The daily life of Rome is described in the following lines:
Visits consume the first, the second hour;
When comes the third, hoarse pleaders show their power;
At four to business Rome herself betakes;
At six she goes to sleep, by seven she wakes;
By nine well breathed from exercise we rest,
And in the banquet hall the couch is pressed.
Now, when thy skill, greatest of cooks, has spread
The ambrosial feast, let Martial’s rhymes be read,
With mighty hand while Cæsar holds the bowl,