Weekly national intelligencer., 1847-09-25
THE LUXURY OF ANCIENT ROME.

The Roman knight, morning. threw off the coverlet,
wrought with needewok Babylon and raised the tapestry
OF Tyre which hung before the entrance of his chamber He
entered his bathroom the walls OF which glsened with the
marble OF Alexandria beautifully adorned with Numdan
ings He ascended to his dining oom furnished with Gre
can stauay and pctures sunk upon his Persian COUCH
instead Of sitting at table like his sturdy ancestors ecned a
ter the fashion of the conquered East He wrote his letters
upon paper from the land of the Pharaohs and Poemes and
read from parchment manufactured at Pergamus. He
anointed himself with the perfumes of Arabia the Happy The
IRON OF served him for weapons His dice made
from the ivory OF India He his with the horses
Epus Around the neck of his wife hung pearls from the
German excursion His funeral litter borne by slaves
from beyond the Mediterranean, and his feless remains
ed to dust in tomb of pophyry quared the Island of the
Egean.-Lu Literary RepieW
The 81. Louis Era, by way of comment, says
"The luxury of ancient Rome if the above is fair de-
scrpon ofi not remarkably impressive modern read
er Many humble man. the cities of this new world
which unknown to Cicero and Cesar, quite rivals the
magnifcence of the Roman knight
Al his morning meal, modern mbibes the fragrant
decocton OF berry unknown the ancens brought him
from lands beyond their Oph in ships navigated by
OF discovery of which they heard The delicious be-
Verage sweeened with preparation which they
tanned to the art Of manufacturing, borne him from
try Of which they dreamed
Whle at his dinner, his country furnishes the
contents Of all the substantial dishes ons beeves fat
tened the pairies the Great Wespasy moulded from
the products Of its eemng fields and envened by the fruits
of its glowing orchnrdshs display the oil Of Florence
and the pepper Of Sumsand his dessert enriched by the
olives of seve the rasns of Malaga the figs of Greece the
dates of Syria, and the oranges of Cuba Sicily and the
Azores.
His drinks unless he has joined the total abs-
nence the wines furnished by Madea Xees Burgun-
dy and the Rhine. The world ansacked for the materials
Of his clothing The wool Of Saxony, the flax of Ireland the
of Texas and the Sea Islands, the silks Of China italy,
and France the rs of Kamskatcha and tho frozen zones
contribute their warmth, richness and luse to protect and
embesh his outer His wife-though she neither tolls
spinswas Solomon arrayed in all his glory For
her, hunters chasing the alpaca the mountains of
Peru, and the shepherd is folding his ocks the classic
fields of Iberia for her the miner is exploring the dark ca
Of Hungary for the topaz and ruby and troops of black
washing the damond-earh of Brazil for her the
divers of Omus and California punging into frightfu
depths for pearls and the looms Lyons and Manches
ter weaving their gay and gorgeous fabrics Her shou
ders wrapped in shawls from Cashmere her bosom
ed with lace from Honitou, and her feet buried the rich
pile of carpets from Brussels She also bathes her limbs in
reservoirs cut out of marble which lay in the unsunne
depths OF Paros or Penecu and then perfumes her person
with oar extracted from the gardens of Gul in their bloom
His furniture Of wood taken from the shaft which once
maes.cally in the forests of San Domingo Hawaii or
Ceylon he fights with weapon forged from the iron that
darkened the Of the mountains of Dalecara fills his
teeth with the gold of Poto the pna of the Ura and
sports carriage ackered with resins the islands of India
and gsenng with silver from the mines of Guadalajara
When sick his attendant is polished physician familiar
with the hospitals of England and France who depetes him
with lancet fabricated in Germany and doses him with Gallo
mel from the mines Of Spain, with ap from neighborhood
which has been immortazed by the exploits of Gen. Pillow
and with qunine from Brazil When he dies, mahogany
from Hay composes his coffin, which put into hearse
which pumes from Aray and is thence transferred
to grave distinguished by monumeat of marble from Italy
or Egypt.
$50 that all things considered it does appear that the
luxury and magncence of Roman noble so far ex
ceeded the sumpuousness of modem American citizen as 10
make it worthy of very special admiring comment"