16 LUXURIOUS USE OF THE ROSE. 



also but copyists of the Romans, in the cultivation of flowers in 

 windows ; for vases of every style of beauty, and filled with 

 roses, were a frequent ornament of their windows. Martial says 

 that a miserly patron had made him a present of a very small 

 estate, and adds that he has a much better country place in his 

 window. Much that illustrates the use w^iich the ancients made of 

 roses in their ceremonies, in their festivals, and in their domestic 

 life, may be found in various authors, evincing still more how 

 very common the use of them had become. Florus relates that 

 Antiochus, king of Syria, being encamped in the island of Eu- 

 boea, under woven tents of silk and gold, was not only accompa- 

 nied by a band of musicians, but that he might yet more enhance 

 his pleasures, he wished to procure roses ; and although it was 

 in the midst of winter, he caused them to be collected from 

 every quarter. 



The gallants of Rome were in the habit of presenting their 

 favorite damsels with the first roses that appeared in spring; 

 and " Mea rosa " was an affectionate expression they often used 

 to their betrothed. 



We frequently find in old Latin authors, an entire abandon- 

 ment to pleasure and excessive luxury signified by such expres- 

 sions as, living in the midst of roses, sleeping on 7'oses, &c. 

 (Vivere in rosa, dormire in rosa.) 



Seneca speaks of Smyndiride, the most wealthy and voluptu- 

 ous of the Sybarites, w^ho could not sleep if a single one of the 

 rose-petals with which his bed was spread, happened to be curled. 



Cicero, in his ^^ de finibusj'^ alludes to the custom which pre- 

 vailed at Rome at that time, of reclining at the table on couches 

 covered with roses ; and comparing the happiness which virtue 

 gives, to the pleasures of luxury, says that " B-egulus, in his chains, 

 was more happy than Thorius drinking on a couch of roses and 

 livino" in such a manner that one could scarcely imagine any 

 rare and exquisite pleasure of which he did not partake." 



The same author, in his celebrated speech against Verres, the 

 greatest extortioner whose name is recorded in history, reproached 

 him not only with the outrageous robberies and cruelties which 



