The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-01-12
Pictures of Ancient Extravaganza.

Crassus, when candidate for the
consulship, caves feast of II, 900 tables,
to which all the citizens of Rome were
indiscriminately invited. Cesar, to
celebrate the funeral Of daughter, gave
one of $4,000 tables, with accommoda.
tion for three guests at each. This en-.
tertainment was repeated and exceeded
for his triumph. He brought together
more gladiators and wild beasts than
were ever produced on any former oc-
casion in an amphitbeater, but his ex-
hibitions of this kind were so com.
pletely outshone that it were waste
of time to dwell upon them. In a
document annexed to his testament,
Augustus states as title to public
gratitude that he had exhibited 5000
gladators and brought more than $500
wild beasts TO be killed in the circus.
In the course the festivities institu-
the colosseum, 5000 wild beasts were
let loose and killed by the gladiators.
The Emperor Probus collected for q
single show 100 lions, 100 lionesses,
100 Libyan and 100 Syrian leopards,
300 bears and 600 gladiators. Having
caused the circus to be planted with
trees to resemble forest, he let loose
1000 ostriches, 1000 stays, 1000 does
and l., 900 boars, to be hunted by the
populace, who were to keep whatever
they could catch or kill. The fercer
animals were encountered by the gladi-
ators. 1t does not appear how long the
show lasted.
Tiberius, whose life at Capri was a
disgrace to human nature, was fonder
OF saving money than of spending it,,
and he left an immense sum in the
treasury, which his successor, Caligula,
managed to dissipate in two years by
extravaganza of the most senseless kind.
AS if in rivalry of Cleopatra, he swal
lowed precious stones dissolved in
vinegar, and caused his guests to be
helped to gold (which they carried
away instead of bread and meat. One
of his favorite amusements was shower
ing money among the popuiace from
the Basilica of Julius Caesar. He built
galleys of cedar, covered with jewelry,
and large enough to contain vines and
fruit trees, and had canals cut for them
along the coast. The stable of his
favorite horse, which he talked of
naming Consul, was of marble, the
trough of ivory, the harness of purple,
and the collar of pearls. The set of
emeralds and pearls worn by one of his
wives, Lolita Paulina, was valued at
940O, 600 sterling.
The principal extravaganza of Clau-
dius was in public games. One of the
shows organized for him was q naval
combat on lake, in which the galleys
were manned by $4,000 men. He was
fond of good cheer, and was iu the
habit of inviting himself to the tables
of the rich. He came on one occasion
with 600 persons in his train.
1t was to Nero that Tacitus applied
the expression, incrcdi6iiium c,pitor
What he not only desired but achieved
in the way Of cruelty and vice would
be declared incredible if Roman
history had not already shown
what revolving atrocities may be
conceived by diseased imagi-
nation and executed by irresponsible
power After the Turning Of the city
he gratifed his taste, in entire disre-
gard of the proprietors, in rebuilding
it, He at once appropriated number
of the sites and large portion Of
the public grounds for his
new palace. The porticos, with
their ranks of columns, were
mile long The vestibule was large
enough to contain the colossal statue OF
him, in silver and gold, 100 feet high,
from which the colosseum got its
name. The interior was gilded through.
out, and Horned with ivory and mother.
of pearl. The ceilings OF the dining
rooms were formed of movable tablets
of ivory, which shed flowers and per
fumes on the company; the principal
saloon had a dome which, turning day
and night, initiated the movements Of
the terrestrial bodies. When this palace
was finished he exclaimed: "At last
am lodged like man." His diaden,
was valued at half a million. His
dresses, which he never wore twice
We're stiff with embroidery and gold
He fished with purple lines and hooks
of gold. Henever travelled with less thar
thousand carriages. The mules were
shod with silver, the muleteers clothed
with the finest wool, and the attendants
wore bracelets and necklaces of gold
Five hundred she asses followed hi
wife Poprpa in her progresses, to sup
ply milk for her bath. He was fonC
of figuring in the circus as chariotee
and in the theater as a singer and actor
He prided himself on being an artist
and when his possible deposition wa
limited to him he said that artists coult
!, never be in want. There was not
vice to which he was not given, nor
crime which he did not commit. Ye
the world, exclaims Suetoniols, en-
dured this monster for fourteen years
and he was popular with the multitude
! who were dazzle6 by his magnifcenc
and mistook his senseless profusion fo
liberality. On the anniversary of hi
death, during many years, they crowd
5 ed to cover his tomb with flowers.
J The utmost excess in gluttony wa
e reached by Vitellus, who gave feasts 8
e which 1000 fishes and 1000 birds wer
h served up. He prided himself on hi
culinary genius, and laid every quartz
OF the empire under contribution t
supply materials for dish, which COZ
tanned livers of mullet, brains of phea
J. ants and peacocks, tongues of famil
J. goes, roe of lampreys, etc. Tacitr
e states that he spent what would be tai
n tamount to several millions sterling
8 less than eight months in eating or gi
e ing to eat.--LOndon Quarterly Repiel
Tho Iaonnaffo Do~t,