THE DAILY LIFE OF
THE GREEKS AND ROMANS

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
OF ART

THE DAILY LIFE OF THE
GREEKS AND ROMANS

AS ILLUSTRATED IN
THE CLASSICAL COLLECTIONS

BY
HELEN McCLEES, Ph. D.

NEW YORK
MCMXXIV

COPYRIGHT
BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
OF ART, 1924

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

This handbook is intended to serve as a guide to those objects in the Classical Collection which illustrate the daily life of the Greeks and Romans. Some of these have been brought together as a special exhibition in Cases 1 to 5 in the Fifth Room, while others which it has not been possible to move are referred to in their respective positions. Many of these antiquities are among the most valued possessions of the Museum, while others are entirely lacking in artistic qualities and would scarcely attract the visitor’s attention, yet placed in their proper relations they are found to be full of unsuspected interest.

Investigations of the sites of ancient cities, settlements, and burial places, especially during the last fifty years, have brought to light objects of the most varied kinds which allow us to know, as was never before possible, the appearance and manner of life, the tools, utensils, weapons, and toys of the Greeks and Romans. Any one who will take up an old translation of an author such as the elder Pliny, Xenophon, or Martial, and compare it with a modern version will see at once the difference in this particular. The earlier translator was often at a loss when confronted with allusions to every-day life and consequently either did not express clearly the meaning of his original or even entirely misrepresented it. But quite apart from a correct interpretation of the works of ancient writers, the study of private antiquities enables us to form a mental picture of these people and their surroundings, the actors in the theatre, the citizens gathered in the assembly or at a religious festival, the houses from which they came, and the work they left behind; and as a result, to see the world with their eyes, to comprehend their aims and actions, and to compare them more intelligently with our own.

The greater part of these objects were not very valuable at the time they were made; they were the ordinary possessions of ordinary persons. Yet one sees on all sides evidence of the skill, careful workmanship, and artistic feeling ungrudgingly spent in making simple, common articles for every-day use. In our own time the situation is very different; to the average person beauty and utility have little or no relation to each other, and he consequently provides for his home useful and necessary utensils which have no beauty, and so far as he is able adds “ornaments” which have no utility and very frequently, it must be said, no real beauty. Again, the period in which we are living has not produced any definite style, either in architecture or in the arts and crafts, though there has been much careful copying and adapting of earlier ideas; but the products of Greek and Roman artists and craftsmen have “style,” not as a result of striving for an effect, but because each workman received the traditional schooling in his craft and, having practised it with satisfaction in work well done, tried to add something to the store of knowledge before handing it on to the next generation. Such considerations alone would make the study of the every-day utensils of classical times a valuable one in the present day.

No attempt has been made in this handbook to treat the subject exhaustively; it is intended merely to provide such explanation and commentary as will be helpful toward an understanding of the antiquities. In consequence the length of the sections has been determined by the amount of material available and does not necessarily correspond to the relative importance of the various subjects.

THE DAILY LIFE OF
THE GREEKS AND ROMANS

I
RELIGION
CASE 1

The religion of the Greek and Roman peoples was composed of many elements, and presents throughout their history a great variety of cults and observances. Religious tenets were not defined, and no priestly hierarchy attempted to coerce the people in their beliefs or actions. A Greek or a Roman was not under the necessity of worshipping the gods, though he might incur the anger of his fellow-citizens by outraging their feelings. To the ordinary man or woman, however, the service of the gods was a daily duty and each important event of human life had its appropriate observance. The head of every family was its priest, and the children his assistants in carrying out the worship of the divine beings who guarded the house and fields and all the living creatures therein. Similarly the great gods of the city were served by the priests and priestesses appointed to represent the city, conceived of as one great family. Each city had its recurring festivals, its rest days sacredly kept, and its days of commemoration of the dead.

