 
 written his great geographical work, which is a vast and 
 useful repertory. The expression of Aristides did not 
 exceed the truth ; the Romans had in fact become 
 guides for the entire world. 
 
 The Romans were not satisfied with comfort, they 
 desired rapidity in travel. State post-houses, estab- Rapidity 
 lished upon the model of the posts of the ancient of travel. 
 Persian monarchy, furnished to functionaries of the gov- 
 ernment and to those who bore authorizations from the 
 emperor, horses and carriages which made nearly five 
 miles an hour. Private individuals relied for their 
 accommodations upon private enterprise. Convey- 
 ances were stationed at the gates of towns and at inns. 
 Rich companies kept, for the use of the public, beasts, 
 vehicles, and postilions. You could hire a four-wheeled Conveyances . 
 carriage, or, if you were not very particular about your 
 comfort, a two-wheeled cabriolet. These hired equi- 
 pages were, as might be expected, slower than the post, 
 for the horses were not so good and the postilions, not 
 being accountable to the state, delayed without scruple 
 at the relay stations. It was, however, in a hired 
 carriage that Caesar traveled the distance of eight
 
 230 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Traveling 
 by sea. 
 
 hundred miles, which separates Rome from the Rhone 
 one hundred miles a day. This rapidity astonished 
 
 his contemporaries, and 
 moderns who have had 
 experience with diligences 
 will share their surprise. 
 Although traveling by 
 sea was far less common 
 among the ancients than 
 among us, voyages were 
 made with a considerable 
 degree of speed. Spring 
 was the time for setting 
 sail. At this season boats 
 which had been upon the 
 shore all winter were 
 launched by the aid of 
 machines. 
 
 According to Pliny the 
 Elder, the prefect Galerus, 
 setting out from the strait 
 of Sicily, reached Alexan- 
 dria after a seven days' 
 sail. Balbillus made the 
 same trip in six days. In 
 brief, from the items of 
 information that have 
 been left to us upon this 
 subject, we are able to 
 infer that with a favorable 
 wind a ship could make 
 
 z 38 miles a day. 
 
 FORTUNE. Museum of Naples. 
 
 Dangers of 
 sea trips. 
 
 We must admit that sea trips were not always free 
 from danger. There were no more pirates, it is true,
 
 Traveling. 231 
 
 to interfere with them. The time was past when the 
 corsairs defied the power of Rome, when they carried 
 off the treasure from the Temple of Lacinian Juno at 
 Crotona, and foundered in the very harbor of Ostia a 
 fleet commanded by a consul. Pompey had rid the sea 
 of these bold bandits. Since his day one could sail 
 upon the Mediterranean, even at night, without fear of a 
 dangerous encounter. But the pillagers of wrecked Wreckers, 
 vessels were not so easily disposed of. In spite of 
 severe laws, they multiplied along the coasts and made 
 a living out of their horrible business. Not content 
 with profiting from ships already lost, these rogues 
 often caused wrecks. By false signals they lured 
 vessels upon the rocks and robbed their victims, while 
 pretending to be eager in rescuing them. 
 
 Nor was land-traveling without its dangers. Italy 
 
 . Highway 
 
 from this time is the classic land of highway robbery, robbery. 
 which had begun to flourish immediately after the civil 
 wars. Bands which were recruited from deserting 
 soldiers, fugitive slaves, and refractory gladiators held 
 entire provinces in terror. Augustus and Tiberius took 
 energetic measures to secure safety ; troops were sent 
 to destroy the brigands. But it does not appear that 
 such efforts were ever crowned with success. In the 
 time of Septimius Severus, Felix Bulla, a famous robber, 
 at the head of a band of six hundred men, ravaged all 
 Italy ; he was in the eyes of the people a romantic 
 character ; they talked everywhere of his daring deeds of bandits, 
 and his generosity upon occasion. It is a singular fact, 
 to which many similar examples may be found in 
 modern times, that people took his part against the 
 police. Was not Fra Diavolo dearer to the Italian 
 peasants than the militia? Finally, to establish his 
 legendary character, Bulla perished a victim of a
 
 232 Roman Life in Pliny" s Time. 
 
 woman's treason. Betrayed by his mistress, he ended 
 his life in the arena. Other bandits, more obscure, 
 could never be dislodged from their retreats in the 
 Pontine marshes, in Sardinia, and in the Gallinarian 
 forest near Cumae. These were the general head- 
 quarters of the bandits, as Calabria was at the com- 
 mencement of our century. 
 
 The vicinity of the capital offered naturally more 
 
 Vicinity of the . r> -11 -j j i ^ 
 
 capital unsafe security. Still it was considered somewhat imprudent 
 
 at night. .... . , 111 
 
 to venture at night, if one carried money or valuable 
 objects, upon the highways even in the suburbs of 
 Rome. Juvenal, in one of his satires, says : 
 
 The traveler freighted with a little wealth, 
 Sets forth at night, and wins his way by stealth ; 
 Even then, he fears the bludgeon and the blade, 
 And starts and trembles at a rush's shade. 
 
 We must not, then, accept without reserve the enthu- 
 siastic words of the rhetorician Aristides : 
 
 To-day is not each one able to go wherever he pleases ? 
 Are not all the harbors full of movement ? Do not the moun- 
 tains afford to travelers the same security that towns do to 
 their inhabitants? Are not all the country regions full of 
 charm ? Is not fear banished everywhere ? 
 
 But we should guard against forming an exaggerated 
 impression of the fear felt for the bandits. When 
 travelers set out, the possibility of being robbed on their 
 way was scarcely more in their minds than in ours the 
 possibility of a railroad accident when we take the 
 steam-cars. 
 
 Nothing, however, would have been able to check 
 this impulse which had taken possession of the Roman 
 population to go outside of Italy and wander over the 
 world. Cosmopolitism had become almost a favorite 
 
 Cosmopolitism. , . , ... , .. . , . , , 
 
 doctrine : the minds or men were full of the idea that
 
 Traveling. 
 
 233 
 
 Rome had established the unity of the world. Poets 
 enthusiastically sang this in their verses. Lucan praises Lucan. 
 the man "who does not believe that he is born for 
 himself but for the human race and who is inspired by 
 the sacred love of the world." 
 
 Another poet, Prudentius, exclaims : Prudentius. 
 
 If Rome has bound us, it is with the cord which makes us 
 brothers. 
 
 And Claudianus says : ciaudianus. 
 
 Under her pacific government we should all find everywhere 
 our country, we should be willing to move our homes from 
 place to place, we should be able to make a pleasure trip to 
 Thule and to penetrate into retreats formerly bristling with 
 terrors, to drink at our pleasure the waters of the Rhone or 
 those of the Orontes ; in short, we should all form a single 
 nation. 
 
 We meet with this idea on every page of Seneca's 
 treatises. The nations are our brothers ; let the boun- 
 daries be effaced, let the barriers be removed. 
 
 How ridiculous is man with his frontiers ! The Dacian 
 must not cross the Ister, the Strymon serves as a boundary 
 for Thrace, the Euphrates is a barrier against the Parthians, 
 the Danube separates Sarmatia from the Roman Empire, the 
 Germans must not cross the Rhine, the Pyrenees lift their 
 summits between Spain and the Gauls, vast deserts extend 
 between Egypt and Ethiopia. If ants should be endowed 
 with the intelligence of man, would not they also divide up a Boundanes 
 garden plot into a hundred provinces ? We must abandon 
 these petty divisions ; we must enlarge our horizon ; we must 
 extend our affections to the entire world. Man should regard 
 the earth as the common habitation of the human race. All 
 that you see constitutes a unit ; we are the members of a 
 great body. ... I was not born for a corner of the earth ; 
 but my country is the world, and Rome is our common father- 
 land. 
 
 between nations 
 to be effaced. 
 
 These are not the hyperboles of a poet or the
 
 234 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 The Digest. 
 
 Universal 
 civilization.' 
 
 Inducements 
 to travel. 
 
 humanitarian reveries of a philosopher ; the words 
 which we have just quoted express so well the general 
 sentiment that we find an echo of them in the body of 
 Roman law. "Rome," we read in the Digest, "is 
 the universal country." 
 
 Let us add that material prosperity reigns every- 
 where, that the earth is, as it were, adorned and 
 embellished. Even the enemies of this pagan civiliza- 
 tion are compelled to bear witness to its benefits. 
 
 Certainly [wrote Tertullian] the world becomes each day 
 more beautiful and more magnificent. No corner has re- 
 mained inaccessible ; every spot is known and frequented, and 
 is the scene or the object of business transactions. Explore 
 the deserts lately famous, verdure covers them. The tilled 
 field has conquered the forest ; wild beasts retreat before the 
 flocks of domestic animals. The sands are cultivated, rock is 
 broken up, swamps are transformed into dry land. There are 
 more towns now than there were houses formerly. Who 
 now fears an island ? Who shudders at a shoal ? You are 
 sure to find everywhere a dwelling, everywhere a nation, a 
 state, everywhere life. . . . 
 
 How resist the desire to enjoy the sight of so many 
 wonders? How deny one's self the pleasure and the 
 pride of taking a tour through this world which Rome 
 has made after her own image? How could a Roman 
 bear to remain shut up in his small native locality 
 instead of enjoying that universal country which the 
 genius of his people had made his own? Traveling 
 during the two first centuries of the empire and sub- 
 sequently was therefore as common as in our time. 
 If one was compelled to change his place of abode he 
 did so without reluctance. Many people also traveled 
 merely for their own pleasure. 
 
 To-day a functionary obliged to take up his resi- 
 dence in a new place always grumbles, even though
 
 Traveling. 
 
 235 
 
 the change is accompanied with an advance in his 
 salary. It does not appear, however, that officers of 
 state in the time of the Roman Empire were much 
 incommoded by the necessity of moving. And, more- 
 over, we know that these functionaries were somewhat 
 nomadic. 
 
 Men in high stations [says Epictetus], senators for instance, 
 cannot root themselves into the ground like plants, but are Jj 16 nomadic 
 
 life of Roman 
 
 obliged to travel in order either to issue or to execute com- functionaries, 
 mands, and to fulfil official missions concerning military 
 service or the administration of justice. 
 
 Often they had to make considerable journeys ; they 
 were sent from the swamps of Caledonia to the foot of 
 
 BRIDGE OVER THE ANIO, A FEW MILES FROM TIBUR. 
 
 the Atlas ; from the towns of Syria to the fortified 
 camps of the German provinces. We know of no exam- 
 ple of a functionary's refusing to set out. Not a single 
 ancient author has told us that the Roman officials 
 found these journeys too frequent or too wearisome.
 
 236 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Wandering 
 life of the 
 merchants. 
 
 Travel for 
 health. 
 
 Pilgrimages. 
 
 Travel for 
 observation. 
 
 The merchants also led a wandering life. We have 
 shown elsewhere that maritime commerce was well 
 developed at Rome. In order to succeed in it, a never- 
 wearied activity was required and an audacity which 
 nothing could disconcert. Probably our modern busi- 
 ness men do not possess these qualities in a higher 
 degree than did these ancient merchants. We learn 
 from an inscription that Flavius Zeuxis of Hierapolis 
 boasts of having crossed to Italy seventy-two times. 
 And did not many a merchant push far beyond the 
 limits of the Roman Empire which pretended to em- 
 brace the world ? Roman merchants were the first to 
 penetrate into India, .which was considered in the time 
 of Horace to be the end of the world. 
 
 Like the functionaries and like the merchants, in- 
 valids obeyed necessity by going abroad. Some went 
 to Egypt to seek health, others to Anticyra, celebrated 
 for the perfection of its hellebore. Still others jour- 
 neyed toward the famous sanctuaries of ^sculapius, of 
 Isis, or of Serapis. 
 
 There they met religious devotees. Pilgrimages are 
 not an invention of Christianity. Ancient piety de- 
 lighted in them. Crowds from all parts of the known 
 world flocked to Eleusis at the celebration there of the 
 mysteries ; again, in the time of Aulus Gellius, the 
 Pythian games attracted great multitudes ; and there 
 were always many superstitious people who, like Apu- 
 leius, traveled from temple to temple, having them- 
 selves initiated into all sorts of religious ceremonies 
 ' ' for love of the truth and for duty toward the gods. ' ' 
 
 Students and professors, pupils and learned men, also 
 traveled much. For from this time people seem to 
 have been convinced that whoever has seen many 
 things retains in mind many things.
 
 Traveling. 237 
 
 Diodorus, Strabo, Pausanias, Dioscorides, and Galien 
 prepared for their great literary works by traveling. 
 When Apuleius had finished his studies at Carthage, 
 the death of his father having made him the possessor 
 of a fortune of about $40,000, he began to travel 
 through Greece, Italy, and the East, by way of com- 
 pleting his education. 
 
 But travelers were not always influenced by motives 
 
 . . Traveling 
 
 of curiosity alone. As there are in our time ambulant teachers, 
 artists, there were under the Roman Empire rheto- 
 ricians and philosophers who went from town to town to 
 give instruction in dialectics and in rhetoric for the 
 money that they might make. They considered that 
 people always like whatever is new ; and before their 
 success in one place began to wane as the novelty of 
 their presence there wore off, they moved on to the 
 next place. 
 
 Eunapius and Philostratus, in their biographies of the 
 sophists and the philosophers, have left us curious pic- 
 tures of the strange lives of these itinerant teachers. 
 
 Charlatans of eloquence, these rhetoricians had re- 
 
 . , c Their singular 
 
 course to singular means in order to make sure or methods, 
 success. When one of them arrived in a town, slaves 
 scoured the streets to collect an audience, proclaiming 
 that marvelous things were soon to be uttered by their 
 master. There was sure to be some wealthy amateur of 
 letters who was willing to lend a hall furnished with 
 benches. There at the appointed hour the rhetorician 
 appeared in full dress, followed by a long retinue of 
 supposed admirers. This train was indispensable to 
 him. Good-natured idlers there were in abundance, 
 who thought they would acquire an air of culture by 
 being associated with a literary man and were very 
 willing to form this escort. Sometimes, however, it
 
 238 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 's Time. 
 
 A sophist at 
 Rhodes. 
 
 A successful 
 lecturer. 
 
 Traveling 
 students. 
 
 was composed in a most unexpected manner. A 
 sophist, for instance, landing at Rhodes, enlisted the 
 oarsmen and sailors whom he found at the port, bought 
 them costumes, and after having arrayed them as 
 lovers of noble eloquence should be arrayed, made a 
 magnificent entree into the assembly at the head of 
 this naval army. 
 
 After having taken his place on the platform, the 
 orator would pay a studied compliment to his audience, 
 pronounce a panegyric upon the town, and then pro- 
 ceed to treat his chosen subject with a learnedly affected 
 utterance, assuming regulation attitudes like the poses 
 of a dancer. If his toga was elegant, if the gems upon 
 his fingers were brilliant, if his voice was pleasant, his 
 success was won ; every one thought he had handled 
 his subject well ; whether he pronounced a eulogy upon 
 flies, smoke, or baldness mattered little. The audience, 
 transported, arose, shouting "crowns! crowns!" and 
 rich presents proved afterward to the orator that the 
 enthusiasm was not sterile. 
 
 Disciples desirous of learning the secrets of this fine 
 art which was rewarded with such fame and financial 
 profit followed the caravans of these rhetoricians. 
 Imagine the animation and the gaiety of these youths 
 as they traveled along the highways ! What discus- 
 sions ! What bursts of laughter ! In these bands no 
 doubt there was many a Gil Bias who could enliven an 
 adventure or create one at need. And then what 
 joyous friendships formed in haste (for brief was the 
 sojourn in each place), when they reached one of those 
 literary centers where studiously inclined young men 
 were wont to gather Milan in Italy, Autun in Gaul, 
 Appollonia in Epirus, Tarsus in Cilicia, Carthage, 
 Antioch, Alexandria, and Athens.
 
 Traveling. 
 
 239 
 
 In his "Sentimental Journey," among the various 
 kinds of travelers which he mentions Sterne distin- The idle 
 
 travelers. 
 
 guishes the idle travelers ; these were, in antiquity, the 
 most numerous kind. People who left their country 
 
 VESUVIUS IN ERUPTION. 
 
 with no other end than to have a change, who traveled 
 only to seek pleasure, or rather to escape from ennui, 
 were not rarer then than now. 
 
 Nothing in fact was more common, in this refined 
 society of which we have tried to give some idea, than 
 for a man to be oppressed by a feeling of sadness and 
 gloom without his being able to account for it. That 
 languor and discontent for which the English have 
 found the name spleen was very prevalent at Rome. 
 How many Romans, exclaiming with Lucretius "always 
 the same thing!" traveled over the world in quest of 
 new pleasures, which, while they sought them con- 
 tinually, they never found ! How many, like those 
 
 p reva i en t
 
 240 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 sick people who imagine that they obtain some relief 
 by tossing from side to side, exerted themselves to 
 attain a repose which forever fled from them ! As 
 Lucretius says : 
 
 The man who is sick of home often issues forth from his 
 
 A restless man i ar g e mansion, and as suddenly comes back to it, finding as he 
 
 Lucretius. ' does that he is no better off abroad. He races to his country 
 
 house, driving his jennets in headlong haste, as if hurrying to 
 
 bring help to a house on fire ; he yawns the moment he has 
 
 reached the door of his house, or sinks heavily into sleep and 
 
 seeks forgetfulness, or even in haste goes back again to town. 
 
 In this way each man flies from himself. 
 
 But such efforts were never crowned by success. 
 Philosophers proclaim aloud the uselessness of setting 
 off on a tour, for 
 
 Ennui, a black knight, gallops fast at your side. 
 
 remedy for But no one listened to the philosophers ; travel, with 
 its excitement and noise, seemed the best remedy for 
 this wretched melancholy, and so when a man became 
 low-spirited he would order his slaves to pack up the 
 luggage quickly. 
 
 In summer, at the approach of autumn, when Rome 
 was malarial, the roads leading out of the city were full 
 of pedestrians, horsemen, and carriages. Some directed 
 their way toward the coast of Latium, having in view 
 
 Formise. Antium, Formiae, Ostia, or Astura. Formise, accord- 
 
 ing to Martial, in the following epigram, was a delight- 
 ful resort : 
 
 At Formiae the surface of the ocean is but gently crisped by 
 the breeze, and, though tranquil, is ever in motion, and bears 
 along the painted skiff under the influence of a gale as gentle 
 as that wafted by a maiden's fan when she is distressed by 
 heat. Nor has the fishing-line to seek its victim far out at sea ; 
 but the fish may be seen beneath the pellucid waters, seizing 
 the line as it drops from the chamber or the couch. Were
 
 Traveling. 241 
 
 ever to send a storm, the table, still sure of its pro- 
 vision, might laugh at his railings ; for the native fish-pool 
 protects the turbot and the pike ; delicate lampreys swim up 
 to their master ; delicious mullet obey the call of the keeper, 
 and the old carp come forth at the sound of his voice. 
 
