Imatges de pàgina
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ducts and Baths, which are succeeded by another upon Houses and Furniture. Surely, the memory would have received more assistance from a more generic classification of the subjects, by which they would have glided by easier transitions into each other. Thus, the houses of the Romans ought to have been treated in connexion with their accessories,-villas and gardens, galleries and libraries, aqueducts and baths. This is minor criticism, it is true; but it is not the less deserving of attention in a work of elementary instruction.

As a favourable specimen of the style and manner, as well as of the diligence of the Author, we select, principally for our fair readers, a part of his account of a female toilette.

The Roman ladies usually bathed at an earlier hour than the men. Like them, they generally made use of the public thermæ, and even occasionally practised some of the athletic exercises to which such places were adapted. But they were attended, on those occasions, by their own servants, and, as the baths afforded the conveniencies of private apartments, they sometimes made use of them for all the purposes of the toilet.

Ladies of distinction had numerous female attendants, to each of whom a separate department was assigned: thus, one was the hairdresser, another had the care of the wardrobe, a third of the perfumes and paint, while a fourth adjusted the robes; and, instead of the indiscriminate appellation of waiting-maid, they were each distinguished by the name of their employment. There was, also, a superior order, who formed the privy-council of the dressing-room, and whose only duty was, to assist at the deliberations on the important business of decoration, and to decide on the contending claims of rival fashions. This cabinet was composed of the female parasites who attached themselves to women of rank; and, if we may credit the poets, their office was far from being a sinecure. Juvenal, very ungallantly, accuses the ladies of his day of occasional fits of spleen, which, he says, they sometimes vented on their attendants; and even more than hints, that these little petulancies were, in some instances, provoked by the apprehension of being too late to attend the temple of Isis-a convenient goddess who presided over the mysteries of the rendezvous or by embarrassments thrown in their way by the surly jealousy of ill-bred husbands: and his translators have rather heightened than softened the colours of the scene depicted by the Roman poet. But whatever truth there may have been in the original picture, should, in candour, be attributed to the prevalence of slavery, which, by presenting human nature in a state of moral debasement, and affording constant opportuities for the exercise of uncontrolled dominion, must have insensibly led to impatience of contradiction, and irritability of temper.'

The dressing-table appears to have been provided with all its usual appendages, except that useful little modern instrument-the pin. But its inseparable ornament, the mirror, did not possess the advantage of being formed of glass, in lieu of which plates of polished metal were substituted. That looking glasses were wholly

unknown, has indeed been doubted, on the authority of an ancient author, who certainly distinctly alludes to their having been made in Egypt. But, although various articles of glass are enumerated among costly pieces of Roman furniture, mirrors are only mentioned among plate; and no distinct account of the modern invention occurs until the thirteenth century. Those anciently in use, are supposed to have been generally of pure silver, although they are known to have been also composed of mixed metal: they were kept in cases to preserve their polish, and were often sufficiently large to reflect the entire figure.

No other head-dress was worn than the hair variously arranged and ornamented; except, indeed, that, at one time, a cap, in the form of a mitre, was in vogue; but it soon fell into disuse with all but women of an abandoned character. The combs were of ivory, or box, and sometimes of metal; and a heated wire was used, round which the hair was curled into the required form. The most usual was to plait, and roll it as a bandeau round the head, on the crown of which it was fastened in a knot: and it became fashionable to raise these tresses so high, that they were heaped upon each other until they were reared into a kind of edifice of many stages, where-

With curls on curls, like diff'rent stories rise
Her towering locks, a structure to the skies.'
Owen's Juvenal. sat. vi.

False hair was then had recourse to; which at length assumed the form of a wig; and, at one time, it was the mode to dress it in imitation of a military casque. The curls were confined with small chains, or rings of gold, and bodkins studded with precious stones. Fillets of purple, or white, riband, ornamented with pearls, were also worn on the head, and splendid jewels in the ears. There were some decorations for the head which were considered peculiarly indicative of female decorum; such was a plain broad riband with which some matrons tressed their hair; others appertained exclusively to particular families but it is probable that these distinctions were soon lost, or confounded in the maze of fashion. During the early part of the commonwealth, ladies never appeared abroad without a veil; but it was gradually laid aside as the reserve of their manners declined, and was eventually only used for mere ornament, or convenience.

