EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROSE. 



about 400 years before the Christian era, mentions that in Mace- 

 donia, in the gardens which were supposed to have belonged to 

 Midas, there were roses of sixty petals, which grew spontaneously 

 without culture, and emitted a most delightful perfume. 



Ancient writings are full of allusions to the Rose and fabulous 

 accounts of its origin. From its brilliant colors, melting into 

 each other as the shades of night melt into the glowing richness 

 of the rising sun, it was frequently consecrated to Aurora. It 

 was also consecrated to Harpocrates, the patron of Silence, of 

 which it was considered the symbol. Thus the expression '■'■sub 

 rosa " (under the Rose), signified that all that was said should 

 remain secret ; and there is scarcely used a more expressive de- 

 vice for a seal, than the simple figure of a Rose. It was the cus- 

 tom, in some of the northern countries, to suspend a Rose over the 

 table in the dining-room, reminding the guests that silence should 

 be observed respecting all that might be said during the meal. 



Anacreon, Bion, Theocritus, Apollodorus, and others, relate 

 various fables respecting its origin and its obtaining the bright 

 color for which it is distinguished. 



One fable relates that Flora, having found the dead body of one 

 of her favorite nymphs, whose beauty could only be equalled by her 

 virtue, implored the assistance of all the Olympian deities, to aid 

 her in changing it into a flower, which all others should ac- 

 knowledge to be their queen. Apollo lent the vivifying power of 

 his beams, Bacchus bathed it in nectar, Vertumnus gave its per- 

 fume, Pomona its fruit, and Flora herself gave its diadem of 

 flowers. A beetle is often represented on antique gems, as expir- 

 ing, surrounded by roses ; and this is supposed to be an emblem 

 of luxurious enervation ; the beetle being said to have such an 

 antipathy to roses, that the smell of them will cause its death. 



From the earliest period, the Greeks gave to the Rose the pref- 

 erence over all other plants, and distinguished it as the " Q,ueen 

 of Flowers." In the fragments which still exist of Sappho, who 

 lived about 600 years before the Christian era, there are lines in 

 which the Rose is placed in the highest rank. 



It is, however, in the ode which Anacreon has especially 