 The reputation of Ostia was as great. But the most 
 luxurious watering-place of the ancient world was 
 Baise, on the shore of the beautiful Gulf of Naples, with Baiae. 
 the green mountains for a background. Palaces built 
 by the different emperors and sumptuous villas formed, 
 as it were, another city by the side of the real city 
 which was itself richly provided with magnificent estab- 
 lishments for the treatment of invalids or the amuse- 
 ment of those who enjoyed good health. For among 
 all the watering-places, Baiae was eminently the city of 
 pleasure. Here a perpetual festival reigns, whose gaiety 
 is enhanced by the charm of the sea and the sky. The 
 gulf is covered with barks full of musicians who make 
 the air sweet with melody ; gay companions drink 
 merrily together upon the shore and talk of love ; 
 beautiful ladies and famous courtesans are here, trying 
 to find again the lover of yesterday or seeking the 
 lover of to-morrow. You come here, as Ovid says, to 
 be cured, and you go away with a wound in your 
 heart. Can you be surprised after this that Seneca 
 advises Lucilius to avoid this resort, which he calls a 
 hot-bed of vice? 
 
 There is nothing new under the sun. The Romans, 
 who like us had their summer watering-places, had also 
 
 ... . ... , . . , , Winter resorts. 
 
 their winter resorts. The physicians of this time had 
 already conceived the idea of getting rid of their 
 troublesome patients by advising them to seek a milder 
 climate. Thus Antonius Musa directed Horace to pass 
 the winter at Velia or at Salernum. Perhaps these two
 
 242 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 towns had not yet won the reputation which they after- 
 ward enjoyed ; for we find Horace inquiring whether 
 the social life there is pleasant and gay, and whether 
 you can find there the good wine which, he says, " can 
 make the blood flow in my veins and awaken rich hope 
 in my heart, loosen my tongue, and restore to me my 
 youth." 
 
 But Tarentum from the time of Augustus had a wide 
 
 Tarentum. 
 
 reputation and invited strangers to take up their winter 
 quarters in its delightful vicinity. Horace wished to 
 live and die there. 
 
 I will seek [he says] the river Galaesus, delightful for sheep 
 covered with skins, and the countries reigned over by Lacedae- 
 monian Phalantus. That corner of the world smiles in my 
 eye beyond all others ; where the honey yields not to the 
 Hymettian, and the olive rivals the verdant Venafrian ; where 
 the temperature of the air produces a long spring and mild 
 winters, and Aulon, friendly to the fruitful vine, envies not the 
 Falernian grapes. That place and those blest heights solicit 
 you and me ; there you shall bedew the glowing ashes of 
 your poet friend with a tear due to his memory. 
 
 The mountains do not appear to have been so pop- 
 ular as they are in our day. People enjoyed, however, 
 the resorts upon the Alban and Sabine Mountains, 
 especially Tibur, Praeneste, the Algidus, Aricia, Tuscu- 
 lum, and Alba. 
 
 The middle classes limited their trips to Italy, or at 
 most they went as far as Sicily, that they might be 
 able to relate upon their return that they had seen 
 ^tna sung by the poets, the Valley of Enna, and its 
 prairie of violets, the Gulf of Charybdis and the foun- 
 tain Arethusa. 
 
 But the curiosity of the patricians was not so easily 
 satisfied. They wished to go. outside of their own 
 country and even of their own age ; they sought other
 
 Traveling. 243 
 
 skies than the sky of Italy and countries where the past 
 was more vivid than the present. Thus it happened 
 that during the first centuries of the empire there was 
 no Roman somewhat distinguished who had not taken 
 his trip into Greece. 
 
 This country always exercised, in fact, over those Greece, 
 who had conquered it, a great fascination. However 
 much the Greeks who came to Rome were inclined to 
 disparage their own nationality, Greece inspired in the 
 Romans a sentiment of admiration and respect which 
 Pliny has very well expressed in the following letter to 
 his friend Maximus, governor of Achaia : 
 
 My friendship for you constrains me, I will not say to give 
 you directions (for you do not require them), but to remind ic/Maxim"" 
 you of what you already know, so that you may put it in prac- 
 tice, and even know it more thoroughly. Consider that you 
 are sent to the province of Achaia, that true and genuine 
 Greece, whence civilization, literature, even agriculture, are 
 believed to have taken their origin sent to regulate the con- 
 dition of free cities, whose inhabitants are men in the best sense 
 of the word free men of the noblest kind, inasmuch as they 
 have maintained the freedom which nature gives as a right, by 
 their virtues, by their good actions, and by the securities of 
 alliance and solemn obligation. Revere the gods who founded 
 their state ; revere the glory of their ancient days, even that 
 old age itself, which, as in men it claims respect, is in cities 
 
 altogether sacred. Honor their old traditions, their great Greece the land 
 , . , , _ , . - .... of literature and 
 
 deeds, even their legends. Grant to every one his full dig- of freedom. 
 
 nity, freedom yes, and the indulgence of his vanity. Keep 
 ever before you the fact that it was this land which gave 
 us our own laws gave them to us, not as a conquered peo- 
 ple, but at our own request. It is Athens, remember, to 
 which you go it is Lacedaimon you will have to govern ; 
 and to take from such states the shadow and the surviving 
 name of liberty would be a cruel and barbarous act ! You 
 see that physicians treat the free with more tenderness than 
 slaves, though their disorder may be the same. Remem- 
 ber what each of these states has been, but so remember
 
 244 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 as not to despise them for being no longer what they were. 
 
 Immediately after the conquest of Greece, in the 
 
 vEmiiius y ear j6q B. C, ^milius Paulus went to visit the cities 
 
 Paulus. * 
 
 and most celebrated places of that country, and at 
 Olympia he lingered before the Jupiter of Phidias, 
 overcome by an emotion so strong that it seemed as if 
 he was in the presence of the god himself. From this 
 day trips to Greece became fashionable, and the charm 
 of the land for tourists was not diminished by the fact 
 
 Ruins of Greece, that it was hastening to ruin, that its cities were be- 
 coming deserted and its country regions depopulated. 
 Dion Chrysostom describes one of these ancient cities, 
 Chalcis perhaps, where the sheep graze in front of the 
 city hall, where the site of the gymnasium is occupied 
 by a corn-field, among whose waving stalks the heads 
 of ancient marble statues may be seen. There is a 
 fascination about this ruin. Out of these solitudes the 
 image of the past is easily called forth. 
 
 Restoration But the desolation was not universal. Under the 
 
 government of the Antonines Athens was restored ; 
 Herod Atticus adorned it with magnificent buildings, 
 and Hadrian tried to make it once more the city of 
 culture. 
 
 Cor j nth- . While Athens served as a studious retreat, Corinth, 
 
 more animated and more luxurious, attracted pleasure- 
 seekers, and merited its name, ' ' the City of Aphro- 
 dite." So Greece remained until the last days of the 
 empire a haunt for tourists, and a poet of the Latin 
 Anthology proclaims that its very ashes are sacred. 
 Travelers who had plenty of money and leisure did 
 
 The isles. not omit visiting the isles. Bullatius, Horace's friend, 
 
 took a trip to see Chios, Lesbos, and Samos, those 
 lands of sunny skies scattered upon the waters of the 
 vEgean Sea. From the Archipelago a few strokes of
 
 Traveling, 245 
 
 the oar took him to the Ionian coast, where he visited 
 Smyrna. But in spite of their splendors, these rich 
 and beautiful countries could not divert the mind of 
 Bullatius ; morose and blast traveler that he was, he 
 did not care to go as far as Ilium. 
 
 And yet this wretched village, inhabited then by 
 ^olian Greeks, was frequently visited by Roman tour- J 
 ists. It did not occur to them to wonder whether it 
 was really the ancient Troy, the sacred city of Priam. 
 The descendants of yneas recognized it without dis- 
 cussion as the cradle of their race, and the least super- 
 stitious of them contemplated with emotion the temple 
 where the image of Pallas was formerly kept, a relic 
 since transported to Rome, if we may believe Ovid. 
 Full of the legends of Homer, upon which they had fed 
 their youth, imbued with that patriotic pride which had 
 remained a tradition of the race, after having been a 
 part of its religion and one of its virtues, the Romans 
 allowed themselves to be guided by the people of 
 Ilium, and did not put themselves on guard against the 
 fabrications of these Greek tricksters and liers, who 
 pointed out to them the graves of the Greek heroes, The fabrications 
 the grotto where Paris pronounced his famous judg- at ilium"' 
 ment, and showed them the trees upon the tomb of 
 Protesilaus, telling them how their foliage withered 
 away when their tops first reached the height whence 
 Ilium could be seen, and then how they leafed out 
 again more beautiful than before. Lucan, in the follow- 
 ing passage from his ' ' Pharsalia, ' ' represents Caesar 
 wandering across these famous plains : 
 
 Unthinkingly he was placing his step in the thick grass ; a 
 Phrygian native forbade him to tread upon the ghost of 
 Hector. Torn asunder lay the stones, and showing no ap- 
 pearance of aught that was sacred.
 
 246 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny" s Time. 
 
 "Dost thou not behold," said the guide, "the Hercaean 
 Casar at Ilium, altars?" 
 
 When venerable antiquity had satisfied the view of the 
 
 His prayer. 
 
 chieftain, he erected momentary altars with piles of turf 
 heaped up, and poured forth these prayers over flames that 
 burned frankincense, to no purpose : 
 
 "Ye gods who guard these ashes, whoever haunt the 
 Phrygian ruins ; and ye Lares of my JEneas, whom now the 
 Lavinian abodes and Alba preserve, and upon whose altars
 
 Traveling. 247 
 
 still does the Phrygian fire glow, and Pallas, by no male 
 beheld, the memorable pledge of empire in the hidden shrine, 
 the most illustrious descendant of the Julian race offers on 
 your altars the pious frankincense, and solemnly invokes you 
 in your former abodes : grant me for the future a fortunate 
 career. I will restore the people ; in grateful return the 
 Ausonians shall return to the Phrygians their walls, and a 
 Roman Pergamus shall rise." 
 
 Egypt rivaled Asia in offering attractions to rich and 
 cultivated travelers. Between Puteoli and Alexandria a 
 line of boats had been established. The trip required 
 twelve days and there was nothing unpleasant about it. 
 There were no sailors or shipbuilders of antiquity more 
 skilful than the Alexandrines. Their presence in 
 Puteoli made this port an object of curiosity. Every Puteoli 
 one admired their neat little boats, that could sail so 
 fast, and their huge transports, which looked like 
 veritable monsters. The Acatus, which under the 
 reign of Augustus had transported the obelisk of the 
 Circus Maximus, could besides this load carry as 
 many as twelve hundred passengers. It was the Great 
 Eastern of the ancients. 
 
 Those who visited Egypt were usually people inter- 
 ested in curiosities. Everything in this old country 
 seemed strange to the Romans. The antiquity of its 
 civilization did not allow the manners of the people to 
 undergo any transformation. There habits and cus- 
 toms remained what they had been in the time of the 
 Pharaohs. The wonder of the Nile, the peculiarity of 
 the flora and fauna of the country, excited the con- 
 tinual astonishment of strangers. Moreover, there was 
 no city more cosmopolitan than Alexandria ; its popu- A i exan d ria . 
 lation, which amounted to nearly one million inhabi- 
 tants, presented a most picturesque mixture of all races. 
 City, at the same time, of commerce, of pleasure, and
 
 248 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time, 
 
 Canopus. 
 
 Ancient 
 monuments. 
 
 The caravans 
 of the rich. 
 
 of study, its perpetual movement, its feverish activity 
 offered a spectacle which could entertain the most 
 exacting. The emperor Hadrian even, great traveler 
 that he was, wondered at the sight : 
 
 Here no one is idle. Every one has his work and practices 
 a calling. Even the blind, the gouty, and the halt find some- 
 thing to do. 
 
 And just outside the limits of Alexandria was Cano- 
 pus, city of pleasure, the rival of Baiae. There were 
 
 also natural 
 wonders to be 
 seen, such as 
 the Falls of 
 Syene, and 
 great structures 
 like the pyra- 
 mids and the 
 colossal statue 
 of Mem n on. 
 Upon the stones 
 of these ancient 
 
 STREET OF FORTUNE, POMPEII. monuments, 
 
 tourists almost always engraved their names, with the 
 date of their visit. The legs of the statue of Memnon 
 are covered with these inscriptions almost up to the 
 knees. Innkeepers had not yet invented the travelers' 
 registration book, and this was a very good substitute. 
 Travelers of moderate means, young men, people 
 who enjoyed adventure and who could put up with dis- 
 comfort, used to journey on horseback. But the rich 
 and the delicate required a great caravan to accompany 
 them along the highways. Nero never had with him 
 less than a thousand carriages ; his mules, shod in 
 silver, were driven by slaves dressed in a uniform of
 
 Traveling. 249 
 
 red tunics. Poppaea took along with her five hundred 
 she-asses to furnish daily milk for her bath. And, 
 aside from this imperial luxury, nothing was more 
 magnificent than the train of a Roman optimate as he 
 journeyed. A large body of domestics formed his 
 retinue, carrying his favorite articles of furniture, his 
 tableware, and in fact all the objects which he needed, 
 or fancied, to render him unconscious, as it were, that 
 he was not in his own house. The carriage which 
 drew him, richly decorated, resting on springs to avoid 
 jolting, and furnished with silk curtains, contained all 
 kinds of comforts ; you could read or write in it, or 
 even sleep there. Sleeping-cars are not wholly a 
 modern invention ; the ancients had their sleeping sleeping 
 
 . . coaches. 
 
 coaches. In some or their carriages there were re- 
 volving chairs, that the traveler might face whichever 
 way he pleased without exerting himself, and in others 
 there were contrivances for measuring the distance 
 traversed and for indicating the time of day. 
 
 We shall have less difficulty in comprehending so 
 many refinements, if we consider that the travelers 
 could not count upon hotels or inns where they might 
 refresh themselves after their fatigue. It was not 
 always even in such watering-places as Baiae, Canopus, 
 and Edepsus that a tourist could find suitable hotels ; Hotels, 
 but outside of these cities, the most elementary pro- 
 visions for the comfort of travelers were neglected. 
 The hotel-keepers of Southern Europe have too faith- 
 fully preserved these old traditions until the present 
 day. 
 
 The masters of the poorest hotels did not fail, how- 
 ever, to make fair promises. Look at all the signs 
 "The Great Eagle," "The Cock," "The Crane" 
 at all these places you are promised a good supper and
 
 250 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 An inn at 
 Pompeii. 
 
 Hotel-keepers. 
 
 a good bed. Some innkeepers recommend their house 
 by this alluring placard : ' ' Equal to the capital. ' ' On 
 the door of a hotel at Lyons you 
 
 T might have read this naive boast : 
 " Here Mercury promises gain, 
 Apollo health, Septimanus good 
 cheer at table. Whoever shall stop 
 here will be well taken care of. 
 Strangers, consider well where you 
 lodge." 
 
 Very few travelers, however, al- 
 lowed themselves to be deceived ; it 
 was too well known that only low 
 society was to be found in a hotel. 
 An inn has been discovered at Pom- 
 peii in whose little cells, which served 
 as bedrooms, some of the guests left 
 their names. They were people of 
 the lower classes a certain praetorian 
 soldier on a furlough and some pan- 
 tomimists who had come to the city 
 for the purpose of giving an enter- 
 tainment. Often the patrons of these 
 hotels were worse than plebeian, 
 they were immoral. 
 
 No accustomed traveler would 
 expect from hotel-keepers a scrupu- 
 lous delicacy or considerateness. 
 They undertook within their domains 
 to do the work of the brigands out- 
 side ; they cheated, they adulterated 
 the wine, stole the oats from the 
 horses, and would gladly, had they dared, have made 
 an item on their bill of the fleas that swarmed in their 
 
 CANDELABRUM.
 
 Traveling. 251 
 
 house. We must not, then, be surprised that those who 
 could afford it took such precautions as might render 
 them independent of this questionable hospitality. 
 What especially excited the interest of travelers was 
 
 ... 111- The collections 
 
 the curiosities and the objects of art found usually in of objects of 
 
 ... interest in the 
 
 the temples. 1 ravelers used to stop to visit these temples, 
 buildings, which held the place then of our museums 
 to-day. But, although they contained much of value, 
 there was absolute lack of classification. Natural curi- 
 osities and objects of art were mixed together in bizarre 
 confusion. Beside images or celebrated statues, near 
 the works of great artists, were displayed cocoanuts, 
 stuffed crocodiles, huge serpents, and ants from India, 
 enough bric-a-brac to excite the envy of a Jew second- 
 hand dealer. In these collections fancy was sometimes 
 allowed very free play. Varro saw in a temple of 
 Sancus, a Sabine deity, the distaff and spindle of Tana- 
 quil. At Sparta the lance of Agesilaus was exhibited ; 
 at Plataea, a saber of Mardonius. Sometimes the egg 
 of Leda was shown, and also an amber cup offered by 
 Helen to the Temple of Minerva, at Lindus. Pausanias 
 claimed that there was at Panope in Phocis some of the 
 clay left from which Prometheus had molded man ; 
 and he gravely adds that this clay had the odor of 
 human skin. 
 
 There was a whole class of men who made it their 
 business either to guide travelers to the interesting 
 places, or to explain to them the sights which they 
 beheld. These ancient ciceroni were not less annoying 
 sometimes than their modern successors. It might 
 happen occasionally that they were well-informed and 
 possessed of good judgment, but this was the excep- 
 tion. Usually they droned out with tiresome repe- 
 titions their explanations learned by heart and their
 
 252 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 marvelous anecdotes, invented to please the taste of 
 the multitude. It is easy to imagine what torture such 
 guides must have inflicted upon cultivated men visiting 
 Athens or Olympia, and Plutarch in this connection 
 tells an amusing anecdote in his essay "On Curiosity." 
 A f n pf necd u t , e A company of people were visiting the temple at 
 Delphi, and they begged the guides to spare them all 
 explanations in regard to the objects that they were to 
 see. But the guides insisted upon fulfilling their usual 
 office, and even went so far as to read all the inscrip- 
 tions. And yet the least question that was addressed 
 to them incidentally, or out of the usual order, confused 
 them so that they were unable to continue for a time. 
 
 Such ignorance astonishes us when we consider that 
 nothing interested the Romans in their travels more 
 than historical associations. The little poem, "ALtna.," 
 which is attributed often to Lucilius Junior, contains 
 explicit testimony on this point : 
 
 We traverse lands and seas, at the peril of our lives, in 
 The historical order to see magnificent temples, with their rich treasures, 
 travel. " their marble statues, and sacred antiquities ; we eagerly in- 
 
 quire into the fables of ancient mythology, and make, as we 
 travel, a visit to every nation. With what pleasure we behold 
 the walls of Ogygian Thebes, and return in imagination into 
 those early ages, wondering now at the stones which obeyed 
 the voice of the singer and the music of his lyre, now at the 
 altar whence arose in two distinct columns the smoke of the 
 double sacrifice, now at the exploits of the seven heroes and 
 the abyss which swallowed Amphiaraus. Again we are capti- 
 vated by the Eurotas and the city of Lycurgus and the sacred 
 troop following their chief to death. Then we visit Athens, 
 proud of her singers, and of Minerva, her victorious goddess. 
 Here it was that the perfidious Theseus forgot, upon his 
 return, to hoist the white sail that was to have informed his 
 father of his success. Was not Athens responsible for the 
 tragic fate of Erigone, now a celebrated star ? The story of 
 Pandion's daughter, Philomela, who fills the woods with her
 
 254 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 song, and of her sister Procne, who, changed to a nightingale, 
 builds her nest near the roofs, and of Tereus wandering in the 
 lonely fields these are also among the Athenian myths. 
 
