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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
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Copyright, 1897
By FLOOD & VINCENT
The Chaufauqua- Century Press, Meadville, Pa., U. S. A.
Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by Flood & Vincent.
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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^re°tet
first contact with Greece, which came early in the of RomPenient
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£id'e°cayestined 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 father.s
the rights of a father of a family over his children were ft°swc"i°drren.
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. for 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
tp^hinh 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 Pliny1 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 Pliny1 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 Pliny1 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 Pliny1 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. Legouve1 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?niCunde
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 Pliny1 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 gUPdhai|1°cseopher'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, "0*
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 sirl's early 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 infancy.
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 Pliny1 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 Hfe.
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 Pliny1 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, personai
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 importanceof a
else practical, and they had very little disinterestedness. dowfy-
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
42
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
!ttireride's her waist- 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
wivCesf 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. Powx&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're1<ardS 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 p0rcius Latro's
appear impolite than pleasantly responsive. If she cannot womennt°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 Luxuryin
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
"women5 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-
heroism6 ^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.
RometreetS°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
64
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 c£ci) , 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. Grr°|kecus
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^jjfg1^
use the expression, than in the republics of antiquity. ancients.
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
daess"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 couage-
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 furnjsh
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 Private
* 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 pu»ishment.
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-
offlthence 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 irapv^sning
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. had 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 Recreations Of
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 tion by many minor pleasures. Horace gives us an
of uneducated * J
slaves. i(jea of 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^s0 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!stuseof
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 Pliny1 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'edmen5
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 Of 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 Pliny1 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 leveling-
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"reated°byer
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 Port *tse^ to an estate 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
Afristidesby 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 osteiad°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 Profits-
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- °rfa<deg1.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 Pliny1 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 Pliny1 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 °eacC!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 the 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
f0emenao>£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 ofthr°bl™ent
Trajan real progress was made. Encouraged and sus- underTraJan-
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 Pijny>s prepa.
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
e1511 °^ 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 ™courtUmv'~
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-
f0rmeXa^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 Pliny1 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 s0^0^ 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"tmgs 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
uUon7henem>-Sed W'1Q eagerly 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 tnat 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 morning8 °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?ne1S°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 Pliny1 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 Pliny1 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 Pliny1 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 prevaience 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. tney ^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 piece 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
0 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
I78
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- wild 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
0 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 Pe°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 pivots> 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
show3 °' 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 Methocjs of
were the Andabatce, who wore helmets without any fishtins-
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 Pliny1 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
sdentiffc0f 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 thjs 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'arT1186 *^e emPeror 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
bariwSofthebar 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- Deciamation.
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- freageeCdj'ess.
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 Jj16 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
prevaient
240 Roman Life in Pliny1 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 iarge 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 Pliny1 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 year 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.
Corjnth- . 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 y£neas 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- Aiexandria.
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."
Afnpfnecdut,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
metry°inSyn 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 Parlors-
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 Pliny1 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
fr 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°VJhuming.
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, "dms-
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 ancj 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 Pliny1 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- The "ew IP.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. but 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
ing5 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 i3een my 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 Ann£eus
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(ivice
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 try 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 reP°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 o1 hifdn to Pracuce> 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 advke
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. less 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
ofhhishfriTndsr 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 Pliny1 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 message 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^uTusr.
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 witness, 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 much 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 Pliny1 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 ?pepf.h enJ°yed
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
writtenSietters!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 puny'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 or^r°rn°nlogic
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 artjst'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
JpHny^se"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> 2I5. 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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