struction. When luxury commenced in Rome, this plainness was laid aside, and the decorations of art were assumed in a degree. At this latter period, and before luxury reached its utmost bounds, each house contained one spacious hall, in which the family assembled, and which served all the purposes of society. § Towards the close of the republic, however, various apartments were constructed for the reception and entertainment of company, and in the time of the emperors, their embellishment was carried to the highest point of perfection. The eating rooms were remarkable for their grandeur. The tables were originally made of ordinary wood, square, and on four feet; but the form was afterwards changed to circular, or oval, supported on a single carved pedestal, and they were richly inlaid with ivory, gold, or silver, sometimes with the addition of precious stones. We read of a single table formed of a kind of wood, called citron wood, with which we are unacquainted, that cost upwards of eight thousand pounds sterling. A canopy was suspended over the table, to guard it, as it is said, from dirt of the ceiling. This, however it may have added to the decoration of the apartments, does not convey a very favourable idea of the cleanliness of the Romans. Originally, the Roman villa was nothing more than a farm-house of a very humble description; but at length the word lost its original signification, and was used to denote the abode of luxury and opulence. We have fortunately a complete and beautiful description of one, and that his own, in the works of Pliny the younger. They were very numerous about Rome, and very magnificent. The meals of the earlier Romans were very simple and frugal. The articles of food, and the furniture of the table, were coarse. But afterwards they became costly and luxurious to the highest degree. The epicurism of the later Romans At first they sat upright on benches, but at last adopted the habit of reposing on couches. Their principal meal was their supper, taken a little before four o'clock, P. M. Their breakfast was not a regular meal; it was taken by each one separately and without order; and their dinner was a very slight repast. Their supper was their last regular meal, though it was sometimes followed by a collation, called commissatio. The diet of the earlier Romans consisted of milk and vegetables, with a coarse kind of pudding which served in the room of bread. They rarely indulged in meat, and wine was almost unknown to them. They banished epicures from among them. The change which took place in the latter days of the republie and in the beginning of the empire, was very striking. Notwithstanding sumptuary laws, epicurism advanced with great rapidity, till finally it reached such a height, that viands were esteemed only in proportion to their cost. Thus, Maltese cranes, peacocks, and rare singing birds, although hardly eatable, were esteemed great delicacies, and their tongues and brains still greater; oysters from the coast of Britain were more prized than their own, though the former would never have been eaten fresh; and we are told of a singular sur-mullet, which had reached a size somewhat larger than common, having been sold for a sum equivalent to fifty guineas. The Romans used wine of the most costly kinds at their feasts. The age of it was often very great. We read of some that was 200 years old. The Grecian wines were in greater estimation than even the Italian. They used also mead, metheglin, and other fermented liquors. Such was their depravity, they contrived that even water should contribute to inebriate them. Gluttony was indulged to such a disgusting excess, that emetics were used to enable the stomach, already gorged with a full meal, to bear a further load. This doubtless was not a universal practice, neither, however, was it confined to a few individual instances. The services of the tables were at first only of earthen-ware, or wood. The use of plate was then almost unknown. At a later period plate became so general, that it was as common, as it had been previously rare, and in the time of the emperors, it was frequently of gold. The couches on which they lay down at supper were somewhat similar to the modern sofa. The ladies at first did not adopt this practice, and the indulgence was never extended to young people of either sex. Each couch could accommodate three or four, but seldom five persons, who laid in a reclining posture, on the left arm, having the shoulders elevated with cushions, and the limbs extended behind whoever was next; so that the head of the one was opposite to the breast of the other, and in serving themselves, they made use only of the right hand. There were many other singular customs observed at their suppers, which we have not time to enumerate. Daily Bathing was practised by the Roman people, both in warm and cold water. Vast quantities of water were brought to Rome, for this and other purposes, by means of aqueducts. These aqueducts were magnificent works, as also the baths both public and private which were erected. § The use of linen, which was unknown to the Romans, has rendered this practice for a long time obsolete in Italy; but in the times of which we speak, it was necessary for the purposes of cleanliness as well as luxury. The remains of some of the baths, are the most astonishing works of Roman grandeur and magnificence. Bathing commenced with warm and ended with cold water. On leaving the bath the people were anointed with scented oils, and went immediately to supper. The Dress of the Romans consisted chiefly of the toga and the tunica. The toga or gown worn by the citizens only, was loose and flowing, and covered the whole body: it was made of wool, had no sleeves, and was disposed in graceful folds, with a view to improve the appearance of the wearer. The toga virilis, or manly gown, was assumed by young men at the age of seventeen. The tunica or tunic, was a white woollen vest, which came down a little below the knees before, and to the middle of the leg behind, and was fastened about the waist by a girdle, which also served as a purse. § Women wore a tunic as well as the men, but with this difference, at first, that it reached down to the feet of the women, and had sleeves. Afterwards the men wore the tunic in the same manner. Hats and Caps, though known, were worn only on