 Lucilius shows that very many travelers were inter- 
 ested in works of art : 
 
 Yes, the paintings and the statues of Greece fascinate many 
 Works of art. ,' / . _ r . . j 
 
 people. Now it is Venus Anadyomene, with her dripping 
 
 hair, or the terrible Colchian princess, with her young chil- 
 dren playing at her feet, now the sacrifice of Iphigenia, or 
 some work of Myron. This profusion of works in which so 
 much art is manifested attracts many people, and you feel 
 obliged to go to see them in spite of the perils of land and of 
 sea. 
 
 But probably very few of those who followed the 
 fashion by visiting artistic exhibitions really appre- 
 ciated them. The majority agreed with Tacitus, who 
 having once for all seen the picture or the statue that 
 he came to see went away satisfied and never returned. 
 Atticus. Almost all were of the mind of Atticus, with whom 
 
 Cicero makes us acquainted in his essay "On Laws": 
 
 Those places which are associated with men whom we love 
 and admire produce a certain impression upon us. Even 
 Athens, my favorite city, does not delight me so much by its 
 Greek architecture and its precious masterpieces of the ancient 
 artists as by the recollection that it arouses in me of the great 
 men that have lived there, walked about its public squares 
 conversing together, and who now lie buried there. 
 
 As to nature, the Romans had little appreciation of 
 appreciation it- They liked best calmness in nature and wished to 
 be calm themselves in order to enjoy it. While our 
 tourists spare themselves no trouble or expense that 
 they may contemplate the glaciers of the Alps, the 
 precipices of the Pyrenees, or the desolate cliffs of 
 Brittany, while our artists and authors try to cultivate 
 our taste for the gloomy grandeur of the African
 
 Traveling. 255 
 
 deserts, the ancients were unmoved by all these spec- 
 tacles which have been described as "beautiful horrors." 
 They very rarely ascended mountains, and those of 
 them who did accomplish such feats were not pleasure- 
 seekers. 
 
 Those [says Strabo] who have climbed to the summit, , 
 
 . Mount Argaeus. 
 
 covered with eternal snow, ol Mount Argaeus, near Mazaca in 
 
 Cappadocia, report that on a clear day they can see from there 
 two seas, the Euxine and the Bay of Issus. But there are 
 very few that have dared to make the ascent. 
 
 The ancients took no delight in wild or romantic 
 scenery. Everything that was confused, everything 
 that expressed disorder, not only failed to charm them, 
 but even shocked them. In morals they held the 
 principle that there is nothing great that is not calm. 
 And they applied the same principle in aesthetics. They 
 surely preferred the Borghese Mars to the Gladiator of Regularity in 
 Agasias. Their architecture, with its careful proper- by'th? amfients 
 tions, where everything tends to rest and satisfy the 
 eye, proceeds from the same idea ; their poetry also, 
 with its regular harmony, is inspired by it. This taste 
 for order and measure is exhibited again in their appre- 
 ciation of natural beauties. 
 
 Vast plains, beautiful meadows, fertile fields, this [says M. 
 Boissier] is what delights them. Lucretius can conceive of 
 no greater pleasure, on those days when one has nothing to 
 do, than "to lie down near a stream of running water under 
 the leafage of a tall tree," and Virgil desires, as the supreme 
 happiness, always to love the fruitful fields and the rivers Thefavorit 
 which flow through the valleys. The foreground of a land- scenery of 
 scape which could charm a Roman is made up of meadows or 
 harvests, some beautiful trees, and a lake or stream ; a pretty 
 background might be formed by hills at the horizon, especially 
 if their sides were cultivated and their summits wooded. 
 
 Let us add that a distant view of the sea would com-
 
 256 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 plete the picture; for with the Romans "beautiful 
 sites" and "maritime sites" were almost synonymous 
 terms. 
 
 To enjoy such pictures there was no need of going 
 outside of Italy. Did not the shores of Latium and the 
 Gulf of Naples afford the Romans their favorite kinds 
 of scenery ? Where could nature, as it was then con- 
 ceived, be enjoyed better than in the villa of Pollius 
 The villa Felix for example ? Built upon the heights of Surren- 
 
 tum, it commanded from every side a beautiful view, 
 overlooking Ischia, Capreae, Procida, and the sea ; 
 here the setting sun rested when the day declined, 
 when the shadow of the mountains, with their crown of 
 trees, lay upon the sea. 
 
 The Romans then who loved nature did not go 
 abroad to enjoy its beauties ; they remained at home. 
 They probably thought that the seclusion of a quiet 
 retreat in some lovely country region helps one to 
 enjoy more fully the beauties of the exterior world, and 
 renders one more capable of feeling its profound sweet- 
 ness and of comprehending its inalterable serenity. 
 However this may be, life in the country held an im- 
 portant place in the existence of the Romans, and we 
 should omit an important feature in this picture of 
 their manners which we are trying to present to the 
 reader if we should not describe the country villas and 
 the life of those who inhabited them. 
 
 Enjoyment of rural life was much more common 
 
 Rural life. J J 
 
 among the Romans than is sometimes supposed. 
 Some, men of the old school, those who cherished the 
 ancient traditions, loved the country because they liked 
 farming ; but they did not form a very large class. 
 Others, and doubtless their number also was small, 
 loved it for the poetical emotions which it inspires.
 
 258 Roman Life in Pliny" 1 s Time. 
 
 The rich and the powerful loved it because it permitted 
 them to escape from the vexations and interruptions of 
 city life. The poor loved it because there they found 
 the air and the light which was denied them in their 
 wretched dwellings in the narrow streets of Rome. All 
 these classes could sympathize with Horace, when he 
 exclaimed, ' ' O rural landscape, when shall I behold 
 thee?" Those who could not escape from the capital 
 tried to produce a semblance of the country about their 
 city houses by planting bushes and flowers. 
 
 Moreover, country life came to be something more 
 Summer resorts than a luxury for those who enioyed it ; fashion was 
 
 fashionable. . 
 
 absolute in requiring her votaries to go to some summer 
 resort during the hottest months of the year. A man 
 who wished to hold a position in society could not 
 afford to appear on the streets of Rome after a certain 
 date of the summer season. If he respected himself he 
 would leave before August for his villa or for the 
 seaside. He would prefer to hide in his cellar rather 
 than allow his presence in Rome to be known. So all 
 of Italy, from the Gulf of Baiae to the foot of the Alps, 
 was dotted with elegant country houses. 
 
 The emperors set the example in building villas. 
 
 the\rnperors. Tiberius had his Capreae ; Nero loved to stay in his 
 house at Sublaqueum, near the Anio, and Hadrian 
 frequently came to his villa at Tibur, which, from the 
 sixteenth century, has been studied by several archaeol- 
 ogists, and of which M. Daumet has made a restora- 
 tion. 
 
 When we examine the plan traced by this skilful 
 architect, we are impressed with the difference which 
 exists between this habitation and our princely country 
 
 Hadrian's villa seats - Hadrian's villa occupies an immense extent. It 
 is a Versailles on a large scale. We find there baths,
 
 Traveling. 259 
 
 thermae, a hall for public readings, libraries, and an 
 observatory tower. Thus far there is nothing to excite 
 our surprise ; but we are astonished to find three 
 theaters and a basilica, and our wonder increases when 
 we learn that the emperor had caused to be reproduced 
 in his villa imitations of the places which had most 
 excited his interest during his travels of several years 
 through all the provinces of his empire. We find a His imitations 
 
 of foreign 
 
 Lyceum, an Academy, a Pcecile (a celebrated portico places, 
 at Athens), a prytaneum (in many Greek towns a public 
 building sacred to Hestia, and containing the state 
 hearth), a Canopus (city of Lower Egypt, a famous 
 pleasure resort), a Vale of Tempe, and even, says Spar- 
 tianus, "in order that nothing might be wanting, it 
 occurred to him to make a reproduction of Hell there." 
 We must suppose, however, that Hadrian had sufficient 
 good sense and taste not to attempt to make these im- 
 itations literal ; they were doubtless very free. But, 
 nevertheless, to execute them at all must have required 
 the removal of enormous quantities of earth. 
 
 Hadrian in all this was not original. The Romans, 
 
 , , .,, , , Landscape gar- 
 
 even in the country, were great builders. The natural dening among 
 
 conformation of the land seemed to have no charm for 
 them. A site seemed to them beautiful in proportion 
 to the pains which they had taken to remodel it accord- 
 ing to their taste and their fancy. Notice how Statius 
 admires the achievements of the workmen who con- 
 structed the villa of Pollius Felix : 
 
 There where a plain extends was formerly a mountain ; 
 where now you walk under the shelter of a roof there used to 
 be a frightful solitude ; where now large trees stand there was 
 not even earth before. Truly the land has learned to bear the 
 yoke. The palace advances and the mountain withdraws, 
 obedient to the master's command.
 
 260 Roman Life in Pliny" s Time, 
 
 Even in their love for nature the Romans exhibited 
 their conquering disposition. 
 
 One peculiarity of Hadrian's villa, which arrests the 
 attention of us moderns, is thus described by M. 
 Boissier : 
 
 The ensemble of these vast edifices escapes us. We admire 
 metryin Syn their variety ; we find a remarkable fecundity of invention and 
 Hadrian's villa, resource in them, but we are astonished at not seeing more 
 symmetry. . . . The architect seems to have added build- 
 ings one to the other as their want was felt, without troubling 
 himself about the effect that might be produced by the whole. 
 
 This is quite contrary to all our ideas ; but as we 
 have already had occasion to say, the Romans cared 
 little about symmetry ; even their city houses were not 
 symmetrical. The forum was only a confusion of 
 temples, of trophies, and of basilicas. Five or six 
 palaces encumbered the Palatine Hill. All the more in 
 the country should we expect to find regularity of out- 
 line dispensed with. 
 
 The general arrangements of Hadrian's villa are re- 
 
 Tbe country , . ,, , , f , , . _ 
 
 homes of the peated in all the country houses of the wealthy Romans. 
 The various buildings which we have enumerated, with 
 the exception of those useful only to a prince or those 
 which are purely fanciful creations, are found in the 
 villas of which we find descriptions in Roman litera- 
 ture. Pliny has written at length about his two villas, 
 the Tuscan and the Laurentine. Pliny's tastes were 
 modest, as we know, but his reputation and his rank 
 obliged him to live in style. His country seats, then, 
 
 Pliny's Lauren- can furnish us an idea of an ordinary villa. Let us 
 follow him as our guide over his Laurentine estate : 
 
 My house is for use, not for show. You first enter a court- 
 
 The courtyard, yard, plain and simple without being mean, and then pass 
 
 into a colonnade in the shape of the letter D, the space
 
 Traveling. 
 
 261 
 
 inclosed by which looks bright and cheerful. Here one has a' 
 
 capital place of retreat in bad weather, for there are windows 
 
 all round it and it is sheltered by a projection on the roof. 
 
 Opposite the middle of the colonnade is a very pleasant inner 
 
 court, which leads into a handsome dining-room running out Dining-room. 
 
 to the seashore. When the wind is in the southwest its walls 
 
 are gently washed by the waves which break at its foot. The 
 
 room has folding-doors, or windows as large as doors, and 
 
 from these you might imagine you see three different seas. 
 From another point you look through the colonnade into the 
 court and see the mountains in the distance. To the left of 
 the dining-room, a little further from the sea, is a spacious 
 sitting-room, within that a smaller room, one side of which 
 gets the morning and the other the afternoon sun. This I 
 make my winter snuggery. Then comes a room the windows Bedrooms 
 of which are so arranged that they secure the sun for us and P arlors - 
 during the whole day. In its walls is a bookcase for such 
 works as can never be read too often. Next to this is a bed- 
 room connected with it by a raised passage furnished with 
 pipes, which supply, at a wholesome temperature, and dis- 
 tribute to all parts of this room, the heat they receive. The
 
 262 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 remainder of this side of the house is appropriated to the 
 use of my slaves and freedmen, but yet most of the apart- 
 ments in it are neat enough to entertain any of my friends who 
 are inclined to be my guests. 
 
 In the opposite wing is a room ornamented in very elegant 
 taste ; next to it lies another room which, though large for a 
 parlor, makes but a moderate dining-room. It is warmed 
 and lighted not only by the direct rays of the sun but also by 
 their reflection from the sea. Beyond this is a bed-chamber 
 and its ante-chamber, so high that it is cool in summer, and it 
 is warm in winter, too, being sheltered on every side. Another 
 apartment of the same sort is separated from this by a 
 common wall. Thence you enter the grand, spacious cooling- 
 Baths room belonging to the baths, from whose opposite walls two 
 
 round basins project, large enough to swim in. Adjoining this 
 is the perfuming-room, then the sweating-room, and beyond 
 that the furnace which conveys the heat to the baths ; two 
 more little bathing-rooms which are fitted up in an elegant 
 rather than costly manner join the latter room ; annexed to 
 the little bathing-rooms is a warm bath of extraordinary 
 workmanship, in which one may swim and have a view of the 
 sea at the same time. Not far from there stands the tennis- 
 Tennis-court, court, which lies open to the warmth of the afternoon sun. 
 Thence you ascend a sort of turret which contains two entire 
 apartments below, the same number above, and also a dining- 
 room which commands a very extensive prospect of the sea 
 and coast, together with the beautiful villas that stand scat- 
 tered upon it. 
 
 At the other end is a second turret containing a room which 
 faces the rising and setting sun. Behind this is a large room 
 for a repository, near to which is a gallery of curiosities and 
 underneath a spacious dining-room, where the roaring of the 
 sea even in a storm is but faintly heard ; it looks upon the 
 garden and the gestatio [a promenade or driveway], which 
 T , . surrounds the garden. The gestatio is encompassed with a 
 
 box-tree hedge, and where that is decayed with rosemary ; 
 for the box in those parts which are sheltered by the buildings 
 preserves its verdure perfectly well, but where by an open 
 situation it lies exposed to the dashing of the sea-water, 
 though at a great distance, it entirely withers. Between the 
 garden and this gestatio runs a shady walk of vines, which is
 
 Traveling. 263 
 
 so soft that you may walk barefoot upon it without any injury. 
 The garden is chiefly planted with fig and mulberry trees, to 
 which this soil is peculiarly favorable. Here is a dining-room, 
 which, though it is at a distance from the sea, commands a 
 prospect no less pleasant. Behind this room are two apart- 
 ments, the windows of which look out on the entrance to the 
 house, and to a well-stocked kitchen-garden. 
 
 You then enter a sort of cloister, which you might suppose 
 built for public use. It has a range of windows on each side ; cloister 
 in fair weather we open all of them ; if it blows, we shut those 
 on the exposed side and are perfectly sheltered. In front of 
 this colonnade is a terrace, fragrant with the scent of violets 
 and warmed by the reflection of the sun from the portico. 
 We find this a very pleasant place in winter, and still more so 
 in summer, for then it throws a shade on the terrace during 
 the forenoon, while in the afternoon we can walk under its 
 shade in the place of exercise, or in the adjoining part of the 
 garden. The portico is the coolest when the sun's rays 
 strike perpendicularly on its roof. By setting open the 
 windows the soft western breezes have a free draught, and so 
 the air is never close and oppressive. 
 
 On the upper end of the terrace and portico stands a 
 detached building in the garden which I call my favorite, and bu^dfnl " 
 in truth I am extremely fond of it as I built it myself. It con- 
 tains a warm winter-room, one side of which looks upon the 
 terrace, the other has a view of the sea, and both lie exposed 
 to the sun. Through the folding-doors you see the opposite 
 chamber and from the window is a prospect of the inclosed 
 portico. On the side next the sea, and opposite the middle 
 wall, stands a little closet, elegant and retired, which is 
 separated from or thrown into the adjoining room by means of 
 glass doors and a curtain. It contains a couch and two 
 chairs. As you lie upon this couch, from the foot you have 
 a view of the sea ; if you look behind you, you see the neigh- 
 boring villas, and from the head you have the woods in sight. 
 These three views may be seen distinctly from so many 
 different windows in the room, or blended together in one 
 confused prospect. 
 
 Adjoining to this is a bed-chamber which neither the 
 voice of the servants, the murmur of the sea, nor even the 
 roaring of a tempest can reach ; neither lightning nor day
 
 264 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 itself can penetrate it unless you open the windows. This 
 profound tranquillity is secured by a passage which divides 
 the wall of this chamber from that of the garden, and 
 thus by means of the empty space every noise is drowned. 
 Annexed to this is a small stove-room which, by opening 
 a little window, warms the bed-chamber to the degree of 
 heat required. Beyond this lies a chamber and ante-chamber 
 which has the sun, obliquely to be sure, from the time it 
 rises till the afternoon. When I retire to this garden apart- 
 ment I fancy myself a hundred miles from my own house, 
 and take particular pleasure in it at the feast of the Satur- 
 nalia, when, by license of that season of joy, every other 
 part of my villa resounds with the mirth of my domestics ; 
 thus I neither interrupt their diversions nor do they hinder 
 my studies. 
 Amid the conveniences and attractions of the place, there is 
 
 supply? 1 " one drawback ; we want running water. However, we have 
 
 wells, or rather springs, at our command. Such is the extraor- 
 dinary nature of the ground that in whatever part you dig, as 
 soon as you have turned up the surface of the soil you meet 
 with a spring of perfectly pure water, altogether free from any 
 salt taste. The neighboring woods supply us with fuel in 
 abundance, and all kinds of provisions may be had from 
 Ostia. A man with few and simple wants might get all he 
 required from the next village. In that little place there are 
 three public baths, a very great convenience, in case my 
 friends come in unexpectedly, and my bath is not ready 
 heated and prepared. The whole coast is prettily studded 
 with detached villas or rows of villas, which, whether you 
 view them from the sea or shore, look like a collection of 
 towns. The strand is sometimes, after a long calm, perfectly 
 smooth, though in general, by the storms driving the waves 
 upon it, it is rough and uneven. I cannot say that we have 
 any very fine fish, but we get excellent soles and prawns. As 
 
 The supply of to other kinds of provisions, my house is better off than those 
 which are inland, especially as to milk, for the cattle come 
 here in great numbers to seek water and shade. Tell me 
 now, have I not just cause to bestow my time and my affec- 
 tion upon this delightful retreat ? Surely you are unreasonably 
 attached to the pleasures of the town if you have no inclina- 
 tion to take a view of it. I only wish that to its many charms
 
 Traveling. 
 
 265 
 
 there might be made the very considerable addition of your 
 company to recommend it. Farewell. 
 
 Much more modest was the villa of Suetonius Tran- 
 quillus. This learned man had not grown rich by his 
 writings ; yet he wished for a retreat where he might 
 live at ease, and he requested his friend Pliny to secure 
 for him a little piece of property which he thought 
 would suit his pur- 
 pose. Let us see 
 how the amiable 
 Pliny fulfils the com- 
 mission : 
 
 My friend and guest, 
 Tranquillus, has an 
 inclination to purchase 
 a small farm, of which, 
 as I am informed, an 
 acquaintance of yours 
 intends to dispose. I 
 beg you would en- 
 deavor he may get it 
 upon reasonable 
 terms ; which will add 
 to his satisfaction in 
 the purchase. A dear 
 bargain is always a 
 disagreeable thing, 
 particularly as it re- 
 flects upon the buyer's 
 judgment. There are 
 several circumstances 
 attending this little 
 villa, which (suppos- 
 ing my friend has no objection to the price) are extremely 
 suitable to his tastes and desires : the convenient distance from 
 Rome, the goodness of the roads, the smallness of the build- 
 ing, and the very few acres of land around it, which are just 
 enough to amuse him, without taking up his time. To a man 
 
 PORTRAIT STATUE. Vatican. 
 
