INTRODUCTION. xiii 



(tally to neutralise the inebriating- qualities of 

 wine. Even the warriors did not hesitate to 

 crown themselves with flowers during* their 

 principal repast. 



Horace, it seems, could not sit down to his 

 bachelor's glass of wine without his garland. 

 His lively little ode at the end of his first 

 book is thus well translated by Francis — 



I tell thee, boy, that I detest 



The grandeur of a Persian feast ; 



Nor for me the Linden's rind 



Shall the flowery chaplet bind. 



Then search not where the curious Rose 



Beyond his season loitering grows ; 



But beneath the mantling vine, 



While I quaff the flowing wine, 



The Myrtle's wreath shall crown our brows, 



While you shall wait and I carouse. 



The allusion to Persia in this Ode confirms 

 our idea that the taste for flowers came to 

 Rome from the East ; and garlands were sus- 

 pended at the gates or in the temples where 

 feasts or solemn rejoicings were held, and at 

 all places where public joy and gaiety were 

 desired. It was also the custom to place 

 garlands and festoons of flowers on the heads 

 of victims, in the ancient sacrifices, at which 



