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"enquiries, that he retires, enchanted with the affability of his "illustrious friend, and full of regret that he had so long delayed "his journey to Rome, the native seat of manners, as well as of empire. Secure of a favourable reception, he repeats his visit "the ensuing day, and is mortified by the discovery, that his "person, his name, and his country, are already forgotten. If "he still has resolution to persevere, he is gradually numbered "in the train of dependents, and obtains the permission to pay "his assiduous and unprofitable court to a haughty patron, inca"pable of gratitude or friendship; who scarcely deigns to remark his presence, his departure, or his return. Whenever the rich "prepare a solemn and popular entertainment (44); whenever "they celebrate, with profuse and pernicious luxury, their pri"vate banquets; the choice of the guests is the subject of anxious "deliberation. The modest, the sober, and the learned, are seldom "preferred; and the nomenclators, who are commonly swayed "by interested motives, have the address to insert, in the list of "invitations, the obscure names of the most worthless of man"kind. But the frequent and familiar companions of the great, "are those parasites, who practise the most useful of all arts, "the art of flattery; who eagerly applaud each word, and every "action, of their immortal patron; gaze with rapture on his marble "columns, and variegated pavements; and strenuously praise the "pomp and elegance, which he is taught to consider as a part "of his personal merit. At the Roman tables, the birds, the “squirrels (45), or the fish, which appear of an uncommon size, 66 are contemplated with curious attention; a pair of scales is ac"curately applied, to ascertain their real weight; and, while the more rational guests are disgusted by the vain and tedious re"petition, notaries are summoned to attest, by an authentic re"cord, the truth of such marvellous event. Another method of "introduction into the houses and society of the great, is derived "from the profession of gaming, or, as it is more politely styled, "of play. The confederates are united by a strict and indisso"luble bond of friendship, or rather of conspiracy; a superior "degree of skill in the Tesserarian art (which may be interpreted

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(44) Distributio solemnium sportularum. The sportulæ, or sportellæ, were small baskets, supposed to contain a quantity of hot provisions, of the value of 100 quadrantes, or twelvepence halfpenny, which were ranged in order in the hall, and ostentatiously distributed to the hungry or servile crowd, who waited at the door. This indelicate custom is very frequently mentioned in the epigrams of Martial, and the satires of Juvenal. See likewise Suetonius, in Claud. 21. in Neron. c. 16. in Domitian, c. 4. 7. These baskets of provisions were afterwards converted into large pieces of gold and silver coin, or plate, which were mutually given and accepted even by persons of the highest rank (See Symmach. epist. iv. 55. ix. 124. and Miscell. p. 256.), on solemn occasions, of consulships, marriages, &c.

(45) The want of an English name obliges me to refer to the common genus of squirrels,* the Latin glis, the French loir; a little animal, who inhabits the woods, and remains torpid in cold weather (See Plin. Hist. Natur. viii. 82. Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. viii. p. 158. Pennant's Sy

*Is it not the dormouse?-M.

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"the game of dice and tables (46)) is a sure road to wealth and reputation. A master of that sublime science, who in a supper, or assembly, is placed below a magistrate, displays in his coun"tenance the surprise and indignation, which Cato might be sup"posed to feel, when he was refused the prætorship by the votes "of a capricious people. The acquisition of knowledge seldom "engages the curiosity of the nobles, who abhor the fatigue, and "disdain the advantages, of study; and the only books which "they peruse are the Satires of Juvenal, and the verbose and "fabulous histories of Marius Maximus (47). The libraries, which they have inherited from their fathers, are secluded, like dreary "sepulchres, from the light of day (48). But the costly instru"ments of the theatre, flutes, and enormous lyres, and hydraulic organs, are constructed for their use; and the harmony of vocal "and instrumental music is incessantly repeated in the palaces "Rome. In those palaces, sound is preferred to sense, and "the care of the body to that of the mind. It is allowed as a "salutary maxim, that the light and frivolous suspicion of a con

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tagious malady, is of sufficient weight to excuse the visits of "the most intimate friends; and even the servants, who are dis“patched to make the decent enquiries, are not suffered to return "home, till they have undergone the ceremony of a previous "ablution. Yet this selfish and unmanly delicacy occasionally

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yields to the more imperious passion of avarice. The prospect "of gain will urge a rich and gouty senator as far as Spoleto; "every sentiment of arrogance and dignity is subdued by the hopes "of an inheritance, or even of a legacy; and a wealthy, childless, "citizen is the most powerful of the Romans. The art of ob"taining the signature of a favourable testament, and sometimes "of hastening the moment of its execution, is perfectly understood; and it has happened, that in the same house, though in

nopsis of Quadrupeds, p. 289.). The art of rearing and fattening great numbers of glires was practised in Roman villas, as a profitable article of rural economy (Varro, de Re Rustica, iii. 15.). The excessive demand of them for luxurious tables, was increased by the foolish prohibitions of the censors; and it is reported, that they are still esteemed in modern Rome, and are frequently sent as presents by the Colonna princes (see Brotier, the last editor of Pliny, tom. ii. p. 458. apud Barbou, 1779.).