 Pliny's attempt 
 to make a 
 good bargain.
 
 266 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 of Tranquillus's studious turn it is sufficient if he have but a 
 small spot to relieve the mind and divert the eye, where he 
 may saunter round his grounds, traverse his single walk, grow 
 familiar with all his little vines, and count the trees in his 
 shrubbery. I mention these particulars to let you see how 
 much he will be obliged to me, as I shall be to you, if you can 
 help him to this convenient little box, at a price which he shall 
 have no occasion to repent. Farewell. 
 
 This house of Suetonius, which reminds us a little of 
 Horace's, was very suitable for a literary man of 
 moderate fortune. It might also have been purchased 
 by some freedman in easy circumstances, or some small 
 tradesman who had retired from business, after having 
 earned enough to live on. It is the type of those 
 dwellings which furnished a restful retreat for people of 
 the middle class, for all those who in a later age might 
 dream of the little white house with green blinds fondly 
 imagined by J. J. Rousseau. 
 
 With us a country house suggests the idea of beauti- 
 TheartofLa ful gardens and extensive grounds laid out with taste. 
 
 Quintinie. ITTI T-I -1 11 r T /-^ i ) f 
 
 What Boileau calls the art of La Quintinie (a 
 French agriculturist) has been singularly developed in 
 our modern civilization. This art since the time of 
 Dufresny (French author and horticulturist) and his 
 charming creations has been exercised by real masters. 
 There was nothing like it among the Romans. The 
 old paintings which contain representations of their 
 gardens enable us to form a fairly correct idea of them. 
 M. Boissier says : 
 
 These are always regular alleys, shut in by two walls of 
 The Roman hornbeam, cutting each other at right angles. In the center a 
 kind of round space is usually found, with a basin in which 
 swans are swimming about. Every here and there little 
 arbors of greenery have been arranged, formed of canes 
 interlaced and covered with vines, at whose end a marble
 
 Traveling. 267 
 
 column or a statue is seen, with seats placed around to allow 
 promenaders to rest for a moment. 
 
 These paintings remind one of the following saying of 
 Quintilian, which naively expresses the taste of his age : "Is 
 there anything finer than a quincunx so disposed that from 
 whatever side one looks only straight alleys are perceived? " 
 
 The Romans were not satisfied with having their 
 trees planted in regular lines ; the trees themselves had 
 to be trimmed with precision, and even cut into geo- 
 metrical forms. Furthermore and this is the worst 
 part of it trees were tortured into all sorts of shapes, 
 for Pliny says, ' ' In my garden the box represents 
 several animals looking at each other." 
 
 To be just, however, we must admit that the Romans 
 did not possess the means which we have at our com- 
 mand to-day for making gardens of varied beauty. The 
 discovery of America has enriched Europe with a large 
 number of strange or magnificent trees. Modern flora 
 besides have. assumed a variety and a splendor which 
 the ancients never dreamed of. They were able, how- 
 ever, to enjoy the luxury of flowers ; Campania and Ancient and 
 
 f r f modern flora. 
 
 Paestum reaped a good revenue by furnishing the 
 capital with flowers. During the winter they were 
 raised in hot-houses or imported from Egypt. But this 
 luxury consisted only in the abundance of flowers of a 
 very few kinds, not in the variety and multiplicity of 
 species. A flower bed was considered exceptionally 
 fine if it contained some pretty clumps of lilies, of roses, 
 or of violets, like Pliny's at his Tuscan villa. In short, 
 the ancients were acquainted with but a very limited 
 variety of flowers ; a list of the different kinds might be 
 prepared from Meleager's "Garland," a poem in 
 which the Alexandrine compares each celebrated poet 
 to some flower. How much more copious are our 
 horticultural catalogues !
 
 268 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Walking in these poor gardens could not have been 
 a very delightful recreation. How then did the Ro- 
 mans pass their time in the country ? Pliny, writing to 
 his friend Fuscus, informs us how he occupies himself 
 Tuscan vi'ifa. at his villa at Tuscum : 
 
 You want to know how I portion out my day in my summer 
 villa at Tuscum ? I get up just when I please ; generally 
 about sunrise, often earlier, but seldom later than this. I 
 keep the shutters closed, as darkness and silence wonderfully 
 promote meditation. Thus free and abstracted from those 
 outward objects which dissipate attention, I am left to my 
 
 Literar>' work, own thoughts ; nor suffer my mind to wander with my eyes, 
 but keep my eyes in subjection to my mind, which, when they 
 are not distracted by a multiplicity of external objects, see 
 nothing but what the imagination represents to them. If I 
 have any work in hand, this is the time I choose for thinking 
 it out, word for word, even to the minutest accuracy of ex- 
 pression. In this way I compose more or less, according as 
 the subject is more or less difficult, and I find myself able to 
 retain it. I then call my secretary, and, opening the shutters, 
 dictate to him what I have put into shape, after which I dis- 
 miss him, then call him in again, and again dismiss him. 
 
 Recreation and About ten or eleven o'clock (for I do not observe one fixed 
 
 workcombmed. ^ our ^ according to the weather, I either walk upon my 
 terrace or in the covered portico, and there I continue to 
 meditate or dictate what remains upon the subject in which I 
 am engaged. This completed, I get into my chariot, where I 
 employ myself as before, when I was walking, or in my study ; 
 and find this change of scene refreshes and keeps up my 
 attention. On my return home I take a little nap, then a walk, 
 and after that repeat out loud and distinctly some Greek or 
 Latin speech, not so much for the sake of strengthening my 
 voice as my digestion ; though indeed the voice at the same 
 time is strengthened by this practice. I then take another 
 walk, am anointed, do my exercises, and go into the bath. 
 
 The evening ^ supper, if I have only my wife or a few friends with me, 
 some author is read to us ; and after supper we are enter- 
 tained either with music or an interlude. When this is 
 finished I take my walk with my family, among whom I am
 
 Traveling. 269 
 
 not without some scholars. Thus we pass our evenings in 
 varied conversation ; and the day, even when at the longest, 
 steals imperceptibly away. 
 
 We see that Pliny's occupations are by no means Diocletian and 
 rural. The story is that Diocletian used to cultivate his hlslettuce - 
 lettuce himself after he had laid down his scepter. 
 But Pliny did not leave his pen to water his flower beds. 
 And if he went hunting he took his writing tablets with 
 him, as we learn from the following letter : 
 
 You will laugh (and you are quite welcome) when I tell you 
 that your old acquaintance is turned sportsman, and has taken 
 three noble boars. "What!" you exclaim, "Pliny!" Even 
 he. However, I indulged at the same time my beloved inac- 
 tivity ; and whilst I sat at my nets you would have found me, 
 not with boar-spear or javelin, but pencil and tablet, by my 
 side. I mused and wrote, being determined to return, if with 
 my hands empty, at least with my memorandums full. Believe 
 me, this way of studying is not to be despised ; it is wonderful go V Jhuming. 
 how the mind is stirred and quickened into activity by brisk 
 bodily exercise. There is something, too, in the solemnity of 
 the venerable woods with which one is surrounded, together 
 with that profound silence which is observed on these occa- 
 sions, that forcibly disposes the mind to meditation. So for 
 the future, let me advise you, whenever you hunt, to take your 
 tablets along with you, as well as your basket and bottle ; for 
 be assured you will find Minerva no less fond of traversing the 
 hills than Diana. Farewell. 
 
 People who were not so intellectually inclined as Pliny 
 found sufficient amusement in those forms of recreation 
 that are common to-day. The young and strong 
 enjoyed horseback riding. Those who had grown Horseback 
 heavy with age, or whom sickness had rendered weak, " dm s- 
 had themselves carried about outdoors in litters or 
 sedan-chairs ; this took the place with the Romans of 
 our carriage driving. In the gardens and parks of the 
 villas there were walks, composed of sand and chalk,
 
 270 Roman Life in Pliny 's Time. 
 
 over which a litter could easily be carried without jar or 
 Hunting. jolt. Hunting had devotees more ardent than Pliny. 
 
 To convince one's self of this, it is only necessary to read 
 the third book of the "Georgics," in which Virgil 
 gives instruction as to the choice of dogs suitable for 
 running down the boar and the stag. As the villas were 
 usually situated near a lake, a river, or the sea, fishing 
 must have been a favorite amusement. Did not Ovid, 
 who wrote for fashionable people, compose a poem 
 entitled ' ' Halieutica, " or " Fishing, ' ' in which he com- 
 pared terrestrial with aquatic animals ? Does not this 
 prove that fishing was, as we said, a popular sport ? 
 
 Croquet was not known among the Romans, but they 
 were familiar with the game of tennis, and had their 
 champion players. Spurinna, who enjoyed, according 
 to Pliny, the old age of a wise man, did not like to miss 
 his game of tennis after his bath. We cannot regret 
 that the silent whist had not yet been invented, but the 
 Chess and dice. Romans played chess and a game of dice. 
 
 To sum up, in their country houses, as well as 
 upon their travels, the Romans remained faithful to the 
 essentially practical genius of their race. When jour- 
 neying they did not seek for adventures or for scenes 
 that would arouse their poetic emotions. They loved 
 historic sites, because they conceived of history as the 
 D . , school of life. When in the country they desired repose 
 
 repose and anc j freedom, outdoor life that exercises the muscles and 
 
 ireedom. 
 
 renews the blood, life without business and without re- 
 straint which refreshes the mind and calms the soul. 
 
 There leisure [said Pliny] is more complete, more sure, and 
 consequently more sweet ; no ceremonial must be observed ; 
 troublesome people do not intrude ; all is calm and peaceful ; 
 and besides this profound repose, there is the healthfulness of 
 the climate, the serenity of the sky, and the purity of the air.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 RETIREMENT FROM ACTIVE LIFE, DEATH, AND BURIAL. 
 
 UNDER the ancient republic the individual belonged 
 to the city. The service of the state occupied the whole The service 
 life of a Roman from his birth to his death. Cato, who, 
 in the eyes of Cicero, was an ideal citizen, bore arms at 
 the age of seventeen years, and when he was eighty- 
 four years old, in the very year of his death, he 
 impeached before the people Servius Sulpicius Galba. 
 
 But in the time of the Gracchi a great change began to 
 appear in the manners of the Romans. The struggles 
 between parties, the fruitless agitations stirred up by 
 ambitious men, after having weakened the spring of 
 civic activity, finally broke it. When politics fell into 
 the hands of selfish and quarrelsome schemers, many corruption 
 good statesmen began to feel that it was not worth ofpo1 ' 
 while to give one's whole life to the public, and so after 
 a few years spent in serving their country, disgusted or 
 weary, they would go into retirement. At first retire- 
 ment from active life seemed excusable merely, but 
 before long it was regarded as even praiseworthy. 
 Pliny does not hesitate to congratulate his friend Pom- 
 ponius Bassus upon having decided to seek that repose 
 
 1-111- 1 r 111 r i Retirement 
 
 which he himself would have found very pleasant. from active life. 
 
 I had the great pleasure [he writes] of hearing from our 
 common friends that you take your leisure and lay it out as a 
 man of your good sense ought ; living down in a charming part 
 of the country and varying your amusements sometimes 
 driving, sometimes going out for a sail, holding frequent 
 learned discussions and conferences, reading a good deal, and, 
 
 271
 
 272 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 Pliny's letter 
 to Bassus. 
 
 The new 
 regime. 
 
 in a word, daily increasing that fund of knowledge you already 
 possess. This is to grow old in a way worthy of one who has 
 discharged the highest offices both civil and military, and who 
 gave himself up entirely to the service of the state while it 
 became him to do so. Our morning and midday of life we 
 owe to our country, but our declining age is due to ourselves. 
 
 This desire for retirement from active life, which 
 under the expiring republic influenced Sulla to abdicate 
 
 TIBUR (MODERN TIVOLI). 
 
 and Lucullus to withdraw from the turbulent political 
 contests of his time to enjoy the elegant luxury of his 
 home, was under the empire very rapidly developed. 
 
 The character of the new regime favored its develop- 
 ment. Absolute power tolerates political activity only 
 when employed in its own service. All those who 
 through family tradition or natural independence of 
 spirit might have been disposed to take a firm but mod- 
 erate stand against the government, understood that 
 they would lose their pains, and they preferred to
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 273 
 
 renounce the service of the state rather than enter into 
 
 the emperor's servitude. As to the patricians, who The course of 
 
 the patricians. 
 
 owed it to their names to be uncompromising, their 
 course was clear to hold aloof, and maintain silence. 
 Silence is a strong expression of protest ; and for them 
 at this time no other expression of it was possible. 
 
 The new men, those who were not obliged by their 
 birth to bear themselves as enemies of the imperial sys- T he " ew I P. e " 
 
 J in political life. 
 
 tern, who hoped to be useful to the public, entered into 
 active life but did not remain there long. If their 
 ability was but mediocre, the emperor was soon tired of 
 them. If it was superior, they became disgusted by the 
 continual sacrifice of independence which they were 
 obliged to make ; sometimes even they found cause to 
 be deeply offended. We cannot doubt that Seneca senecain 
 entered public life with the noblest intentions, and that p 
 he truly possessed the capacity of a statesman, but in 
 spite of his culpable weaknesses, he understood after 
 some years that he was disliked by Nero, and that his 
 safety lay in making himself forgotten. 
 
 If the state [he says in one of his treatises] is corrupt beyond 
 the possibility of cure, if it is in the hands of wicked men, the 
 wise man should not waste his time in useless efforts, nor 
 spend his strength in vain. 
 
 He abandoned, therefore, his position at Nero's 
 
 . , . , , j 1 i- 1 His withdrawal 
 
 court, not without having begged his dismissal as a from court, 
 favor, for he feared that otherwise his departure might 
 look like a form of opposition. He even desired to 
 resign all the advantages attached to the possession of 
 power, and offered his fortune to Nero. The emperor 
 refused to accept it ; but Seneca, in order to escape 
 attention, led thereafter the life of a poor man. 
 
 Under certain emperors retirement was not only 
 advisable but necessary. In the time of Caligula, of
 
 274 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Nero, and of Domitian there was a veritable reign of 
 A reign of terror. Those who had the misfortune of living in these 
 
 terror. > . ' 
 
 terrible years never felt that their heads were safe, and 
 
 their hearts beat continually in the expectation of death. 
 
 But even under the emperors who were not monsters 
 
 retirement from active life was a useful precaution for 
 
 Spurinna's political men. This was well understood by Spurinna, 
 
 old age. . . 
 
 whose sweet and lovely old age Pliny, in the following 
 letter, describes for us : 
 
 I know not that I ever passed a pleasanter time than lately 
 with Spurinna. There is indeed no man I shall so much wish 
 to resemble in my own old age if I am permitted to grow old. 
 Nothing can be finer than such a mode of life. For my part I 
 like a well-ordered course of life, particularly in old men, just 
 as I admire the regular order of the stars. Some amount of 
 
 His regular irregularity and even of confusion is not unbecoming in youth ; 
 
 mode of life. b u t everything should be regular and methodical with old men 
 who are too late for labor and in whom ambition would be 
 indecent. This regularity Spurinna strictly observes, and his 
 occupations, trifling as they are (trifling, that is, were they not 
 performed day by day continually), he repeats as it were in a 
 circle. 
 
 At dawn he keeps his bed, at seven he asks for his slippers ; 
 he then walks just three miles, exercising his mind at the same 
 
 ing 5 walk" time w ' t ^ 1 h' s limbs. If friends are by, he discourses seriously 
 
 with them ; if not, he hears a book read ; and so he some- 
 times does even when friends are present, if it be not disagree- 
 able to them. He then seats himself, and more reading 
 follows, or more conversation, which he likes better. By- 
 and-by he mounts his carriage, taking with him his wife, a 
 most admirable woman, or some friends as myself, for 
 instance, the other day. What a noble, what a charming tele- 
 
 His conver- &-tete ! how much talk of ancient things ! what deeds, what 
 
 sation. men you hear of! what noble precepts you imbibe, though 
 
 indeed he refrains from all apparent teaching ! Returning from 
 a seven-mile drive, he walks again one mile ; then sits down 
 
 Poetical or recnnes with a pen in his hand, for he composes lyrical 
 
 composition. pieces with elegance both in Greek and Latin. Very soft,.
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 
 
 275 
 
 sweet, and merry they are, and their charm is enhanced by the 
 decorum of the author's own habits. 
 
 When the hour of the bath is announced that is, at two in 
 summer, at three in winter he strips and takes a turn in the 
 sun if there is no wind. Then he uses strong exercise for a 
 considerable space at tennis, for this is the discipline with 
 which he strug- 
 gles against old 
 age. After the 
 bath he takes his 
 place at the table, 
 but puts off eat- 
 ing for a time, 
 listening in the 
 meanwhile to a 
 little light and 
 pleasant reading. 
 All this time his 
 friends are free to 
 do as he does, or 
 anything else 
 they please. Din- 
 ner is then served, 
 elegant and mod- 
 erate, on plain 
 but ancient silver. 
 He uses Corinthi- 
 an bronzes too, 
 and admires them 
 without being 
 foolishly addicted FALLS AT TlBUR ( MoDERN TIVOLI). 
 
 to them. Players are often introduced between the courses, 
 that the pleasures of the mind may give a relish to those of the 
 palate. He trenches a little on the night even in summer ; but 
 no one finds the time tire, such are his kindness and urbanity 
 throughout. Hence now, at the age of seventy-seven, he both 
 hears and sees perfectly ; hence his frame is active and vigor- 
 ous ; he has nothing but old age to remind him to take care of 
 himself. 
 
 Such is the mode of life to which I look forward for myself, 
 and on which I will enter with delight as soon as advancing 
 
 His bath. 
 
 Exercise. 
 
 Dinner.
 
 276 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 years allow me to effect a retreat. Meanwhile I am harassed 
 Pliny's pro- by a thousand troubles, in which Spurinna is my consolation, 
 posed course. as j^ ^ as ever i3 een m y example. For he, too, as long as it 
 became him, discharged duties, bore offices, governed provin- 
 ces ; and great was the labor by which he earned his relaxation. 
 I propose to myself the same course and the same end ; and I 
 give you my oath that I will pursue it. If some ill-timed ambi- 
 tion should carry me beyond this purpose, produce this letter 
 against me, and condemn me to repose whenever I can enjoy 
 it without being reproached for indolence. Farewell. 
 
 When the philosophers began to preach retirement, 
 they found the ground already prepared for their 
 instructions. So the two doctrines, Epicurism and 
 Stoicism, were heeded, when they both counseled with 
 the same energy renouncement of worldly ambition. 
 Resignation and abstinence constituted, according to 
 and'abstlnence these philosophies, the whole of wisdom. The philoso- 
 pher should withdraw from public life and should have 
 no other care than to establish in silence and calm the 
 peace of his soul. Ambition, which had formerly been 
 regarded as a noble passion, fruitful of good results, was 
 condemned as the source of all evils. 
 
 In life [writes Lucretius] we have a Sisyphus before our eyes 
 
 The teaching J 
 
 of Lucretius. who is bent on asking from the people the rods and cruel axes, 
 and always retires defeated and disappointed. For to ask for 
 power, which, empty as it is, is never given, and always in the 
 chase of it to undergo severe toil, this is forcing up hill with 
 much effort a stone which after all rolls back again from the 
 summit and seeks in headlong haste the levels of the plain. 
 
