The weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1869-18??, 1870-06-01
Boards AND MoUsTACHEs.-

Boards AND MISUNDERSTANDING to
Greece. we know for certain that Socrates,
Themistocles, Aristidcs, Percles, and all the
great heroes of Athens and Sparta, wore
boards VIC know, moreover, that Alciblades
was in the habit of periuming his, and of
dyeing or painting it; as also his hair and
eyebrows. 1t is noticeable, however, that
on the as-reieis of the Pantheon, many of
which are in the British museum, only the
chiefs wear beards-thc soldiers, in almost
every case, are beardlcss and moustachless.
Tie same thing is to be observed in we'll
nigh all the specimens OF Greek painting
that have been handed down to us; that is,
upon vases, cups, and the reproductions of
Greek frpscoes found at tPompcii.
During the first centuries of the Roman
republic, the Romans Of all classes allowed
their boards to grow freely; shaving seems
to have been quito unknown. 1t was not
until the year 800 b. G. that anything like
razor was seen in Rome; but at thatIime
few Greek BARRIERS b2l made their appear
ance in the forum any although, like all IN
novators, they wert h first received with
dcri-iar. yee attcr 4 yic. they succeeded in
until at last the barbtys' shops in Rome be-
came whns si.es arc in London or cafes
in Paris-paces of lounging and resort,
where every one with nothing to do spends
few hours of his time cacn day. As the
Romans grew richer from the spoils of con
qnere,l nations, and Us they began to discard
the simple life oftheir anccs ors for Il mode
of living more in keeping with their wealth,
many had slaves whose sole business was to
shave them and cnver their hair with grcas-
es. At first this task was entrusted TO men,
but Lucullus is said to have had women
trained to the work and, as u womans
han,l is much lighter, an,l usually more skill
full, than that of Il man, the change was pro-
nnunccd by connoiseurs to be for the better.
BY Julius Crsar's time, the heard had fall
len into thorough discrcdit among all class
es of society; slaves being the only people
who still wore it. Caesar himself was shay
ed with scrupulous ncatncss every morning;
Pompey. Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Augustus,
were all clean shayen too even Cato Uticen-
sis, who had but slight respect for the fash
ions, would have thought it disreputablc and
unseemly to appear in a public place with
beard.
1t was Traian who first had the courage
| to shake off the BARRIERS yoke. This king,
an excellent monarch in many respects, dis
covered that his shaving occupied II consid :
erable portion of each day; and, as he was
the first emperor since Cesar who really felt
| that lie was on the throne for something
more than eating and drinking, he relin-
| quished habit that cost him more minutes
| than he could afford to lose. Hadrian, An
toninus Plus, and Marcus Aurelius, his I'M
mediate SUCCESSORS. followed in his wake,
| and allowed their boards to grow unclipped.
| After them, however, came Commodus; as
this exemplary monarch found the time hang
\ so heavily upon his hands that he was OIL
liged to xiii flies of an afternoon, it was not
likely that he would discard the precious
means afforded him by shaving of making
half hours go by BARRIERS had new time
of it, and thcnceforth continued to have the
Roman emperors for patrons until Edoard
overturned Romulus -Augustulus, the last
imperator, and inaugurate'l the kingdom Vt
| Italy, and with it the reign of moustachcs.
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