BOOK XXXIII. L. 141-L1. 144 



satisfied \nth that amount ! His brother 

 AUobrogicus " was the first person who ever owned 121 b.c. 

 1000 Ibs. weight of silver, whereas Livius Drusus 

 when tribune of the people had 10,000 Ibs. For 91 b.o. 

 that an old warrior,'' honoured with a triumphal 

 procession, incurred the notice of the censors '^ for 275 b.c, 

 possessingten poundsweight of silver — that nowadays 

 seems legendary, and the same as to Catus Aelius's 

 not accepting the silver plate presented to him by 

 the envoys from Aetolia who during his consulship 198 b.o. 

 had found him eating his lunch ofF earthenware, and 

 as to his never till the last day of his life having 

 owned any other silver but the two bowls given to 

 him by his mfe's father Lucius Paulus in recognition 

 of his valour at the time when King Perseus was I68 b.o. 

 conquered. We read that the Carthaginian ambas- 

 sadors declared that no race of mankind Hved on 

 more amicable terms with one another than the 

 Romans, inasmuch as in a round of banquets they had 

 found the same service of plate in use at every 

 house ! But, good heavens, Pompeius Pauhnus the 

 son of a Knight of Rome at Arles and descended on 

 his father's side from a tribe that went about clad 

 in skins, to our knowledge had 12,000 Ibs. weight of 

 silver plate with him when on service with an army 

 confronted by tribes of the greatest ferocity ; (LI.) 

 while we know that ladies' bedsteads have for a long 

 time now been entirely covered with silver plating, 

 and so for long have banqueting-couches also. It is 

 recorded that CarviUus PolHo, Knight of Rome, was 

 the first person who had silver put on these latter, 

 though not so as to plate them all over or make 

 them to the Delos pattern, but in the Carthaginian 

 style. In this latter style he also had bedsteads 



107 