 And Seneca, the disciple of the Stoic philosopher 
 Cleanthes, echoes Lucretius, the disciple of Epicurus. 
 When he had abandoned his position of power, when he 
 had voluntarily become poor and obscure, he says : 
 
 Seneca's This narrow way which I have found so late, and after so 
 
 warning. many wanderings, I desire to show to others. I warn them
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 
 
 avoid what catches the eye of the vulgar, refuse the gifts of 
 chance ; when some unlooked-for advantage is thrown in your 
 way, before touching it pause, full of fear and suspicion. 
 Think of those allurements which are used to attract and snare 
 animals. "These are the gifts of fortune," you say. No, they 
 are her traps. If you wish to live in peace, distrust these 
 deceitful presents ; for when you think you have them, you 
 will find that you are caught. Whoever allows himself to be 
 attracted by them is fatally conducted to the abyss ; and a fall 
 is always the sequel to great prosperity. 
 
 These counsels were welcomed not only by those who The discon- 
 were engaged in politics, but also by that more frivolous peop?e. s ' 
 class of people whose activities were merely social. 
 Under the influence of a very refined civilization the 
 intensity and even the abundance of pleasures produces 
 weariness and disgust ; and those souls which possess 
 some nobility are filled with bitterness and ennui. So it 
 was under the Roman Empire. People were full of 
 desire without object and of vague aspirations, of 
 anxiety without cause, and of indefinable hope, and they 
 found a bitter enjoyment in the contemplation of their 
 misery, and a mysterious pleasure in seeking the key of 
 the enigma which tormented them. Such was the con- 
 dition of that young Annaeus Serenus, commander of Anneus 
 Nero's body-guard, rich, brilliant, crowned apparently Serenus - 
 with all the gifts of nature and of fortune. He confided 
 his trouble to Seneca, and sought advice as follows : 
 
 I beg of you, if you know any remedy for this malady, do 
 not think that I am unworthy of owing my peace of mind to 
 you. It is not the tempest which disquiets me, it is sea- 
 sickness. Deliver me, then, from this evil, whatever it is, and 
 aid a wretch who suffers in sight of the shore. 
 
 And Seneca, who took an interest in this noble but Seneca , s a( i vice 
 weak young man, and sympathized with him in his to Annaeus. 
 anguish, gave him much kind counsel, all of the same
 
 278 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Melancholy 
 
 becomes 
 
 fashionable. 
 
 The "poor 
 
 man's 
 
 chamber." 
 
 import. He advised him to live for himself, to seek a 
 retreat where he might enjoy that " happy condition in 
 which the soul tastes an inalterable joy, and maintains 
 itself in a peaceful state, free from exaltation or depres- 
 sion." 
 
 We are tempted to believe that melancholy had 
 become fashionable, that it was stylish to be disillu- 
 sioned and disap- 
 pointed, as at the 
 commencement of our 
 century it was common 
 to play the part of 
 Werther or Ren6, and 
 that to treat this sup- 
 posed malady with the 
 favorite remedy of the 
 philosophers , retire- 
 ment from active life, 
 was a proof of good 
 taste and supreme ele- 
 gance. 
 
 In the houses of the 
 wealthy a singular cus- 
 tom had been estab- 
 lished. In the midst 
 of all the many far- 
 sought forms of lux- 
 ury, a retreat was re- 
 served called the ' 'poor 
 man' s chamber.' ' 
 Here one so disposed 
 
 ROMAN PRIEST. Vatican. i . r i 
 
 might retire for a day 
 
 now and then, to eat out of earthen dishes and sleep 
 upon a straw bed. Doubtless this was mere play, and
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 279 
 
 perhaps even a last refinement of voluptuousness, to 
 enable one to renew his capacity for enjoyment by the 
 contrast of a day' s privations. But can we not see even 
 in such fantasies a proof that the custom of retiring from 
 active life was becoming more general from day to day ? 
 In reading Pliny's letters we find several examples of 
 rich and cultivated men who withdrew early from public 
 life, or never allowed themselves to be drawn into it. Retired coun- 
 
 s-i r tr y gentlemen. 
 
 One day he met in the country one of these sensible 
 men. Pliny, whose life had been so easily successful, 
 and whose amiable optimism had attached him to the 
 world, was doubtless somewhat astonished that any one 
 should be willing to conceal himself from fame and from 
 the eyes of men ; he was obliged, however, to recognize 
 the fact that this taste for repose and security had 
 become very prevalent. 
 
 O the numbers [he wrote] of learned men modesty con- 
 ceals, or love of retirement withdraws from public fame ! 
 And yet when we are going to speak or recite in public it is the 
 judgment only of professed critics we stand in awe of; whereas 
 those who cultivate learning quietly and to themselves have in 
 so far a higher claim to regard in that they pay a tribute of 
 silent reverence to whatever is great in works of genius an 
 observation which I give you upon experience. Terentius 
 Junior, having gone through the military duties suitable to a junior, 
 person of equestrian rank, and discharged with great integrity 
 the post of receiver-general of the revenues of Narbonensian 
 Gaul, retired to his estate, preferring the enjoyment of uninter- 
 rupted tranquillity to those honors that awaited his services. 
 He invited me lately to his house, where, looking upon him 
 only as a worthy head of a family and an industrious farmer, I 
 started such topics as I imagined him to be most versed in. 
 But he soon turned the conversation, entering with considera- 
 ble display of learning upon subjects of literature. With what His unex- 
 purity and delicacy did he express himself in Latin and Greek ! Cnearniif^ ay 
 For he is such a master of both that whichever he speaks 
 seems to be the language he particularly excels in. How
 
 280 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 The best 
 scholars often 
 concealed. 
 
 The poetry 
 of Martial 
 and Statius. 
 
 The delight of 
 Tacitus in the 
 calm of nature. 
 
 extensive and varied is his reading ! How tenacious his mem- 
 ory ! You would not imagine him the inhabitant of an ignorant 
 country village, but of polite Athens herself. In short, his 
 conversation has increased my anxiety about my works and 
 taught me to revere the judgment of these retired country gen- 
 tlemen as much as that of more known and distinguished 
 literati. Let me persuade you to consider them in the same 
 light ; for, believe me, upon a careful observation, you will find 
 that as in the army the best soldiers, so in literature the best 
 scholars are often concealed under the most uncouth appear- 
 ances. Farewell. 
 
 The poets of this time, Martial and Statius, were pre- 
 eminently parlor versifiers. We find in them no note 
 which suggests the beautiful stanza of La Fontaine : 
 
 Ah, country fields, in me a secret pain 
 Is wakened by your solitude and calm. 
 
 Your cool and shade to weary heart and brain 
 Are like a fragrant balm. 
 
 And yet it is probable that many of the poets dreamed 
 of a peaceful asylum, a retreat sacred to the Muses. 
 Was not Tacitus expressing a poet's sentiment when he 
 wrote this beautiful passage in his ' ' Dialogue on 
 Oratory" ? 
 
 As to the woods and groves and that retirement which Aper 
 denounced, they bring such delight to me that I count among 
 the chief enjoyments of poetry the fact that it is composed not 
 in the midst of bustle, or with a suitor sitting before one's door, 
 or amid the wretchedness and tears of prisoners, but that the 
 soul withdraws herself to abodes of purity and innocence and 
 enjoys her holy resting-place. . . . For myself, as Virgil 
 says, let " the sweet Muses " lead me to their sacred retreats, 
 and to their fountains far away from anxieties and cares, and 
 the necessity of doing every day something repugnant to my 
 heart. Let me no longer tremblingly experience the madness 
 and perils of the forum, and the pallors of fame. Let me not 
 be aroused by a tumult of morning visitors, or a freedman's 
 panting haste, or, anxious about the future, have to make a
 
 Retirement from Active Life, 
 
 281 
 
 The tribulations 
 of authors. 
 
 will to secure my wealth. Let me not possess more than what 
 I can leave to whom I please, whenever the day appointed by 
 my own fates shall come ; and let the statue over my tomb b.e 
 not gloomy and scowling, but bright and laurel-crowned. 
 
 But even the poets who had no natural liking for 
 retirement were sure sooner or later to feel the need of 
 it. At this age of the empire literary life was very bur- 
 densome. The public had become as difficult to please 
 as a sultan weary of life. It demanded to be served 
 with dishes always new and appetizing. The optimates 
 who played the part of Maecenases only patronized 
 those writers whom they found compliant and obedient 
 to their whims. What 
 man ever exhibited 
 more subserviency 
 than Statius ? What 
 constantly enforced 
 restraint saddened the 
 life of this beggar-poet ! 
 
 Furthermore, rival- 
 ries were singularly 
 active. Authors at- 
 tacked each other un- 
 mercifully ; they tore 
 each other to pieces. 
 How, living in such an 
 atmosphere, could one 
 
 fail to experience weariness at first, and soon exhaustion ? 
 Those who were able, therefore, escaped from this 
 misery ; they went, as Juvenal says, to find in the coun- to find re P se - 
 try "some lizard's hole" where they might vegetate. 
 Even Martial, whose tastes were never rural, whose 
 poetry seldom expresses love of the country or of sol- 
 itude, went to Spain, and, in the little village of Bilbilis, 
 
 ALTAR AT OSTIA. 
 
 Their attempts
 
 282 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 tried to rest from the artificial life he had led at Rome. 
 In the following epigram he describes his experience : 
 
 Whilst you, my Juvenal, are perhaps wandering restless in 
 the noisy Subura, or pacing the hill of the goddess Diana, 
 whilst your toga, in which you perspire at the thresholds of 
 your influential friends, is fanning you as you go, and the 
 greater and lesser Cselian Hills fatigue you in your wanderings, 
 my own Bilbilis, revisited after many winters, has received me, 
 and made me a country gentleman Bilbilis, proud of its gold 
 and its iron ! Here we indolently cultivate with agreeable 
 labor Boterduna and Platea ; these are the somewhat rude 
 names of Celtiberian localities. I enjoy profound and extraor- 
 Martial in dinary sleep, which is frequently unbroken, even at nine in the 
 
 the country. morning ; and I am now indemnifying myself fully for all the 
 interruptions to sleep that I endured for thirty years. The 
 toga here is unknown, but the nearest dress is given me, when 
 I ask for it, from an old press. When I rise, a hearth heaped 
 up with faggots from a neighboring oak grove welcomes me ; a 
 hearth which the bailiff's wife crowns with many a pot. Then 
 comes the housemaid, such a one as you would envy me. A 
 close-shorn bailiff issues the orders to my boy attendants, and 
 begs that they may be obliged to lay aside their long hair [in 
 order to be ranked among full-grown men, and do men's 
 work]. Thus I delight to live, and thus I hope to die. 
 
 We must admit that this enthusiasm did not last long. 
 The poet soon conceived a dislike for the stupid provin- 
 cials. He longed for Rome and thus confessed it to his 
 friend Priscus : 
 
 I know that I owe some apology for my obstinate three 
 years' indolence ; though, indeed, it could by no apology 
 have been excused, even amid the engagements of the 
 city, engagements in which we more easily succeed in mak- 
 ing ourselves appear troublesome than serviceable to our 
 friends ; and much less is it defensible in this country solitude, 
 where, unless a person studies even to excess, his retreat is at 
 once without consolation and without excuse. Listen, then, to 
 
 His longing _ ' 
 
 for Rome. my reasons ; among which the first and principal is this, that I 
 
 miss the audience to which I had grown accustomed at Rome,
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 
 
 283 
 
 JMAN PRIVATE HOUSE. 
 
 and seem like an advocate pleading in a strange court ; for if 
 there be anything pleasing in my books it is due to my audi- 
 tors. That penetration of judgment, that fertility of invention, 
 the libraries, the theaters, the social meetings, in which pleas- 
 ure does not perceive that it is studying everything, in a word, 
 which we left behind us in satiety, we regret as though utterly 
 deserted. Add 
 to this the back- 
 biting of the pro- 
 vincials, envy 
 usurping the 
 place of criticism, 
 and one or two 
 ill-disposed per- 
 sons, who, in a 
 small society, are 
 a host c i r c u m - 
 stances under 
 which it is diffi- 
 cult to be always 
 
 in the best of humors. Do not wonder, then, that I have 
 abandoned in disgust occupations in which I used to employ 
 myself with delight. 
 
 Martial was not fitted to be happy as a citizen of a small 
 town, that is certain. Nevertheless he also, in his turn, 
 felt the need of retiring. 
 
 Various were the reasons which led people to live in various reasons 
 retirement. Many a man who did not have to fear 
 political reverses, whose heart was free from sorrow, 
 who was satisfied with an obscure career, and aspired 
 to nothing more brilliant, went away to live forgotten 
 and forgetful in some corner. Some yielded to the 
 desire for an easy existence without care and without 
 business ; others, ruined, did not wish to exhibit the 
 spectacle of their misery ; many whom sickness ren- 
 dered incapable of work and unfit to enjoy pleasures 
 sought to obtain a cure, or at least to learn patience, 
 
 for retirement 
 from active life.
 
 284 Roman Life in Pliny ' s Time. 
 
 from solitude. This last class was the most numerous. 
 
 Beginning from the empire, sickness plays an impor- 
 tant part in social life. Excesses of all sorts, the over- 
 Sickness. crowding of the population which was constantly 
 
 increasing at Rome, the changes introduced in the mat- 
 ter of food, and bad hygienic habits were certainly 
 enough to injure the public health. Perhaps, also, 
 people had become less brave in the endurance of ill- 
 ness and more wrapped up in themselves. At any rate, 
 infirmities to which the men of a previous generation 
 seemed to pay no attention, which did not interrupt 
 their activity until their strength gave way completely, 
 exercised, at the time of which we are writing, an 
 important influence upon the career of a Roman. 
 
 The increase of ill-health resulted in (was caused by, 
 perhaps some cynics would say) the multiplication of 
 physicians. 
 
 Medicine was a science of late development at Rome. 
 
 The develop- . . * 
 
 mentofthe The earlier physicians were usually Greek ; very few 
 
 science of med- 
 
 icine. were Roman. They made money fast, but were not 
 
 held in high esteem. Pliny the Naturalist has expressed 
 his complaints against the physicians of his time in the 
 following interesting passage, which Moliere must have 
 read : 
 
 Medicine is the only art which the Romans will not consent 
 de^s o 1 hifdn to P racuce > m spite of all the profit that it yields. Besides, 
 of physicians. those who cannot speak Greek have no prestige, not even with 
 those who do not understand this language. Patients have less 
 faith in prescriptions when they understand them. So physi- 
 cians enjoy the privilege of being believed on their mere word, 
 when they claim that they are qualified in their profession, and 
 yet there is no case in which misrepresentation is more dan- 
 gerous. . . . Furthermore, there is no law to punish their 
 ignorance ; we have not an example of a physician who has 
 suffered capital punishment for his mistakes. It is at our risk
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 
 
 285 
 
 Pliny's faitli 
 in doctors. 
 
 and peril that they learn their business, and it is in killing us 
 that they acquire experience. No one but a physician can kill 
 a man with impunity ; moreover, the reproach does not rest 
 upon the physician ; people accuse the intemperance of the 
 patient, and the dead are always to blame. . . . As avari- 
 cious as they are ignorant, the physicians will dispute about the 
 price of their visits at the bed of 
 the dying patient. 
 
 Yet Pliny the Elder did 
 not succeed in inspiring his 
 nephew with his horror of 
 physicians and their art. 
 When Pliny the Younger was 
 ill, he observed carefully the 
 directions of the doctors and 
 was patient and docile, and, 
 when restored to health, he 
 did not find fault with those 
 who had cured him. On the 
 contrary, he advises his 
 friends to make it easy, by 
 their confiding submission, for 
 the physicians to perform 
 their task. Read the follow- 
 ing letter of Pliny's : 
 
 This obstinate illness of yours 
 alarms me ; and though I know 
 how extremely temperate you 
 are, yet I fear lest your disease 
 should get the better of your 
 moderation. Let me entreat you, then, to resist it with a de- 
 termined abstemiousness a remedy, be assured, of all others His a d v ke 
 the most laudable as well as the most salutary. Human to a friend, 
 nature itself admits the practicability of what I recommend ; it 
 is a rule at least which I always enjoin my family to observe 
 with respect to myself. " I hope," I say to them, " that should 
 I be attacked with any disorder, I shall desire nothing of which 
 
 AESCULAPIUS. Museum of Naples.
 
 286 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 I ought either to be ashamed or have reason to repent ; how- 
 ever, if my distemper should prevail over my resolution, I 
 forbid that anything be given me but by the consent of my 
 physicians ; and I shall resent your compliance with me in 
 things improper as much as another man would their refusal." 
 I once had a most violent fever ; when the fit was a little 
 abated and I had been anointed, my physician offered me 
 something to drink ; I held out my hand, desiring he would 
 first feel my pulse, and upon his not seeming quite satisfied, I 
 
 for"t>ie ph^sl- instantly returned the cup, though it was just at my lips. 
 
 cians' opinion. Afterward, when I was preparing to go into the bath, twenty 
 days from the first attack of my illness, perceiving the physi- 
 cians whispering together, I inquired what they were saying. 
 They replied they were of opinion I may possibly bathe with 
 safety, however that they were not without some suspicion of 
 risk. "What need is there," said I, "of my taking a bath at 
 all?" And so, with perfect calmness and tranquillity, I gave 
 up a pleasure I was upon the point of enjoying, and abstained 
 from the bath as serenely and composedly as though I were 
 going into it. I mention this, not only by way of enforcing my 
 advice by example, but also that this letter may be a sort of tie 
 upon me to persevere in the same resolute abstinence for the 
 future. Farewell. 
 
 We must suppose that Pliny, whose views usually 
 coincide with those of the majority of his contempora- 
 ries, expressed upon physicians the prevailing opinion 
 of his epoch. 
 
 But often, in spite of the good-will of the patient, his 
 s^metfmes malady baffled the physician ; often recourse was had in 
 vain to all the known treatments, cold baths prescribed 
 by Charmis, warm baths ordered by ^sculapius, 
 regime of wine recommended by Cleophantus, or 
 regime of water advised by Antonius Musa ; in vain 
 were the drug stores spoiled of their medicines ; the 
 malady was obstinate and refused to yield. Some 
 patients, under such circumstances, were hopeful and 
 refused to give up. Others were resigned to the inevi-
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 287 
 
 table and tried to see the bright side of their fate. It is 
 for such that Pliny wrote this charming letter, which 
 might be entitled ' ' The Eulogy of Sickness ' ' : 
 
 The lingering disorder of a friend of mine gave me occasion 
 lately to reflect that we are never so good as when oppressed of'sJckness 1 " Sy 
 with illness. Where is the sick man who is either solicited by 
 avarice or inflamed with lust ? At such a season he is neither 
 a slave of love nor the fool of ambition ; wealth he utterly dis- 
 regards, and is content with ever so small a portion of it, as 
 being upon the point of leaving even that little. It is then he 
 recollects there are gods and that he himself is but a man ; no 
 mortal is then the object of his envy, his admiration, or his 
 contempt ; and the tales of slander neither raise his attention 
 nor feed his curiosity ; his dreams are only of baths and 
 fountains. These are the supreme objects of his cares and 
 wishes, while he resolves, if he should recover, to pass the 
 remainder of his days in ease and tranquillity, that is, to live 
 innocently and happily. I may therefore lay down to you and 
 myself a short rule, which the philosophers have endeavored to 
 inculcate at the expense of many words, and even many 
 volumes ; that ' ' we should try to realize in health those res- 
 olutions we form in sickness." Farewell. 
 