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Fair hair was the most esteemed, and both men and women used to stain it with a flaxen dye. Various essences were used to perfume and give it lustre, and sometimes, it was powdered with gold dust to render it still more resplendent. This latter mode came from Asia. Josephus says, that it was practised by the Jews: some of the emperors adopted it; and the hair of Commodus is said to have become so fair and bright by its constant use, that, when the sun shone upon it, his head appeared as if on fire. But the powder used by the moderns was unknown to the ancients: their authors do not mention it; and the reverend fathers of the Church make no allusion to it amongst all the means which they reproach the women with having adopted to heighten their charms; neither do the old romances, which yet give such minute details respecting dress; nor is

it seen in any of the antique portraits, although the painters of those days usually copied the dress and ornaments as actually worn.

If the hair exacted such attention, it may be presumed that the face was not neglected; and, indeed, we read of almost as many cosmetics as fill the columns of a modern newspaper. To enumerate them all, would be as endless, as it probably would be but little instructive to the very able professors in the mysterious and important arts of personal embellishment of which the present age can boast; but one precious receipt from the pen of the bard who sung "the "Art of Love," cannot, it is presumed, be, even now, wholely uninteresting to the accomplished votaress of the toilet who may deign to honour these pages with a perusal

"Vetches, and beaten barley let them take,

And with the whites of eggs a mixture make;
Then dry the precious paste with sun and wind,
And into powder very gently grind.

Get hart's-horn next, but let it be the first
That creature sheds, and beat it well to dust;
Six pounds in all; then mix, and sift them well,
And think the while how fond Narcissus fell:
Six roots to you that pensive flow'r must yield,

To mingle with the rest, well bruis'd, and cleanly peel'd.
Two ounces next of gum, and thural seed,
And let a double share of honey last succeed.—
With this, whatever damsel paints her face,
Will brighter than her glass see every grace."

Ovid: Art of Beauty-Anonym.

Pliny speaks of a wild vine, with very thick leaves of a pale green, the seeds of the grape of which were red, and being bruised with the leaves, were used to refresh the complexion. Fabula, says Martial, feared the rain on account of the chalk upon her face, and Sabella, the sun, because of the ceruse with which she was painted. The same author mentions a depilatory which was employed to eradicate obnoxious hairs: and Plautus alludes to the use of rouge. Many ladies used to wash themselves in asses' milk; and the celebrated Poppæa, the wife of Nero, bathed daily in it. This lady, we are told, invented an unctuous paste which was in universal esteem as a softener of the skin; it was spread over the face as a mask, and was very generally and constantly worn in the house; thus creating a kind of domestic countenance for the husband, while that underneath was carefully preserved for the more favored admirer, or the public.

The Roman ladies were extremely careful of their teeth: they used small brushes, and toothpicks: the latter sometimes of silver; but those most esteemed were made of the wood of the mastich tree. Of what, besides water, they employed to cleanse them, we only know, that there was a favourite lotion, which they received from Spain, the chief ingredient in which was a liquid that undoubtedly would not recommend it to modern notice. False teeth are mentioned by both Horace and Martial, as being common in their time.

Art had not, indeed, then arrived at the perfection of supplying the absolute deficiency of an eye; but means were not wanting to

encrease their lustre, and to make those which were small, or sunk, appear larger and more prominent than they really were. This was effected by burning the powder of antimony, the vapour of which being allowed to ascend to the eyes, had the effect of distending the eyelids; or the powder, and sometimes, indeed, common soot, was gently spread with a bodkin underneath the lid, and the tint which it imparted was supposed to give an expression of liquid softness to the eye. Pencilling the eyebrows was a constant practice; nor was there any ignorance of the effect produced by a skilfully disposed patch, or of any other of the numerous arcana by which the charms of the person are heightened and displayed.' pp. 260-269.

