Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-09-28
THE BELLIES OF ROME.

toward tne belgian 1rOnuer.
THE BELLIES OF ROME.
Girls of the PeYi0d ~ {" ReautifuI
Forever THE Art of FrescafDg.
So expensive were the girls of Rome
that Julius Caesar was induced to offer
premiums in encouragement of mar
riage, He allowed married women to
dress more superbly than the unmarried,
and to drive in costier carriages; and he
relieved of various taxes the married
man who was father of three children.
The distinction of dress was gradually
obliterated under the emperors; but the
privileges Of the ndt0rum genitor trtum
seem rather to have increased, since he
had right to the best seats at the pub
lie games, and was more readily admit
ted to official positions. Shall we come
to this sort Of thing in American Will
there ever be time when the father of
three children will have his income tax
reduced, and a gratuitous stall at the
opera, and get first choice of a sinecure,
from the office of Secretary of State
downward?
Were there professors Of the art of
making girls beautiful forever in
that, is welcome to use=appears to
have been introduced by German bar
bers with intent to redden the hair of
the Roman maidens;
The toilet Of the girl of the period was
no trifling matter in those days. The
eosmete, or lady's maid, had often a
hard time of it. They were slaves, and
their dissatisfied mistress thought moth
ing of ordering them to be flogged if she
were out Of temper or her hair out of
curl-if, in fact, any of the delicate pro-
cesses of adornment vent wrong. To
take the law into her own hand seems to
have been bad form on the lady S
part. At least, Martial rehukes Lalarge,
who, because one Of her tresses was out
of place, beat her waiting-maid with the
steel mirror that revealed the mistake.
Some of the useful or elegant trifles
which the toilet required are casually
named Martials "Apophoreta" "a word
which indicates pleasant custom of
Rome. Men who gave dinners during
the Saturnalia were Sont TO place by
each guest an elegant present, and Mar
tal has written some two hundred coup
let's to serve as notices for such gifts.
Now here is new idea for gentlemen
who like social distinction. Let them
at their great dinners put beside
each guest some exquisite trihe suited
to his or her idiosyncrasy, and let them
employ an epigrammatist of the first
force to furnish appropriate rhymes.
Thereby will they most delight their
friends 1.-THE ladies most of ally and en-
courage literature. What more charm
ing welcome foq a lady al dinnee table
than silken zone, With some such le-
gend as Walters:
" Give me but what this ribbon bound;
Take all the rest the sun goes round
Qthar articles of feminine apparel on
which we find epigrams are q corset, a
tucker and an apron-curious presents,
it may be thought; but customs vary in
different ages and with different races of
men. However, the gifts for the toilet
are moi I'LL out of date, To one lady
golden hair-pin; to another comb Of
lockwood; to another pomatum warrant
ed to turn the darkest hair to the envied
color of the Teutonic slaves. The la
dies Of Rome we're not content with
their wonderful dark tresses; nothing
would satisfy them but to initiate the
light locks Of the blue-eyed girls whom
they bought in the slave market. So, in
ths frs, century of the Christian era,
our ancestEesses set the fashion ia Rome.
Other dpophoretq for the toilet we're
18th ,,o,Ja, s,,rrnko 10 pup, and "a Ja-
mentum or wash (by some translators
given as bean -four, to smooth wrink-
led skin. Seeing that wrinkles apo not
kpown in these days, it might be worth
inquiry whether bean -four has any cor
rugative effect.
The mania for an appearance Of abun-
lant hair, which has attacked the mod
ern female world, seems not to have pre-
vailed in Rome. In this city false hair
IS rather the rule than the exception; it
.akes the form of chignons, braids,
plaits, and what not. The female head,
which is really pretty thing when you
can see its shape, is deformed by seere-
ions and agglomerations. How long
this absurdity Of fashion will last we
cannot guess, for fashion is strange
hing, and does not change any the
faster; but, indeed, sometimes lasts the
longer, by reason of being ugly and
offensive. Fashion is the most irresisti-
bic Gf sl! forces; it is stronger than
even religion II Is also the mOst unac-
of all forces. You can seldom
race its origin; you can never calculate
It's duration. 1nasmuch as fashion
lrgbt to be the application of art to
iocial life. il would doubtless be on ex-
eellent thing if people of artistic capa-
,ity would condescend TO lead the fash
on This has been done by man
Count p'Orsay. We do not think that
my woman Of the true type has ever
attempted it. If only lady, who united
nigh birth and intellect, and cultivated
aste for the beautiful, would take this
aatter in hand, what a multitude of
ve might be spared.
Wise, in our belief, are those artists Of
lress who seek TO initiate natural forms.
leaves and flowers, aud even fruit are
delightful rs the decorations Of beauty.
Even birds and butterflies haTe been APP
pressed into the service. A
,ird of paradise, or purple emperor adds
o the fairy grace Of bonnet Let the
ady who Is blue mount Athene's owl and
he gossip adorns herself with a magpie.
Roman ladies we're ahead of our Ameri-
an girls: Gelidum colo Recfh Gld-
lila draconem," says Martial Yes,
ilacilla wore around her beautiful neck
J cold serpent, nor was she alone in
his habit Seneca, Lucian, fliny, bear
witness that the girls Of Rome wore liv.
ng snakes around their necks, and
cherished them in their bosoms. They
Ieem to have found them pleasantly cool.
VIII any modern girl Of the period set
his fashion in midsummer Pleasant
or the eager lover TO approach within
distance, and to find the
Tiossy eyes Of a snake fixed on him, its
orked tongue quivering near him This
lind Of partnership between Eve and
Ter tempter is not altogether desirable.