 Excellent words, and helpful to those whose suffer- 
 ings are not too sharp ; but to those unfortunate inva- ope * 
 lids bound to a bed of pain, for whom the future held 
 no prospect but a series of agonies, what comfort could 
 such words bring? None, assuredly ; in such hopeless 
 cases, where all the known remedies had been tried and 
 had failed, the last recourse was to that infallible and 
 supreme remedy, death. 
 
 Atticus, who had been sick for a long while, sent for Atticus. 
 his son-in-law Agrippa, and his friends L. Cornelius 
 Balbus and Sextus Peducceus. When they arrived, he 
 spoke to them as follows : 
 
 There is no need of my reminding you what care I have 
 taken to restore my health, for you know already. Since then
 
 288 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 I have done my best to preserve myself for you ; it remains for 
 me now to think of myself. I wished to let you know. Yes, I 
 am going to cease nourishing my malady. For all the food 
 that I have taken these last few days has only prolonged my 
 life to increase my pain. I beg of you, then, to approve of my 
 resolution and do nothing to shake it. 
 
 They implored him to change his purpose, but he would 
 not listen to them ; he refused to take any nourishment 
 and died after two days. 
 
 silius itaikus. The poet Silius Italicus, who, after having been an 
 informer under Nero, had succeeded in winning back 
 public esteem, and in his villa at Naples was leading a 
 quiet life, surrounded by affection and respect, suffered 
 from an incurable abscess ; he did not hesitate to com- 
 mit suicide. 
 
 Coreiiius Rufus. Corellius Rufus chose the same method of putting an 
 end to his malady. Let Pliny relate to us the sad cir- 
 cumstances : 
 
 I have suffered the heaviest loss ; if that word be sufficiently 
 strong to express the misfortune which has deprived me of so 
 excellent a man. Corellius Rufus is dead ; and dead, too, by 
 his own act. A circumstance of great aggravation to my 
 affliction ; as that sort of death which we cannot impute either 
 to the course of nature, or the hand of Providence, is, of all 
 others, the most to be lamented. It affords some consolation 
 in the loss of those friends whom disease snatches from us that 
 they fall by the general destiny of mankind ; but those who 
 destroy themselves leave us under the inconsolable reflection 
 that they had it in their power to have lived longer. It is true, 
 His induce- Corellius had many inducements to be fond of life ; a blame- 
 ments to live. l ess conscience, high reputation, and great dignity of character, 
 besides a daughter, a wife, a grandson, and sisters ; and, 
 amidst these numerous pledges of happiness, faithful friends. 
 Still, it must be owned he had the highest motive (which to a 
 wise man will always have the force of destiny) urging him to 
 this resolution. He had long been tortured by so tedious and 
 painful a complaint that even these inducements to living on,
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 289 
 
 considerable as they are, were overbalanced by the reasons on 
 the other side. 
 
 In his thirty-third year (as I have frequently heard him say) 
 he was seized with the gout in his feet. This was hereditary ; 
 for diseases, as well as possessions, are sometimes handed 
 down by a sort of inheritance. A life of sobriety and con- 
 tinence had enabled him to conquer and keep down the dis- 
 ease while he was still young ; latterly, as it grew upon him 
 with advancing years, he had to bear it manfully, suffering 
 meanwhile the most incredible and undeserved agonies ; for the 
 gout was now not only in his feet, but had spread itself over 
 his whole body. I remember, in Domitian's reign, paying piiny's visit 
 him a visit at his villa, near Rome. As soon as I entered his to Rufus - 
 chamber, his servants went out ; for it was his rule never to 
 allow them to be in the room when any intimate friend was 
 with him ; nay, even his own wife, though she could have kept 
 any secret, used to go too. Casting his eyes round the room, 
 "Why," he exclaimed, " do you suppose I endure life so long 
 under these cruel agonies ? It is with the hope that I may out- outliving a 
 live, at least for one day, that villain." tyrant. 
 
 Had his bodily strength been equal to his resolution, he 
 would have carried his desire into practical effect. God heard 
 and answered his prayer ; and when he felt that he should now 
 die a free, unenslaved Roman, he broke through those other 
 great, but now less forcible, attachments to the world. His 
 malady increased ; and, as it now grew too violent to admit of 
 any relief from temperance, he resolutely determined to put an 
 end to its uninterrupted attacks, by an effort of heroism. He 
 had refused all sustenance during four days, when his wife 
 Hispulla sent our common friend Geminius to me, with the The resolution 
 melancholy news that Corellius was resolved to die ; and that 
 neither her own entreaties nor her daughter's could move him 
 from his purpose ; I was the only person left who could recon- 
 cile him to life. I ran to his house with the utmost precipita- 
 tion. As I approached it, I met a second messenger from 
 Hispulla, Julius Atticus, who informed me there was nothing to 
 be hoped for now, even from me, as he seemed more hardened 
 than ever in his purpose. He had said, indeed, to his physician, 
 who pressed him to take some nourishment, " 'Tis resolved," 
 an expression which, as it raised my admiration of the great- 
 ness of his soul, so it does my grief for the loss of him.
 
 290 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Titius Aristo. 
 
 Death robbed 
 of its terrors by 
 the teachings 
 of philosophy. 
 
 And no one thought of blaming such conduct. Titius 
 Aristo, being seriously ill, begged his friends to find out 
 from the physicians whether there was any hope for 
 him. He thought he owed it to his friends to neglect 
 no means of saving himself ; but if recovery was impos- 
 sible, he was resolved to take his own life. 
 
 TOMB AT POMPEII. 
 
 This [says Pliny] I consider more than usually difficult and 
 praiseworthy. For to rush upon death with impetuosity and 
 ardor is common to many ; but to deliberate about it, and dis- 
 cuss the arguments for it and against it, and live and die accord- 
 ingly, is worthy of a great mind. 
 
 What must we conclude from these examples, chosen 
 from thousands, if not that death, for the men of this 
 age, was not so terrible as it appears to many in the 
 present time ? 
 
 The two great systems of philosophy, which attempted
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 291 
 
 to teach the ancients concerning the fate of the soul 
 after death, offered them no consolation perhaps, but on 
 the other hand suggested no horrible possibilities. 
 
 Epicurism affirmed boldly that there was no future Epicurism, 
 life. Natural law gives us birth, natural law causes us 
 to die. It has drawn us out of nothing and it sends us 
 back to nothing. After having loved and suffered, we 
 shall cease to love and suffer. We shall return to mix 
 with the elements which have given us life, and shall 
 thus in our turn give life to other beings ; we shall 
 become mere chemical ingredients in the great labora- 
 tory of nature. 
 
 Death [says Lucretius] does not extinguish things in such a 
 way as to destroy the bodies of matter, but only breaks up the 
 union amongst them, and then joins anew the different elements 
 with others. 
 
 As to the Stoics, they do not deny absolutely the Stoicism 
 immortality of the soul, but they do not believe in the 
 persistence of personality. According to them, when 
 the human being dies, the soul is absorbed into the uni- 
 versal soul. 
 
 But why was it that these Romans, so unconcerned 
 about the future after death, placed so much importance 
 upon their funerals and their burials ? 
 
 In the earliest times the Romans believed that a rem- 
 
 Importance 
 
 nant of life persisted beyond the tomb, that the body attached to 
 
 J funeral rites. 
 
 and the soul were still capable of suffering, and that the 
 withholding of certain funeral rites might result in 
 eternal woe to the dead. This general belief became 
 later a superstition from which even those who made a 
 profession of Epicurism were not free. The poet 
 Lucretius, with passionate irony, protested against such 
 inconsistency : 
 When you see a man bemoaning his hard case, that after
 
 292 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 death he shall either rot with his body laid in the grave or be 
 
 The protest devoured by flames or the jaws of wild beasts, you may be 
 
 of Lucretius. sure' that his ring betrays a flaw and that there lurks in his 
 
 heart a secret goad, though he himself declare that he does not 
 
 believe that any sense will remain to him after death. He does 
 
 not, methinks, really grant the conclusion which he professes 
 
 to grant nor the principle on which he so professes, nor does 
 
 he take and force himself root and branch out of life, but all 
 
 unconsciously imagines something of self to survive. 
 
 But in the time of the Antonines, this superstition had 
 
 The formality of r 
 
 funeral rites. disappeared among cultivated men. Yet the formality 
 of funeral rites was by no means diminished, and in this 
 there is nothing surprising. Those who desired that 
 funeral honors should be paid to them were not influ- 
 enced by religious faith ; they were simply conforming 
 to custom. The ancient religion no longer existed 
 except in its forms ; but the Romans, who were a 
 formalistic people, would have been shocked at the idea 
 of abandoning time-honored ceremonies. 
 
 Arrived at the end of our task, it only remains for us 
 to accompany to their final resting-place these Romans 
 whose daily life we have attempted to follow. 
 
 When some member of a family was on the point of 
 
 Preparations . 111- 1111- 
 
 for burial. death the nearest relative stood by him and closed his 
 
 eyes. Then as soon as life was extinct those who sur- 
 rounded his bed called upon him several times by his 
 name, crying loudly vale (adieu). His body, washed and 
 anointed, was laid, dressed in a white toga, upon a couch 
 in the atrium, the feet turned toward the street. A branch 
 of cypress was placed outside the door of the house, to 
 warn the pontifex maximus, who would incur pollution 
 by entering where a dead body lay. At the same time 
 notice of the death was sent to the Temple of Libitina, 
 the goddess of corpses and funerals, and the Libitinarii 
 (undertakers) came to take charge of the funeral.
 
 Retirement from Active Life. 293 
 
 Among the wealthy and those of rank the obsequies 
 were performed with much pomp. The atrium was 
 filled with visitors, the men wearing the pcenula (a 
 traveling cloak) and the women the ricinium (a sort of 
 mantle with a hood attached to it). Hired female 
 mourners were present to sing dirges over the dead. 
 The procession was marshaled by the master of ceremo- 
 nies, the designator. First came the musicians, then The funeral 
 
 procession. 
 
 the hired mourners, next dancers and mimi. The 
 arch imimus 
 imitated the ap- 
 pearance, bear- 
 ing, and lan- 
 guage of the 
 deceased. Next 
 in order were 
 men who repre- 
 sented the dead 
 man's ances - 
 tors ; they wore 
 as masks the 
 imagines (im- 
 ages) of the an- 
 cestors, and 
 were dressed in 
 their official 
 costume. These 
 mock ancestors 
 
 rode UDOll COLUMBARIUM AT ROME. 
 
 chariots and were followed by the body. The proces- 
 sion was closed by friends and relatives. When the Atthe 
 funeral pyre was reached, which was required by law to 
 be sixty feet from any building, the bier was placed 
 upon it, and the procession moved solemnly around it,
 
 294 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 Thepuri- 
 ficatioa. 
 
 A poor man's 
 funeral. 
 
 the faces turned toward the east, and the friends of the 
 dead threw offerings upon the pyre, perfumes, and 
 tokens of love. After this gladiators fought to the 
 death ; and when the combat was finished for want of 
 combatants, the son or nearest relative, with averted 
 face, applied a torch to the pyre. The bones and ashes 
 were gathered into a brass urn, to be placed in the 
 family sepulcher. Finally, the designator purified those 
 present by a sprinkling of pure water, and pronounced 
 the sacramental words, ' ' You may go. ' ' 
 
 A poor man's funeral was much simpler. There were 
 no hired mourners, no master of ceremonies, no dirges, 
 no magnificent funeral pyre. His body was inclosed in 
 a sort of coffin, and was carried to the public subterra- 
 nean burial-place near the Esquiline Hill, called the 
 grave-pits {putiadce} . Nothing indicated the place 
 where he took his eternal sleep ; he could not, like the 
 rich entombed along the Flaminian Way, receive the 
 blessings of the passers-by, whose attention was invited 
 by such inscriptions as "Stop, traveler," or "Look, 
 traveler. ' ' 
 
 But beginning with the first century of the Christian 
 era, societies were formed among the poor, with the 
 object of giving to their members a suitable burial. 
 Those who, by paying the required dues, joined a society 
 of this sort had the assurance that instead of being 
 buried after death in public ground, their ashes would 
 be placed in the columbarium (a chamber with niches 
 for receiving urns of ashes) where their associates 
 reposed.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 PLINY'S CORRESPONDENCE. 
 PLINY THE YOUNGER is the author whom we have 
 
 e , . , Why is Pliny* 
 
 oitenest quoted m the course of this work. Let us testimony 
 
 , . , . . . . , . . valuable? 
 
 explain why we have given such weight to his testimony 
 upon the private life of his contemporaries. 
 
 In the first place, what opportunity had Pliny for 
 knowing the truth in this interesting matter ? Let us 
 consider the circumstances in which he was placed, his 
 social relations, and his character. 
 
 We learn from an inscription that has been preserved 
 for us that Pliny occupied in succession all the magistra- 
 cies from the lowest to the highest, that he held one after 
 another, in regular order, all the military, financial, and 
 political offices, beginning his career as superintendent 
 of the public road work in Rome, and finally attaining 
 the administration of a great province, Bithynia. His active 
 Whatever love Pliny may profess for literature, he was p 
 not merely a man of the school and the study. He 
 mixed in public affairs ; he did not depend upon books 
 for his knowledge of life ; he was not without experience 
 of the world. We cannot deny that he loved a studious 
 retreat, a calm life, occupied mostly with intellectual 
 pleasures ; but we must recognize the fact that he was 
 compelled to live a practical life, that he could not give 
 all his days to poetry and eloquence, and that he did not 
 view his contemporaries only from the platform of the 
 lecture hall. 
 
 He had among his friends Silius Italicus, Martial, and 
 295
 
 296 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 many other poets and men of letters, whose names alone 
 of h his h friTnds r survive to-day, and of whom, as he tells us, there were 
 many in his time. But let us not suppose that his social 
 relations were limited to this narrow circle of literary 
 men. He associated also with statesmen and men of 
 the world ; they were his peers ; with them he was in 
 his natural element. In spite of his devotion to the 
 Muses, he perhaps even thought he was lowering him- 
 self when he sought the companionship of Martial, that 
 needy poet, and of his other friends or rivals who led 
 what we might call to-day abohemian life. 
 
 But Pliny was perfectly at home with his friend 
 Spurinna, that wise old man who knew well how to live 
 and better how to die ; or again with Virginius Rufus, a 
 truly noble soul, who under Nero had refused the 
 empire offered him by his legions, and who, by a glori- 
 ous anachronism, made the manners of the republic 
 flourish again under the empire. These great person- 
 ages had witnessed the dawn of Caesarism ; like all aged 
 people, they loved to recall the past and to dwell upon 
 their reminiscences ; and they often drew, for those who 
 were wise enough to listen, useful comparisons between 
 the former time and the present time. Must not Pliny 
 have profited by his acquaintance with them ? Junius 
 A few of piinv's Mauricus, the brother of Rusticus Arulenus, a heroic 
 fdends" 13 outlaw, CorelHus Rufus, who had experienced the 
 
 tyranny of Domitian, and who in spite of his calamities 
 did not wish for death, because he wanted to survive the 
 monster Domitian, Erucius Clarus, advocate eloquent 
 and skilful, honoring his profession by his honesty, his 
 courage, and his modesty, Titius Aristo, an eminent 
 scholar, Maximus, a literary optimate, governor of 
 Achaia such are the men, either lawyers, politicians, or 
 scholars, who formed the true society of Pliny. They
 
 Pliny's Correspondence. 297 
 
 were all men of serious purpose, cultured, distinguished 
 by fortune, honors, and character, and they looked upon 
 the combat of life from the point of view of those who 
 have entered into the conflict. 
 
 It is to such men that he applies for advice when he is 
 placed in a delicate or difficult dilemma, which concerns Pliny's letter 
 
 to Voconius 
 
 his conscience or his safety. Let us quote Pliny's letter Romanus. 
 to his friend Voconius Romanus : 
 
 Did you ever see a man more cowed, more down in the 
 mouth, than Regulus since the death of Domitian ? His 
 crimes under Domitian were quite as bad as those under Nero, 
 but they were less easy of detection. He began to fear I was 
 angry with him, and so indeed I was. He had done his best to 
 imperil Rusticus Arulenus ; he openly rejoiced at his death, The crimes 
 and even published a book in which he abused him, and called of Regulus. 
 him "an ape of Stoic philosophers." He made such a savage 
 attack on Herennius Senecio that Metius Carus said to him : 
 "What have you to do with my victims ? Did I ever attack 
 Crassus or Camerinus?" These were men whom Regulus 
 accused and ruined in Nero's reign. He thought I was indig- 
 nant at all this ; and so, when he gave a reading to a select 
 circle out of the book he had published, he did not invite me. 
 
 He remembered, too, what a savage attack he had once 
 made on me in the Court of the Hundred. I was counsel for 
 Arrionilla, a case which I had undertaken at the request of 
 Arulenus. I had Regulus against me. In one part of the case 
 I laid much stress on an opinion given by Modestus, an excel- 
 lent man, who was then by Domitian's order in banishment. 
 Up jumps Regulus, and says to me, " Pray, what view do you A catch 
 take of the character of Modestus?" It would, you see, have question, 
 been very dangerous to me to have replied, " I think well of 
 him" ; it would have been an infamous thing to have said the 
 contrary. Well, I really believe that Providence helped me 
 out of the scrape. " I will answer your question," I replied, A clever reply. 
 " if this is the matter on which the court is about to pronounce 
 judgment." He could say nothing. I was praised and con- 
 gratulated for having avoided compromising my credit by a 
 safe but discreditable answer, and for having escaped the snare 
 of such an invidious question.
 
 298 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 He was thoroughly frightened, and rushes up to Caecilius 
 Celer and Fabius Justus and begs them to reconcile us. This 
 was not enough for him ; he goes off to Spurinna, and with 
 that cringing manner which he always has when he is fright- 
 ened, he says to him, " Pray, go and call on Pliny the very first 
 thing in the morning (be sure you do this, for I can't endure 
 my anxiety any longer), and do your best to prevail on him 
 not to be angry with me." I had risen early ; there comes a 
 Re ulus seeks messa ge from Spurinna to this effect, "lam coming to see 
 a reconciliation you." I sent back word, "lam myself coming to you." 
 
 with Pliny. , 1T ,, ,, . , . . , . 
 
 Well, we met on the way in Livia s portico ; Spurinna 
 explains the wishes of Regulus, and adds his own entreaties, as 
 you would expect from a very good man on behalf of one 
 wholly unlike himself. I replied to him : " You will yourself 
 clearly perceive what message you think had best be sent back 
 to Regulus ; you ought not to be misled by me. I am waiting 
 the return of Mauricus (he had not yet come back from exile) ; 
 I can't give you an answer either way, because I mean to do 
 whatever he decides on, for he ought to be my leader in this 
 matter, and I ought to be simply his follower." 
 