(46) This game, which might be translated by the more familiar names of trictrac, or backgam

mon, was a favourite amusement of the gravest Romans; and old Mucius Scævola, the lawyer, had the reputation of a very skilful player. It was called ludus duodecim scriptorum, from the twelve scripta, or lines, which equally divided the alveolus or table. On these, the two armies, the white and the black, each consisting of fifteen men, or calculi were regularly placed, and alternately moved, according to the laws of the game, and the chances of the tessera, or dice. Dr. Hyde, who diligently traces the history and varieties of the nerdiludium (a name of Persic etymology) from Ireland to Japan, pours forth, on this trifling subject, a copious torrent of classic and Oriental learning. See Syntagma Dissertat. tom. ii. p. 217-405.

(47) Marius Maximus, homo omnium verbosissimus, qui, et mythistoricis se voluminibus implicavit. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 252. He wrote the lives of the emperors, from Trajan to Alexander Severus. See Gerard Vossius de Historicis Latin, l. ii. c. 3. in his works, vol. iv. p. 57. (48) This satire is probably exaggerated. The Saturnalia of Macrobius, and the epistles of Jerom, afford satisfactory proofs, that Christian theology, and classic literature, were studiously cultivated by several Romans, of both sexes, and of the highest rank.

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"different apartments, a husband and a wife, with the laudable "design of overreaching each other, have summoned their re"pective lawyers, to declare, at the same time, their mutual, but contradictory, intentions. The distress which follows and chas"tises extravagant luxury, often reduces the great to the use of "the most humiliating expedients. When they desire to borrow, "they employ the base and supplicating style of the slave in the "comedy; but when they are called upon to pay, they assume "the royal and tragic declamation of the grandsons of Hercules. "If the demand is repeated, they readily procure some trusty sycophant, instructed to maintain a charge of poison, or magic, "against the insolent creditor; who is seldom released from prison, "till he has signed a discharge of the whole debt. These vices, "which degrade the moral character of the Romans, are mixed "with a puerile superstition, that disgraces their understanding. "They listen with confidence to the predictions of haruspices, "who pretend to read, in the entrails of victims, the signs of "future greatness and prosperity; and there are many who do "not presume either to bathe, or to dine, or to appear in public, "till they have diligently consulted, according to the rules of astrology, the situation of Mercury, and the aspect of the moon (49). "It is singular enough, that this vain credulity may often be disco"vered among the profane sceptics, who impiously doubt, or deny, "the existence of a celestial power.

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State and character of

Rome.

In populous cities, which are the seat of commerce and manufactures, the middle ranks of inhabitants, who derive their sub- the people of sistence from the dexterity, or labour, of their hands, are commonly the most prolific, the most useful, and, in that sense, the most respectable, part of the community. But the plebeians of Rome, who disdained such sedentary and servile arts, had been oppressed, from the earliest times, by the weight of debt and usury; and the husbandman, during the term of his military service, was obliged to abandon the cultivation of his farm (50). The lands of Italy which had been originally divided among the families of free and indigent proprietors, were insensibly purchased, or usurped, by the avarice of the nobles; and in the age which preceded the fall of the republic, it was computed, that only two thousand citizens were possessed of any independent substance (51). Yet as long as the

(49) Macrobius, the friend of these Roman nobles, considered the stars as the cause, or at least the signs, of future events (de Somn. Scipion. 1. i. c. 19. p. 68.).

(50) The histories of Livy (see particularly vi. 36.) are full of the extortions of the rich, and the sufferings of the poor debtors. The melancholy story of a brave old soldier (Dionys. Hal. 1. vi. c. 26. p. 347. edit. Hudson, and Livy, ii. 23.) must have been frequently repeated in those primitive times, which have been so undeservedly praised.

(51) Non esse in civitate duo millia hominum qui rem haberent. Cicero. Offie. ii. 21. and Comment. Paul. Manut. in edit. Græv. This vague computation was made A. U. C. 649, in a speech of the tribune Philippus, and it was his object, as well as that of the Gracchi (see Plutarch), to deplore, and perhaps to exaggerate, the misery of the common people.

Public distribution

of bread, wine, &c.

bacon, oil,

people bestowed, by their suffrages, the honours of the state, the command of the legions, and the administration of wealthy provinces, their conscious pride alleviated, in some measure, the hardships of poverty; and their wants were seasonably supplied by the ambitious liberality of the candidates, who aspired to secure a venal majority in the thirty-five tribes, or the hundred and ninetythree centuries, of Rome. But when the prodigal commons had imprudently alienated not only the use, but the inheritance, of power, they sunk, under the reign of the Cæsars, into a vile and wretched populace, which must, in a few generations, have been totally extinguished, if it had not been continually recruited by the manumission of slaves, and the influx of strangers. As early as the time of Hadrian, it was the just complaint of the ingenuous natives, that the capital had attracted the vices of the universe, and the manners of the most opposite nations. The intemperance of the Gauls, the cunning and levity of the Greeks, the savage obstinacy of the Egyptians and Jews, the servile temper of the Asiatics, and the dissolute, effeminate prostitution of the Syrians, were mingled in the various multitude; which, under the proud and false denomination of Romans, presumed to despise their fellow-subjects, and even their sovereigns, who dwelt beyond the precincts of the ETERNAL CITY (52).