journeys or at the public games. In the city they usually went bare headed, or covered themselves with the corner of the toga. Ladies of distinction had many waiting maids, who were appropriated to particular services; and the duties of the toilet, though not perhaps so well understood as in modern times, were as assiduously attended to. Jewels, bracelets, rings, and various expensive ornaments, were worn in great profusion. The convenience of pins was not known, nor were glass mirrors, though there were substitutes for them. Pure woven silk and linen were little known and used till the time of the emperors, and not at all known during nearly the whole period of the republic. Marriage was an institution highly countenanced among the Romans. Severe laws were at times enacted to restrain celibacy, though never with much effect. Fathers of large families were particularly respected. Marriages with foreigners were strictly forbidden. The validity of the transaction depended on the legal age of the parties, and the consent of parents. § Boys were considered marriageable at fourteen; girls at twelve. A marriage was never solemnized without consulting the auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods; particularly to Juno; and the animals immolated on the occasion, were deprived of their gall, in allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the proposed union. The mode of marriage and the multitude of ceremonies attending it cannot here be described. Marriage, among the Romans, was not indissoluble. A husband might repudiate his wife for several reasons, besides that of having violated her conjugal faith. But to the honour of the Romans, more than four centuries elapsed without any suit among them for divorce, or complaint of adultery. Afterwards divorces became very frequent, and for the most frivolous causes. Fathers at Rome were generally invested with the power of life and death over their children. Exposure of infants was at first somewhat frequent, but at length nearly ceased. The adoption of children by married persons who were childless was very common, on account of the privileges connected with having children, whether by issue or adoption. The funeral rites of the Romans were solemn and impres sive. During the greater part of the commonwealth, the dead body was buried. Towards the close, the practice of burning the dead was generally introduced, till it became universal. After the introduction of Christianity into the empire, it fell into disuse. § It was a received opinion among the ancients, that the manes of the deceased were propitiated by blood. It was on this account their custom to slaughter, on the tomb of the deceased, those animals to which, while he was living, he was most attached; and in the more barbarous ages, men were the victims of this horrid superstition. "Arms, trappings, horses, by the hearse were led To sprinkle with their blood, the funeral flame." Dryden's Virgil. Many of the Roman sepulchres still exist in the gardens of their villas or by the public roads, (for inhumation was not allowed with-it in the walls,) with their various monumental inscriptions. 72 Foreign Commerce. The foreign commerce of the Romans appears very unimportant, compared with the exten sive mercantile transactions of our own times. Their trade, if we except the corn received on account of government from Sicily and the Levant, consisted of little else, than articles of mere luxury. Their purchases were made in bullion, as they had no exportable manufactures of their own. This circumstance necessarily restricted their commercial dealings. § They traded, it is true, not only to the ports of the Mediterranean, but to the East Indies, and occasionally even to England; but the interests of commerce were little understood, and less appreciated. Traffic was dishonourable, and they who engaged in it were held in contempt. The consequence was, that it was relinquished to slaves and freemen, who seldom possessed the means to conduct it on an extensive scale. Their merchant ships were large, if they reached the burthen fifty tons. Syria. 73. Situation and Cities. Syria lay on the east coast of the Mediterranean below Cilicia. The coast was called Phoenicia, and below it was Palestine. On the south it had Arabia and the Euphrates. Its towns and noticeable places were Antioch, Daphne, Seleucia, Damascus, Heliopolis, and Palmyra, or Tadmor. Antioch at one time, was inferior only to Rome and Alexandria in greatness and population. It is now almost depopulated, though its strong walls on both sides of the Orontes, remain. Daphne was a place consecrated to luxury, and enchanting from its cool fountains and shady groves of laurel, cypress, &c. Milton compares the garden of Eden to it-- "Nor that sweet grove "Of Daphne by Orontes."- Seleucia was on the sea near the mouth of the Orontes.-The bard again 'speaks of "The royal towers Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings." Damascus was the capital of the Phoenicia of Libanus. Its fertile and irriguous valley has ever been famous among the orientals. Heliopolis, under the name of Baalbeck, has the remains of a magnificent temple dedicated to the sun. The whole edifice, and particularly the roof, glittered with gold. Palmyra gave the name of Palmyrene to a vast plain, which was united to the desert of Arabia. The bible and Josephus inform us it was founded by Solomon. It maintained a great commerce between two divisions of the ancient hemisphere. The remains of lofty edifices manifests its former magnificence, and attract the curious and astonished traveller. 74. Character of the ancient Syrians. The ancient Syrians were miserable idolaters. An instance of their worship is thus described by the poet before named. "Tammuz came next behind, Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur'd The Syrian damsels to lament his fate, In am'rous ditties all a summer's day: While smooth Adonis from his native rock Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood iOf Tammuz yearly wounded." They were also somewhat of an effeminate race, and remarkable for hiding themselves from the sun, in caves, on the decease of their relatives. 75. Language. The Syrian language became a distinct tongue, so early as the time of Jacob. It was spoken not only in Syria, but also in Mesopotamia, Chaldæa, and Assy |