 A few days afterward Regulus met me at one of the praetor's 
 levees ; he kept close to me and begged me to give him a 
 private interview. He then told me he was afraid that a 
 remark he had once made in the Court of the Hundred still 
 rankled in my mind. The remark, he said, was made when he 
 was replying as counsel to myself, and to Satrius Rufus, and 
 was this: "Satrius Rufus, who does not attempt to rival 
 A private inter- Cicero, and who is content with the eloquence of our own day." 
 Reculus'atfd" ^^ answer to him was: "I see now that you meant it ill- 
 Pliny, naturedly, because you admit it yourself; but your remark 
 might have been taken as intended to be complimentary. I do 
 try to rival Cicero and I am not content with the eloquence of 
 our own day. It is, I think, the height of folly not to propose 
 to one's self the best pattern for imitation. But how comes it 
 you remember this circumstance so distinctly and have forgot- 
 ten the occasion in court when you asked me what was my 
 opinion of the loyalty of Modestus ? ' ' Pale as he always looks, 
 he turned as pale as death, and stammered out that he asked 
 the question, not to hurt me, but to hurt Modestus. Note the 
 fellow's vindictive cruelty ; he actually confessed to himself 
 that he wished to do an injury to one in exile. He added an
 
 Pliny* s Correspondence. 299 
 
 admirable reason for his conduct. " Modestus," he said, " in 
 
 a letter written by him which was read out before Domitian, 
 
 used the following expression : ' Regulus, of all two-footed 
 
 creatures the wickedest.' " And Modestus was perfectly 
 
 right. This ended our conversation. I did not wish to go 
 
 further in the matter, or to tie my hands in any way, till Maur- 
 
 icus had returned. I am very well aware that Regulus is a The formid- 
 
 formidable person. He is rich, influential, courted by many, ofRe^uTus r . 
 
 feared by many, and to be feared often does more for a man 
 
 than to be loved. 
 
 But, after all, even the tyranny of fear may be broken ; for a 
 man's bad credit is as shifty as himself. However, to repeat, I 
 am waiting until Mauricus comes back. He is a man of sound 
 judgment and great sagacity, formed upon long experience, and 
 one who, from his observations of the past, well knows how to 
 judge of the future. I shall talk the matter over with him, and 
 consider myself justified either in pursuing or dropping this 
 affair, as he shall advise. Meanwhile I thought I owed this 
 account to our mutual friendship, which gives you an undoubted 
 right to know not only about all my actions, but about all my 
 plans as well. Farewell. 
 
 Such was Pliny's genial nature that he enjoyed the 
 society of young people and ladies. Saturninus used ment i 
 to submit to him confidentially the literary efforts of his 
 young and charming wife ; Fuscus Salinator and Numid- 
 ius Quadratus, two talented young men who had just 
 been admitted to the bar, firm friends, chose Pliny as 
 model and master. Pliny could not refrain from 
 expressing his pleasure at this : 
 
 O what a happy day [he wrote to Maximus] I lately spent ! 
 I was called by the prefect [mayor] of Rome, to assist him in a 
 certain case, and had the pleasure of hearing two excellent 
 young men, Fuscus Salinator and Numidius Quadratus, plead 
 on the opposite sides ; their weight is equal, and each of them natorand Nu- 
 will one day, I am persuaded, prove an ornament not only to Quadratus 
 the present age, but to literature itself. They evinced upon 
 this occasion an admirable probity, supported by inflexible 
 courage ; their dress was decent, their elocution distinct, their 
 
 youngeop 
 an
 
 300 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 tones were manly, their memory retentive, their genius eleva- 
 ted, and guided by an equal solidity of judgment. I took 
 infinite pleasure in observing them display these noble quali- 
 ties ; particularly as I had the satisfaction to see that, while 
 e< tnev looked upon me as their guide and model, they appeared 
 to the audience as my imitators and rivals. It was a day, I 
 cannot but repeat it again, which afforded me the most exqui- 
 site happiness and which I shall ever distinguish by the fairest 
 ^ >^ mark. For what, in- 
 
 deed, could be either 
 more pleasing to me on 
 the public account than 
 to observe two such 
 noble youths building 
 their fame and glory 
 upon the polite arts ; or 
 more desirable upon my 
 own than to be marked 
 out as a worthy example 
 to them in their pursuits 
 of virtue ? May the 
 gods still grant me the 
 continuance of that 
 pleasure ! And I im- 
 plore the same gods, 
 A ROMAN WOMAN. yQU are witnes s, to 
 
 make all these who think me deserving of imitation far better 
 than I am. Farewell. 
 
 Pliny was received as an intimate friend in the family 
 
 The family ' ' 
 
 ofThrasea. of Thrasea, where we find so many noble and lovely 
 women, and he certainly knew what he was talking 
 about when he praised Fannia, the heroic wife of Hel- 
 vidius, in the following letter : 
 
 The illness of my friend Fannia gives me great concern. 
 She contracted it during her attendance onjunia, one of the 
 vestal virgins, engaging in this good office at first voluntarily, 
 Junia being her relation, and afterward being appointed to it 
 by an order from the college of priests ; for these virgins, when 
 excessive ill-health renders it necessary to remove them from
 
 Pliny ' s Correspondence. 
 
 301 
 
 Fannia's 
 illness. 
 
 Her heroism. 
 
 the Temple of Vesta, are always delivered over to the care and 
 custody of some venerable matron. It was owing to her 
 assiduity in the execution of this charge that she contracted her 
 present dangerous disorder, which is a continual fever, 
 attended with a cough which increases daily. She is extremely 
 emaciated, and every part of her seems in a total decay except 
 her spirits ; those indeed she fully keeps up, and in a way alto- 
 gether worthy the wife of Helvidius and the daughter of 
 Thrasea. In all other respects there is such a falling away 
 that I am more than apprehensive- upon her account ; I am 
 deeply afflicted. 
 
 I grieve, my friend, that so excellent a woman is going to be 
 removed from the eyes of the world, which will never perhaps 
 again behold her equal. So pure she is, so pious, so wise and 
 prudent, so brave and steadfast ! Twice she followed her hus- 
 band into exile, and the third time she was banished herself 
 upon this account. For Senecio, when arraigned for writing 
 the life of Helvidius, having said in his defense that he com- 
 posed that work at the request of Fannia, Metius Carus, with a 
 stern and threatening air, asked her whether she had made that 
 request, and she replied, "I made it." Did she supply him 
 likewise with materials for the purpose? "I did." Was her 
 mother privy to this transaction? "She was not." In short, 
 throughout her whole examination, not a word escaped her 
 which betrayed the smallest fear. On the' contrary, she had 
 preserved a copy of those very books which the senate, over- 
 awed by the tyranny of the times, had ordered to be suppressed, 
 and at the same time the effects of the author to be confiscated, 
 and carried with her into exile the very cause of her exile. 
 
 How pleasing she is, how courteous, and, what is granted to 
 few, no less lovable than worthy of all esteem and admiration ! 
 Will she hereafter be pointed out as a model to all wives, and 
 perhaps be esteemed worthy of being set forth as an example 
 of fortitude even to our sex ; since, while we still have the 
 pleasure of seeing her, and conversing with her, we contem- 
 plate her with the same admiration as those heroines who are all'wives." 
 celebrated in ancient story? For myself, I confess I cannot 
 but tremble for this illustrious house, which seems shaken to 
 its very foundations and ready to fall ; for though she will leave 
 descendants behind her, yet what a height of virtue must they 
 attain, what glorious deeds must they perform, ere the world 
 
 A model for
 
 302 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 her mother. 
 
 Pliny's wide 
 
 will be persuaded that she was not the last of her family. 
 It is an additional affliction and anguish to me that by her 
 death I seem to lose her mother a secon'd time ; that worthy 
 mother (and what can I say higher in her praise ?) of so noble 
 a woman ! who, as she was restored to me in her daughter, so 
 s ^ e w '^ now a & am ^ e taken from me, and the loss of Fannia 
 will thus pierce my heart at once with a fresh, and at the same 
 
 time reopened, wound. 
 I so truly loved and 
 honored them both that 
 I know not which I 
 loved the best ; a point 
 they desired might ever 
 remain undetermined. 
 In their prosperity and 
 their adversity I did 
 them every kindness in 
 my power, and was their 
 comforter in exile as 
 well as their avenger at 
 their return. But I have 
 not yet paid them what 
 I owe, and am so much 
 the more solicitous for 
 the recovery of this 
 lady, that I may have 
 time to discharge my 
 debt to her. Such is 
 
 the anxiety and sorrow 
 under which j ^^ 
 
 this letter! But if some divine power should happily turn it 
 into joy, I shall not complain of the alarms I now suffer. 
 Farewell. 
 
 Pliny shows by his friendships that he had interests 
 outside of literature. His horizon, his field of observa- 
 tion were wide. 
 
 Why, then, should he not have been well acquainted 
 with the manners of the higher classes of his time? If 
 he is not a good authority on this subject, should we not 
 
 A VESTAL VIRGIN. Rome.
 
 Pliny's Correspondence. 303 
 
 be compelled to suppose, when we take into considera- 
 tion his opportunities, that his intelligence was deficient ? 
 Now those who admire Pliny the least cannot go so far 
 as to hold this view ; the most that they can say is that 
 his intelligence was only average. But was he easily 
 prejudiced ? Was he a man of whims ? By no means ; 
 to convince one's self of the contrary, it is only necessary 
 to read him. 
 
 We are forced, however, to admit that he had a gen- 
 eral tendency toward optimism ; and this fact may affect His optimism. 
 the value of his testimony to a certain degree. The 
 reign of Domitian produced little effect upon his mind. 
 He perhaps shuddered at the recollection of it, as if it 
 had been a terrible accident ; but the horrors of the 
 epoch did not leave in his soul that bitterness and mel- 
 ancholy which characterize the pages of Tacitus, his 
 contemporary and friend. The reigns of Nerva and 
 Trajan undid as far as possible the evil that Domitian 
 had done ; the good people who had been banished from 
 Rome met, on their way back as they were returning 
 from the land of exile, the informers who had caused 
 their banishment. Social life, interrupted by the reign 
 of terror, began again, more brilliant than ever. The 
 people rejoiced in the shadow of legality, and in the 
 appearance of liberty. 
 
 This was enough to satisfy Pliny. Life had always 
 smiled upon him, and he smiled upon life. At eighteen Doubled life, 
 years of age he inherited his uncle's wealth and name ; 
 there were no obstacles in his career ; he passed without 
 any struggle through the successive degrees of rank ; he 
 experienced no reverses of fortune, no family sorrows ; 
 true, he was twice a widower, but Calpurnia, his third 
 wife, loved and admired him ; the joys which children 
 bring were denied him, but then he was not obliged to
 
 304 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 Pliny not a 
 man of deep 
 friendships. 
 
 Pliny's 
 urbanity. 
 
 suffer the anguish and the disappointment so frequently 
 the lot of a father. We find no evjdence that Pliny ever 
 formed a deep friendship, like that of Cicero's for Brutus, 
 or Montaigne's for Boetie ; his correspondence with 
 Tacitus reminds us of that of Racine's with Boileau. It 
 was cold and polite, full of respect, but without a trace 
 of spontaneous affection. But, on the other hand, Pliny 
 never felt the bitterness of a false friendship. 
 
 How could one who 
 had so many reasons for 
 counting himself happy, 
 or at least so little to com- 
 plain of, be disposed to 
 find fault with people 
 about him ? How could 
 Pliny help acquiring a 
 habit of ready kindness, 
 when life was so kind to 
 him ? And, in fact, he 
 seems to have been one 
 of those people of whom 
 Quintilian makes fun be- 
 cause they consider it 
 good social tact to ex- 
 change compliments upon 
 every occasion. Pliny 
 A SACRIFICE. was j- oo m uch inclined to 
 
 praise his friends with excess. He was criticised for this 
 by one of his acquaintances, to whom he made the fol- 
 lowing gracious reply : 
 
 You tell me certain persons have blamed me in your com- 
 pany, as being upon all occasions too lavish in the praise I give 
 my friends. I not only acknowledge the charge, but glory in 
 it ; for can there be a nobler error than an overflowing benev-
 
 Pliny's Correspondence. 305 
 
 olence? But still, who are these, let me ask, that are better 
 acquainted with my friends than I am myself? Yet grant there His praise of 
 are any such, why will they deny me the satisfaction of so his " iends - 
 pleasing a mistake ? For supposing my friends not to deserve 
 the highest encomiums I give them, yet I am happy in believ- 
 ing they do. Let them recommend, then, this malignant zeal to 
 those, and their number is not inconsiderable, who imagine 
 they show their judgment when they indulge their censure upon 
 their friends. As for myself, they will never be able to per- 
 suade me I can be guilty of an excess in friendship. Farewell. 
 
 The one thing lacking in Pliny's life was sorrow. No 
 one knows himself well, and no one can know others, if Pliny's inex- 
 
 penence of 
 
 he has been petted by fortune, and if he has never suf- sorrow, 
 fered. So, while Pliny's social relations presented him 
 with a good opportunity for observing the manners of 
 high life in his time, his character was not such as to 
 enable him to interpret profoundly all that he saw. He 
 preferred to dwell upon the noble and lovely aspects of 
 society. He did not aim to analyze motives, knowing 
 
 1111 11 i 11- He is not an 
 
 well that he would not have succeeded in such an analyzer of 
 
 11- . , ... . . motives. 
 
 attempt, and having no taste in that direction besides. 
 He had no desire to encroach upon the domain of his 
 friend Tacitus. 
 
 We shall not find, then, in Pliny's writings those 
 lightning flashes, swift and penetrating, which reveal the 
 most hidden recesses in the soul of a man. Nor, on the 
 other hand, shall we have to make any allowance, in 
 drawing our conclusions from Pliny's testimony, for the 
 tendency to which moralists are liable of unfair suspicion 
 in judging men. For so great is the pleasure in discov- 
 ering the secret motives for actions that one is tempted 
 to imagine them where they do not exist. After all, 
 there is more justice and justness in the gfood-will of a Pliny's good- 
 
 ,.,.. willjuster 
 
 Pliny than in the rage of a Juvenal. The exaggeration &"> Juvenal's 
 
 * . bitterness. 
 
 m the praises bestowed by Pliny upon his friends, in
 
 306 Roman Life in Pliny 1 s Time. 
 
 which the polished complaisance of the man appears, 
 leads us not so far from the truth as the exaggeration of 
 Juvenal's invectives. 
 
 Satisfied with the world in which he lived, Pliny did 
 
 not try to go outside of it. Charmed by the brilliant 
 
 society of the patricians, he did not condescend to notice 
 
 the plebeians. He did not care to penetrate into the 
 
 piiny ignores tavern of a Syrophcenician, and to mix with sailors, 
 
 the lower . . . re 11- 
 
 classes. sharpers, fugitive slaves, comn-makers, and mendicant 
 
 priests of Cybele. In high society he tried to see only 
 the pleasant aspects ; and in society as a whole he con- 
 sidered only the upper class. Wretched clients, half- 
 starved parasites, shabbily clothed poets, people engaged 
 in questionable occupations, all this miserable crowd had 
 no existence for him. Whoever desires to become 
 acquainted with it must go to Juvenal, not forgetting, 
 however, to be on his guard against being misled by the 
 satirist's severity. When Juvenal depicts for us this 
 strange world, does he not indulge too freely an artist's 
 
 tendency to fancy for the picturesque ? Does he not take a certain 
 pleasure in representing glaring wretchedness because 
 his palette was rich in crude colors ? Has he not made 
 the shadow too black upon certain portraits and certain 
 pictures ? Pliny has said very little of any slaves but 
 his own, and yet I am inclined to believe that what he 
 has told us of their condition contains more general 
 truth on the subject of slavery than we are able to gather 
 from Juvenal's satires. 
 
 In short, our author was not able and did not try to 
 learn the whole truth, but, with the exception of some 
 exaggerations in his eulogies, he has told us nothing but 
 the truth. We should not conclude from his panegyric 
 addressed to Trajan that Pliny was a flatterer. The 
 tone of this piece of rhetoric is doubtless artificial and
 
 Pliny's Correspondence. 307 
 
 false ; but the sentiment is sincere. Moreover, at the 
 time when Pliny wrote there was no longer any danger 
 in saying only what one thought. Trajan imposed 
 adulation upon no one. 
 
 Nor was there any special merit in saying only what Freedom of 
 one thought. Anxious to repair the evils effected by ? pe pf. h en Jy ed 
 Domitian, to inspire with a sense of freedom those who 
 had been exasperated by oppression, the new emperor 
 thought it his best policy to grant some liberty to the 
 orators and writers. Juvenal and Tacitus at this time 
 uttered certain proud sentiments which caused them to 
 be taken, wrongly perhaps, for republicans. Pliny could 
 therefore without danger praise and blame friends and 
 enemies ; he did not need to consider their standing at 
 court. 
 
 Besides all these reasons for giving him our confi- 
 dence, there is another still more decisive. His letters His letters were 
 
 written for 
 
 were not sent to his friends to be kept by them in their publication, 
 portfolios ; in writing them their author manifestly had 
 in mind their publication. 
 
 Since the success of Cicero's letters, correspondence 
 had become a distinct species of literature. Books were 
 written consisting of letters on various subjects. 
 Fashion approved of this, and Pliny in spite of his seri- 
 ousness paid his court to fashion. It was, then, much 
 less to his correspondents than to the public that he 
 addressed his missives. This is very apparent to one 
 who considers the fact that no private details are given 
 in the letters. What he writes to his wife, whom he Private details 
 
 . . . omitted. 
 
 appears however to have loved dearly, is vague and 
 abstract : 
 
 You write that you are no little troubled by my absence, and 
 find your only solace in making my books take my place and 
 setting them where I ought to be. I am glad that you miss
 
 308 
 
 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 me ; I am glad that you find some rest in these alleviations. 
 For my part, I read and reread your letters, taking them up in 
 my hands many times, as though they were newly come ; but 
 this only stirs in me a keener longing for you. What sweetness 
 must there be in the talk of one whose letters contain so much 
 that pleases ! Write, nevertheless, as often as you can, though 
 this, while it delights, still tortures me. 
 
 Cicero wrote in a different tone to his Terentia. This 
 written S ietters! y was because he did not meditate his letters, but wrote 
 them wherever and whenever he could. " I take," said 
 he to his brother, ' ' the first pen that I find, and use it 
 as if it was good " ; for the messengers " are ready to 
 start, with their traveling hats on ; they say that their 
 companions are waiting at the door." 
 
 Pliny requires more leisure. 
 
 Your earnest request [he says to Sabinus] that I would write 
 to you very frequent and very long letters is extremely agree- 
 able to me. If I have forborne to do so, it has been partly 
 because you were busy and I did not like to disturb you ; and 
 partly from some very cold and uninteresting affairs of my own, 
 which engage my thoughts, and at the same time weary me. 
 
 We perceive in the writer of this letter the man who 
 is not willing to let anything escape from his pen that is 
 not carefully composed. He would never have put to 
 his correspondents the following questions which Cicero 
 asked his : 
 
 What do you think of my letters ? Do you not think that I 
 write to you in a commonplace style ? But one cannot always 
 maintain the same tone. A letter cannot be expected to 
 resemble a plea, or a political speech. ... In letters we 
 ought to use every-day expressions. 
 
 Pliny certainly understood that the epistolary style 
 should not be stilted, but he did not admit that it 
 should be conversational ; he claimed that it should be, 
 if not ornate, at least elegant. So his careful compo- 
 
 Leisure re- 
 quired by 
 Pliny for 
 letter-writing. 
 
 Cicero's 
 questions. 
 
 Pliny's concep- 
 tion of the 
 epistolary style.
 
 Pliny ' s Correspondence. 309 
 
 sition is everywhere shown in his letters. An insignifi- 
 cant note is embellished with quotations and studied 
 phrases. It suggests the idea of a jewel in a casket 
 worth more than itself. 
 
 You tell me in your letter [Pliny says to Suetonius] that you 
 are extremely alarmed by a dream, apprehending that it fore- suetonhfs" 1 
 bodes some ill success to you in the case you have undertaken 
 to defend, and therefore desire that I would get it adjourned 
 for a few days, or at least to the next. This will be no easy 
 matter, but I will try, 
 
 " For dreams descend from Jove." 
 