Yet the name of that city was still pronounced with respect: the frequent and capricious tumults of its inhabitants were indulged with impunity; and the successors of Constantine, instead of crushing the last remains of the democracy, by the strong arm of military power, embraced the mild policy of Augustus, and studied to relieve the poverty, and to amuse the idleness, of an innumerable people (53). I. For the convenience of the lazy plebeians, the monthly distributions of corn were converted into a daily allowance of bread; a great number of ovens was constructed and maintained at the public expense; and at the appointed hour, each citizen, who was furnished with a ticket, ascended the flight of steps, which had been assigned to his peculiar quarter or division, and received, either as a gift, or at a very low price, a loaf of bread of the weight of three pounds for the use of his family. II. The forest of Lu

(52) See the third Satire (60-125.) of Juvenal, who indignantly complains,

Quamvis quota portio fæcis Achæi !

Jampridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes ;

Et linguam et mores, &c.

Seneca, when he proposes to comfort his mother (Consolat. ad Helv. c. 6.) by the reflection, that a great part of mankind were in a state of exile, reminds her how few of the inhabitants of Rome were born in the city.

(53) Almost all that is said of the bread, bacon, oil, wine, &c., may be found in the fourteenth book of the Theodosian Code; which expressly treats of the police of the great cities. See particularly the tiles iii, iv. xv, xvi, xvii. xxiv. The collateral testimonies are produced in Godefroy's Commentary, and it is needless to transcribe them. According to a law of Theodosius, which appreciates in money the military allowance, a piece of gold (eleven shillings) was equivalent to eighty pounds of bacon, or to eighty pounds of oil or to twelve modii (or pecks) of salt (Cod. Theod. 1. viii.

cania, whose acorns fattened large droves of wild hogs (54), afforded, as a species of tribute, a plentiful supply of cheap and wholesome meat. During five months of the year, a regular allowance of bacon was distributed to the poorer citizens; and the annual consumption of the capital, at a time when it was much declined from its former lustre, was ascertained, by an edict of Valentinian the Third, at three millions six hundred and twenty-eight thousand pounds (55). III. In the manners of antiquity, the use of oil was indispensable for the lamp, as well as for the bath; and the annual tax, which was imposed on Africa for the benefit of Rome, amounted to the weight of three millions of pounds, to the measure, perhaps, of three hundred thousand English gallons. IV. The anxiety of Augustus to provide the metropolis with sufficient plenty of corn, was not extended beyond that necessary article of human subsistence; and when the popular clamour accused the dearness and scarcity of wine, a proclamation was issued, by the grave reformer, to remind his subjects, that no man could reasonably complain of thirst, since the aqueducts of Agrippa had introduced into the city so many copious streams of pure and salubrious water (56). This rigid sobriety was insensibly relaxed; and, although the generous design of Aurelian (57) does not appear to have been executed in its full extent, the use of wine was allowed on very easy and liberal terms. The administration of the public cellars was delegated to a magistrate of honourable rank; and a considerable part of the vintage of Campania was reserved for the fortunate inhabitants of Rome. The stupendous aqueducts, so justly celebrated by the praises of Use of tha Augustus himself, replenished the Therme, or baths, which had been constructed in every part of the city, with Imperial magnificence. The baths of Antoninus Caracalla, which were open, at stated hours, for the indiscriminate service of the senators and the people, contained above sixteen hundred seats of marble; and more than three thousand were reckoned in the baths of Diocletian (58). The walls of the lofty apartments were covered with curious mosaics, that imitated the art of the pencil in the elegance of design, and the variety of colours. The Egyptian granite was beautifully incrusted with the precious green marble of Numidia; the perpetual stream

tit. iv. leg. 17.). This equation, compared with another of seventy pounds of bacon for an amphora (Cod. Theod. 1. xiv. tit. iv. leg. 4.), fixes the price of wine at about sixteenpence the gallon.

(54) The anonymous author of the Description of the World (p. 14. in tom. iii. Geograph. Minor. Hudson), observes of Lucania, in his barbarous Latin, Regio optima, et ipsa omnibus habundans, et lardum multum foras emittit. Propter quod est in montibus, cujus æscam animalium variam, &c. (55) See Novell. ad calcem Cod. Theod. D. Valent. 1. i. tit. xv. This law was published at Rome, June the 29th, A D. 452.

(56) Sueton. in August. c. 42. The utmost debauch of the emperor himself, in his favourite wine of Rhætia, never exceeded a sextarius (an English pint). Id. c. 77. Torrentius ad loc. and Arbuthnot's Tables, p. 86.

(57) His design was to plant vineyards along the sea-coast of Hetruria (Vopiscus, in Hist. August. p. 225.); the dreary, unwholesome, uncultivated Maremme of modern Tuscany.

(58) Olympiodor. apud Phot. p. 197.

public ba is.