For ourselves, we have never glanced at the private lives and social manners of these lords of the earth, without copious deductions from the prevailing notions as to their refinement. Refinement, indeed, is merely a relative term. In contradistinction to the wants and grossness of a condition wholly uncivilized, they may be said to have been a polished people. But there was a barbarity in their splendour, a coarseness in their refinements, that fills us with loathing and disgust. The delicacies of their table were estimated by the sums lavished to procure them; and a side-dish of birds brought from the remotest distances, and rare only for the beauty of their plumage or the melody of their note, was considered as the choicest dainty. In general, their banquets were remarkable for clumsy and inelegant profusion, and calculated rather to satiate a savage and undistinguishing gluttony, than to allure and bribe a fastidious appetite. Maltese cranes, peacocks, and other rarities, were highly prized, though no stomach could digest, and no palate endure them. It was no uncommon thing, to take an emetic in the midst of an entertainment, to enable the human hog to swallow an additional load of victuals. Snails were fattened with great care for the Roman table; but a species of white maggot found in old timber, was a peculiar luxury. Stewed or fricaseed sucking puppies were in high esteem. Of this dish, Pliny says, that they were fit for the gods; and a cook is celebrated in an epigram of Martial's, for the skill with which he prepared the paps of a sow. Water-rats also were in great request. But the most sumptuous dish was a white boar, himself a feast,-propter convivia natum.

Enough, perhaps, has been said to excite the scorn and disgust of a modern gourmand for the delicacies of a Roman table. There are other features in the social habits of this great people, still more adapted to lower our notions of their refinement. They were ignorant of the first principles of hospitality, the perfect equality of every guest who sits at the same table; for each person was treated according to his rank, and the unhappy persons who sat on the lower couches, fared much worse than those

* Hist. Nat. 1. 29. c. iv.

who occupied the higher. They were in high luck if they could get the fragments of a hare that had been well nigh devoured, and happy to compound for the offal of the wild boar, Juvenal, whose good sense revolted at those barbarous usages, animadverts on them with becoming severity.

Spes bene cœnandi vos decipit: ecce dabit jam

Semesum leporem, atque aliquid de clunibus apri.

The best sorts of wine also were seldom allowed to reach the lower end of the table; a sordid practice, which Dr. Clarke reprobates as the custom at some of the tables of the Russian' nobility, where he visited. But a practice of still greater mean ness prevailed. Each guest provided his own napkin, and fre quently sent it back, crammed with fragments of the repast, to' his own family.

The slave trade existed in ancient Rome, with every circum stance of cruelty and horror incident to that accursed traffic. Slaves were exposed as cattle in the public market, with labels on their neck, descriptive of their qualities; and the master had an absolute authority over them. The right of life and death' over this unhappy portion of mankind, was, indeed, restricted by various enactments; but the laws afforded them no protection. If a murder was committed in a family, the slaves were put to death as a matter of course, unless the actual perpetrator was discovered; and if their evidence was requisite in a court of law, the preliminary process by which it was extracted, was that of putting them to the torture.

But the great seminaries in which the Romans from their early youth imbibed their lessons of insensibility and cruelty, were the amusements of the circus. Of these, the combats of gladiators were the principal. They fought with various wea pons. One class of them were called retiarii, from their carrying in one hand a net to entangle their adversary, that they might despatch him with the other. If the gladiator was wounded, his fate depended upon the will of the spectators, who pressed down their thumbs if they chose to save him, but held" them up if it was their pleasure that he should be slain. This inhuman signal was not unfrequently given, and the miserable wretch, after receiving his mortal wound, was dragged into a common receptacle for the carcases of those who were thus butchered for the amusement of the populace. These horrible exhibitions continued till the reign of Constantine. It is one of the glories of the Christian religion, to have abolished these dreadful spectacles, which, for nearly seven centuries, had cors rupted and brutalized the Roman manners:

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