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ROOM IN A ROMAN HOUSE.

THE Town Houses of persons of moderate fortune appear to have been enclosed within a court, called the vestibule, which was ornamented towards the street with a portico extending along the entire front. The entrance was by a flight of steps, through a folding gate of carved wood, or not unfrequently of brass, which led to the Atrium, or hall: this was a spacious oblong square, surrounded by galleries supported on pillars, and seems to have been the common sitting-room of the family. In ancient times, it was, indeed, the only public apartment for all domestic purposes; and it was there that the occupations of spinning and weaving, which formed so material a part of the accomplishments of a Roman matron, were carried on by the female slaves under her inspection. But at a later period it was solely appropriated, by families of the middle order, to the more refined uses of society, and was divided into different apartments by means of ample curtains; while in those of higher rank, it served merely as an antechamber to suites of spacious reception rooms. There were other apartments for supper, and for general accommodation; and separate bed-rooms for night, and for the repose in which the Romans were accustomed to indulge in the middle of the day.

The atrium contained a hearth, on which a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged the Lares, or images of the ancestors of the family. These were nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in great respect, were not treated with the same veneration as the Penates, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin, and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an inner apartment, called the Penetralia, where they were worshipped according to the peculiar rites of the family of whose adoration they were the objects. The Lares, however, participated in the homage paid to the Penates, and the ceremonies appropriated to both constituted what was termed the domestic worship.

The Romans were ignorant of the use of chimneys, and were, consequently, not a little annoyed by smoke, in those houses in which the atrium was occupied by the family. Various expedients were resorted to in order to diminish the nuisance: one of which was to anoint the wood, of which their fuel was composed, with the lees of oil. The mildness of the climate precluded the general use of fires in the private apartments; and when artificial warmth was required, it was afforded by means of a portable furnace, which, probably, was merely a deep brass pan, containing live embers; a custom which prevails at the present day in many parts of the southern continent of Europe. In great houses, a mode was afterwards introduced of heating the rooms by flues from a stove placed below them.

DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE ROMANS.

CYMBELINE.

ACT I. SCENE V.

ROME.-Room in PHILARIO's House.

Post. I will wage against your gold, gold to it. my ring I hold dear as my finger; 'tis part of it.

Iach. You are a friend, and therein the wiser. If you buy ladies' flesh at a million a dram, you cannot preserve it from tainting But, I see you have some religion in that you you, fear. Post. This is but a custom in your tongue; you bear a graver purpose, I hope.

Iach. I am the master of my speeches; and would undergo what's spoken, I swear.

Post. Will you?—I shall but lend my diamond till your return :-Let there be covenants drawn between us: My mistress exceeds in goodness the hugeness of your unworthy thinking: I dare you to this match: here's my ring.

Phi. I will have it no lay.

Iach. By the gods it is one :-If I bring you no sufficient testimony that I have enjoyed the dearest bodily part of your mistress, my ten thousand ducats are yours; so is your diamond too. If I come off, and leave her in such honour as you have trust in, she your jewel, this your jewel, and my gold are yours :provided I have your commendation for my more free entertain

ment.

let us have articles betwixt If f you make your voyage

Post. I embrace these conditions; us only, thus far you shall answer. upon her, and give me directly to understand you have prevailed, I am no further your enemy: she is not worth our debate. If she remain unseduced, (you not making it appear otherwise,) for your ill opinion, and the assault you have made to her chastity, you shall answer me with your sword.

Iach. Your hand; a covenant: We will have these things set down by lawful counsel, and straight away for Britain; lest the bargain should catch cold, and starve. I will fetch my gold, and have our two wagers recorded.

Post. Agreed.

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