 Meanwhile it is very material for you to recollect whether your 
 dreams generally represent things as they afterward fall out, or 
 quite the reverse. But if I may judge of yours by one that 
 happened to myself, this dream that alarms you so seems to 
 portend that you will acquit yourself with great success. I had 
 promised to stand counsel for Junius Pastor ; when I fancied in 
 my sleep that my mother-in-law came to me, and, throwing pu n y's dream, 
 herself at my feet, earnestly entreated me not to plead. I was 
 at that time a very young man ; and the case was to be argued 
 in the four centumviral courts ; my adversaries were some of 
 the most important personages in Rome, and particular favor- 
 ites of Caesar [Domitian] ; any of which circumstances were 
 sufficient after such an inauspicious dream to have discouraged 
 me. Notwithstanding this, I engaged in the cause, reflecting Its signification, 
 that, 
 
 " Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, 
 
 And asks no omen but his country's cause," 
 
 for I looked upon the promise I had given to be as sacred to 
 me as my country, or, if that were possible, more so. The 
 event happened as I wished ; and it was that very case which 
 first procured me the favorable attention of the public, and 
 threw open to me the gates of fame. Consider, then, whether 
 your dream, like this one I have related, may not pre-signify 
 success. But, after all, perhaps you will think it safer to pursue 
 this cautious maxim : " Never do a thing concerning the recti- 
 tude of which you are in doubt" ; if so, write me word. In Pliny's advice 
 the interval I will consider of some excuse, and will so plead
 
 3io Roman Life in Pliny' s Time. 
 
 your cause that you may be able to plead it yourself any day 
 you like best. In this respect, you are in a better situation than 
 I was ; the court of the centumvirs, where I was to plead, 
 admits of no adjournment ; whereas, in that where your case is 
 to be heard, though no easy matter to procure one, still, how- 
 ever, it is possible. Farewell. 
 
 The fact that Pliny had the public in mind when he 
 wrote his letters is shown by the choice of subjects, and 
 by their treatment. 
 
 Do not expect Pliny to chat in his letters, or allow 
 
 Pliny s subjects. . r J 
 
 his pen any freedom. He will, it is true, consent to 
 speak of trifles, but only for the sake of clothing them 
 in graceful language, and of introducing some striking 
 phrase. With him no unrestrained and charming gos- 
 sip, such as the reader enjoys in the letters of the lovely 
 Marquise de Sevigne. When he is on the point of 
 His studied being natural, he struggles against the temptation and 
 resists it, a fact which the following letter illustrates : 
 
 It is a rule which we should upon all occasions, both private 
 and public, most religiously observe, " to be inexorable toward 
 ourselves, while we treat the rest of the world with tenderness, 
 not excepting even those who forgive none but themselves " ; 
 remembering always what the humane, and therefore, as well 
 as upon other accounts great Thrasea used frequently to say : 
 " He who hates vice hates mankind." You ask, perhaps, who 
 has provoked me to write in this strain. Well, a person lately 
 but of that when we meet though upon second thoughts not 
 even then, lest in condemning and exposing his conduct I 
 should act counter to that maxim I particularly recommend. 
 
 Glance through a collection of Pliny's letters, and you 
 will readily perceive that the author did not try to make 
 his pages the echo of the rumors that he heard, the 
 mirror of the events which passed before him. The 
 arrangement of subjects is ingeniously varied. They 
 succeed each other with a diversity skilfully calculated
 
 Pliny' s Correspondence. 311 
 
 to pique and awaken the attention. Whatever Pliny 
 may say, the order of his letters is chronologic, and by o r ^ r r n n logic 
 no means abandoned to mere chance ; a certain subject Pliny's letters, 
 suggested a certain subject ; here, an antithesis was nec- 
 essary, there, a comparison. The letters of recommen- 
 dation, of congratulation, of condolence are purposely 
 made to alternate with descriptions, or discourses on 
 moral or literary subjects. Do not, then, believe Pliny 
 when he writes to his friend Septicius : 
 
 You have frequently pressed me to make a select collection 
 of my letters, if there really be any deserving of a special pref- An ar tj s t' s 
 erence, and give them to the public. I have selected them coquetry, 
 accordingly, not indeed in their proper order of time, for I was not 
 compiling a history, but just as each came to hand. And now 
 I have only to wish that you may have no reason to repent of 
 your advice, nor I of my compliance ; in that case, I may 
 probably inquire after the rest, which at present lie neglected, 
 and preserve those I shall hereafter write. Farewell. 
 
 This is an artist' s coquetry nothing more. The eru- 
 dition of Tillemontand of Mommsen has proved that the 
 chronologic order is preserved in the arrangement of the 
 letters, with the exception of the first book. 
 
 So we must not hope to find in Pliny that abandon, 
 that amiable carelessness, which is the charm of the cor- 
 respondence of Cicero, of Madame de Sevigne, or of 
 Voltaire. This attraction is lacking in our author. But 
 should the historian regret the fact? M. Boissier has 
 well shown the danger of receiving unreservedly the 
 testimony of the great Roman orator : 
 
 In his judgments upon events or men, he often passes within 
 
 a few days from one extreme to the other. In a letter dated Cicero's in- 
 
 , consistencies, 
 the last of October, Cicero speaks of Cato as an excellent mend 
 
 and declares himself well satisfied with his conduct upon a cer- 
 tain occasion. At the beginning of November, Cicero accuses 
 Cato of having been shamefully malevolent upon the same
 
 312 Roman Life in Pliny's Time. 
 
 occasion. This inconsistency is explained by the fact that 
 Cicero relies for his judgments upon his impressions ; and in a 
 mobile soul like his impressions succeed each other quickly ; 
 they are vivid, but very different at different times. 
 
 This appreciation may be applied with equal appro- 
 priateness to the letters of Madame de Sevigne" and to 
 those of Voltaire. 
 
 Norash We have no such rash judgments to fear in Pliny's 
 
 J pHny^s e "etters case. He intends to publish his letters, and to publish 
 them during his lifetime. He will not, then, give us his 
 first impressions ; whatever he shall tell us will always 
 be weighed and considered. What a disgrace if his con- 
 temporaries should discover error or falsehood in his 
 statements ! His optimism may lead him to exaggerate 
 the good, but his regard for the reader will always pre- 
 vent him from fabricating anything. 
 
 To sum up, if the information which Pliny furnishes 
 us has not the detailed precision of Cicero's confidences, 
 it is valuable at least for its certainty and its serious- 
 ness. He has not expressed, nor did he try to express, 
 the whole truth ; but, we repeat it, he has said nothing 
 that was not true. His testimony needs to be comple- 
 ted, but not rectified.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 JEsculapius, 85, 104, 236, 286. 
 
 Afer, Domitius, 148, 183, 184. 
 
 Afranius, 221. 
 
 Agriculture, 112. 
 
 Agrippa, 205. 
 
 Amusements, 96, Chap. VIII., 269. 
 
 Anthology, the, 244. 
 
 Antium, 240. 
 
 Antonines, the, 19, 20, 24, 33, 59, 87, 109, 
 
 136, 171, 244, 292. 
 Appianus, 212. 
 Apuleius, 44, 236, 237. 
 Ardelions, the, 162. 
 Areius, 154. 
 
 Aristides, ^Elius, 117, 228, 232. 
 Aristo, Titius, 139, 176, 290, 296. 
 Arrianus, 212. 
 
 Arulenus, Rusticus, 38, 40, 182, 297. 
 Asiaticus, Valerius, 182. 
 Astura, 240. 
 Atellans, the, in, 218. 
 Athenaeum, the, 24. 
 Atticus, 122, 254, 287. 
 Atticus, Herod, 244. 
 Attius, 217, 221. 
 Augustus, 20, 34, 44, 47, 48, 50, 54, 58, 
 
 63,72,83, 103, 116, 131, 143, 154, 167, 
 
 184, lS8, 189, 191, 20O, 2IO, 219, 221, 
 
 231, 242. 
 
 Aurelius, Marcus, 19, 21, 24, 31, 127, 
 
 155, 189- 
 
 Balbus, Theater of, 218. 
 Bar, the, Chap. VI. 
 Basilica Julia, 141, 143, 147. 
 Basilicas, the, 143. 
 Bath, the, 68. 
 Bathyllus, 222. 
 Beast-fighters, the, 213. 
 Boissier, M., 21, 24,66, 86, 116, 120, 121, 
 
 122, 255, 260, 266, 311. 
 Brutus, Marcus and Decimus, 200. 
 Bulla, Felix, 231. 
 
 Bullatius, 244. 
 
 Caelius, 186. 
 
 Caesar, 65, 116, 190, 191, 199, 200, 210, 
 
 219, 229, 245. 
 
 Caesars, the, 109, 128, 136. 
 Caligula, 79, 157, 188, 196, 210, 273. 
 Campus Martius, 68, 130, 210. 
 Capreae, 258. 
 
 Carus, Metius, 183, 297, 301. 
 Cassius, C.,82, 189. 
 Cassius, Dion, 157, 184. 
 Cassus, 134. 
 Cato the Old, 82, 90, too, 114, 119, 122, 
 
 271. 
 
 Celibacy, 47, 131. 
 Certus, Publicius, 141. 
 Children, attitude toward, 19, 132 ; 
 
 education of, 23. 
 Chrysostom, Dion, 84, 154, 244. 
 Cicero, 20, 24,47,78,84, 105, 113, 114, 
 
 124, 127, 138, 149, 171, 186, 220, 254, 
 
 307, 308, 311, 312. 
 Circensian parade, the, 192. 
 Circus Maximus, the, 130, 179, 190, 
 
 192, 195, 210, 247. 
 
 Clarus, Erucius, 139,296. 
 
 Claudianus, 153, 233. 
 
 Claudius, 85, in, 120, 140, 156, 192, 
 
 210. 
 
 Clepsydra, the, 144. 
 Colosseum, the, 199. 
 Comedy, 221. 
 Commerce, 112, 124. 
 Commodus, 212. 
 Constantine, 102. 
 Contests, gladiatorial, 198. 
 Curio, Caius Scribonius, 198. 
 Demetrius, 221. 
 Digest, the, 234. 
 Diodorus, 212, 237. 
 Dioscorides, 237. 
 Domitian, 57, 60, 61, 130, 141, 142, 156, 
 
 191, 197, 205, 210, 274, 289, 296, 303.
 
 Index. 
 
 Donatus, 219. 
 
 Dress, 32, 51, 157, 170. 
 
 Drusus, Livius, 153. 
 
 Education, Chap. I. 
 
 Elagabalus, 157, 195, 197. 
 
 Ennius, 217. 
 
 Epictetus, 158, 159, 185, 235. 
 
 Eunapius, 237. 
 
 Fabricius, Aulus, 195. 
 
 Favorinus, 20. 
 
 Felix, Pollius, 256, 259. 
 
 Flaminius, Caius, 113. 
 
 Flavians, the, 136. 
 
 Formiae, 240. 
 
 Forum, the, 28, 71, 143, 192 
 
 Forum Pacis, the, 130. 
 
 Freedmen, the, 103. 
 
 Fronto, 21, 31, 127, 155. 
 
 Furnishings, house, 66, 67, 76, 78, 171. 
 
 Gaius, 86. 
 
 Galen, 237. 
 
 Games, the, 186. 
 
 Gide, 45. 
 
 Gladiators, the, 200. 
 
 Gracchi, the, 116, 151, 271. 
 
 Gracchus, C., 116, 153. 
 
 Hadrian, 24, 86, 166, 185, 196, 201, 205, 
 
 244, 248, 258, 259, 260. 
 Helvidius, 300, 301. 
 Herod, 188. 
 Horace, 65, 83, 92, 96, 106, 131, 164, 166, 
 
 174, 188, 221, 241, 242, 244. 
 House, the Roman, 45, Chap. III. 
 Immorality, 47, 54, 123. 
 Informers, the, 182. 
 Italicus, Silius, 288, 295. 
 Jucundus, Caecilius, 68, 122. 
 Julian Law, the, 47, 54. 
 Junia Norbana, law of, 103. 
 Justinian, 54, 103. 
 Juvenal, 23, 29, 32,40, 46, 48, 52, 58, 81, 
 
 89, 107, 109, 114, 126,131, 132, 166,179, 
 
 180, 186, 203, 204, 215, 232, 281, 305, 307. 
 Laberius, Decimus, 219. 
 Lappa, Rubrenus, 223. 
 Latro, Porcius, 50. 
 Legacy-hunters, the, 131. 
 Legouv, M., 19, 28. 
 Liberalia, the, 32. 
 Livy, 30, 45, 113. 
 Lucan, 222, 233, 245. 
 
 Lucian, 79, 154. 
 
 Lucilius Junior, 252, 254. 
 
 Lucretius, 41, 76, 239, 240, 255, 276, 291. 
 
 Lucullus, 63, 91, 272. 
 
 Lupercus, 149. 
 
 Macrinus, 211. 
 
 Maculonus, 223. 
 
 Maecenas, 178, 184. 
 
 Marcellus, Theater of, 218, 222. 
 
 Marriage, Women and, Chap. II.; 
 
 of slaves, 99; sentiment against, 132. 
 Martial, 34, 60, 78, 123, 125, 144, 146, 
 
 163, 169, 174, 175, 180, 181, 184, 210, 
 
 240, 280, 281, 295, 296. 
 Mattius, C., 219. 
 Mauricus, Junius, 38, 296. 
 Maximus, 243, 296. 
 Mimes, the, in, 218. 
 Modestus, 297. 
 Mommsen, 115, 119, 3:1. 
 Musa, Antonius, 241, 286. 
 Naevius, 217. 
 Nemesianus, 212. 
 Nero, 57, 58, 79, 80, 81, 85, 133, 136, 154- 
 
 155, 157, 184, 187, 189, 191, 195,196, 
 
 199, 2OO, 2IO, 221, 222, 248, 258, 273, 
 274, 286, 296. 
 
 Nerva, 141, 184, 303. 
 
 Nigrinus, 140. 
 
 Nobilior, M. Fulvius, 211. 
 
 Nominatus, Tuscilius, 140. 
 
 Novius, 219. 
 
 Oratory, 28, 144. 
 
 Ostia, 119, 231, 240, 264. 
 
 Ovid, 52, 63, 219, 241, 270. 
 
 Pacuvius, 217, 221. 
 
 Palilia, the, 93. 
 
 Papia Poppsean Law, the, 47. 
 
 Paris, 222. 
 
 Paulus, ./Emilius, 101, 244. 
 
 Pausanias, 212, 237, 251. 
 
 Persius, 31, 32. 
 
 Pertinax, 106. 
 
 Petronian Law, the, 85. 
 
 Petronius, 30, 74, 87, 108, in, 131, 169,. 
 
 172. 
 
 Phaedrus, 162. 
 Phillipus, 212. 
 Philosophy, 24, 83, 290. 
 Philostratus, 237. 
 Pius, Antoninus, 24, 49, 86, 158.
 
 Index. 
 
 Plautus, 41, 42, 100, 118, 124, 125, 217, 
 221. 
 
 Pliny, 22, 24, 26, 30, 35, 38,39,41, 55,56, 
 81, 84, 90, 93, 96, 97, 102, 105, 109, 133, 
 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, 147, 
 149, 150, 153, 156, 161, 164, 175, 176, 
 J ^3i !97> 2I 5. 216, 224, 226, 243, 260, 
 265, 267, 268, 269, 271, 274, 279, 285, 
 286, 287, 288, 290, Chap. XI. 
 
 Pliny the Elder, 87, 94, 114, 117, 128, 
 167, 191, 198, 215, 230, 284. 
 
 Plutarch, 20, 21, 153, 160, 252. 
 
 Polybius, 24. 
 
 Pompeii, 68, 72, 122, 206, 207. 
 
 Pompey, 52, 63, 69, 190, 231 ; Theater 
 of, 218. 
 
 Pompilius, Numa, 128. 
 
 Pomponius, 93, 218. 
 
 Praeneste, 59, 206, 242. 
 
 Pretextatus, 61. 
 
 Priscus, Helvidius, 141, 182. 
 
 Propertius, 179. 
 
 Prudentius, 233. 
 
 Pylades, 187, 222. 
 
 Quadratus, Nutnidius, 299. 
 
 Quintilian, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 41, 94, 137, 
 138. I43> 148, 304. 
 
 Regulus, 134, 146, 183, 184, 297. 
 
 Reinach, 102. 
 
 Resorts, fashionable, 240. 
 
 Romanus, Voconius, 139, 297. 
 
 Rufus, Corellius, 288, 296. 
 
 Rufus, Pomponius, 139. 
 
 Rufus, Virginius, 296. 
 
 Sabinus, Calvisius, 94. 
 
 Salinator, Fuscus, 299. 
 
 Sallust, 50, 63. 
 
 Saturnalia, the, 93, 95. 
 
 Saturninus, 55, 139, 299. 
 
 Schools, public, 24 ; of philosophy, 24 ; 
 for slaves, 95 ; gladiatorial, 205; of 
 pantomimists, 222. 
 
 Scipio, 151. 
 
 Secundus, Pedanius, 81, 83, 86. 
 
 Seneca, 20, 47, 48, 80, 84, 90, 94, 134, 
 149, 162, 167, 168, 172, 179, 191, 216, 
 225, 233, 241, 273, 276, 277. 
 
 Septa, the, 130. 
 
 Serenus, Annseus, 277. 
 
 Silius, 140. 
 
 Slaves, the, Chap. IV., 306. 
 
 Society, 87, Chap. VII., 303. 
 
 Spurinna, 270, 274, 296, 298. 
 
 Statius, 50, 225, 259, 280, 281. 
 
 Strabo, 58, 229, 237, 255. 
 
 Sublaqueum, 258. 
 
 Suetonius, 34, 210. 
 
 Sulla, 62, 219, 272. 
 
 Syrus, Publius, 219. 
 
 Tacitus, 24, 72, 81, in, 137, 182, 190, 
 
 254, 280, 303, 305, 307. 
 Tarentum, 242. 
 Tatius, Achilles, 212. 
 Terence, 20, 40, 113, 217, 221. 
 Terentius Junior, 279. 
 Tertullian, 234. 
 Theodosius, 54. 
 Thrasea, 56, 140, 141, 300. 
 Tiberius, 85, 103, 128, 157, 182, 183, 189, 
 
 193. 229, 231, 258. 
 Tibur, 242, 258. 
 Titus, 191, 211, 212. 
 Tragedy, 221. 
 Trajan, 19, 22, 26, 50, 57, 58, 109, 120, 
 
 139, 140, 142, 153, 154, 156, 183, 184, 
 
 191, 194, 200, 213, 216, 303. 
 Tranquillus, Suetonius, 265. 
 Travel, modes of, Chap. IX. 
 Tullus, Domitius, 133. 
 Ulpian, 38. 
 Varro, 169, 251. 
 Vatinius, 155. 
 Veiento, 184. 
 Velabrum, the, 192. 
 Verus, Lucius, 196. 
 Vespasian, 24, 167, 222. 
 Via .Sacra, the, 130. 
 Victor, Aurelius, 58. 
 Vicus Tuscus, the, 130, 192, 224. 
 Villas, 258. 
 Vindex, Junius, 133. 
 Virgil, 74, 126, 255, 270. 
 Vitruvius, 63. 
 Women and Marriage, Chap. II.
 
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