Public worship in Greece and Italy consisted of prayers and hymns, and of sacrifices offered both within the temples and shrines and in other places, such as groves and springs, which were held to be sacred. The temples were built and adorned with all possible care, and were the pride of the community. An amphora (on the bottom of Case S in the Fourth Room) decorated with a religious scene shows a common type of altar. It is shaped rather like a pedestal with an architectural moulding and “horns” on either side. A miniature terracotta shrine from Cyprus (on the right side of the top shelf in Case 1), made for household use, gives us an idea of the shape of the larger ones which held a statue at crossroads and street corners. Incense, a frequent accompaniment of worship, was burned in a covered vessel, often provided with a high stand, such as the incense burner painted on a small oinochoë in Case G in the Fifth Room; or a little altar was used for the purpose. An example from Cyprus, which still shows traces of fire, stands on the top shelf of Case 1. A marble lamp from a temple is in Case G in the Third Room. It was made to be set in a support, probably a bronze tripod, and was filled with oil in which a wick floated.

FIG. 1. PRAYING YOUTH (?)

In prayer the worshipper looked upward and raised both hands. This attitude is perhaps represented in a bronze statuette, probably a votive offering, in Case D in the Fifth Room ([fig. 1]). A small wine-jug (Case 1, middle shelf) is decorated with a scene no doubt very common in Athens; before a statue of Athena raised on a low column stands a man saluting the goddess by kissing his fingers and raising them toward her ([fig. 2]). A bronze votive statuette in Case D in the Fourth Room is making the same gesture.

FIG. 2. MAN SALUTING A STATUE OF ATHENA

FIG. 3. MAN CARRYING A PIG TO BE SACRIFICED

FIG. 4. VOTIVE TABLE

FIG. 5. VOTIVE PLAQUE

The universal custom of offering to a divinity gifts in supplication and thanksgiving has many interesting illustrations in the collection. A remnant of the ancient religion of Crete is the die for moulding miniature bronze axes in Case B in the First Room. The little bronze figure of a man carrying a pig in Case C2 in the Third Room served as a memorial of a burnt sacrifice ([fig. 3]). The terracotta warriors from Cyprus (Case 1 and the wall-cases in the corridor), and the Italic bronze warriors (Case 3 and Case J in the Third Room) were probably thank-offerings for a victorious home-coming. The group of terracotta figures holding one another’s hands gives a rude picture of a ring-dance such as was performed in honor of Aphrodite in Cyprus (Case 1, top shelf). The painted terracotta face above this shelf is an example of the many little masks called “oscilla” which were hung by cords in sanctuaries or on the branches of trees outside (see [tail-piece, p. xvii]). They seem to have been a substitute for the worshipper when he was obliged to be away about his daily occupation. Several other examples will be found in wall-cases in the corridor. Fourteen miniature bronze greaves in Case 4 were probably dedications, perhaps made by soldiers after a battle. Food and drink were the simplest and commonest gifts, but were often beyond the means of the worshipper. If this were true, he gave a representation in some cheap material of the offering he wished to make, thus expressing pressing his good-will. In Case 1 are three little tables with articles of food in relief upon the surface. We see a ham, a whole boar, some cakes, fruit, and various dishes of food ([fig. 4]). Near these tables is a little tray with several cakes represented in relief upon it, a substitute for the cakes which were placed on tables in the temples, like the shew-bread of the Hebrews. The group of vases connected by a ring was used for offering small portions of liquid, probably oil, wine, honey, or milk. Gratitude for the cure of disease was often exhibited by dedicating a representation of the affected part. On the top shelf at the left are terracotta plaques showing eyes, eyes and mouth, and an ear ([fig. 5]). Other examples are in Cases 47 and 75 in the Cesnola Collection. The manufacture and sale of such objects formed an industry in ancient times, and the records of the temple of Asklepios at Athens which are still preserved contain long lists of them.

FIG. 6. TERRACOTTA HERM

FIG. 7. WARRIORS MAKING A TREATY (?)

FIG. 8. CHARMS OF COLORED GLASS

The ceremonies and sacrifices in temples were few compared to the frequent occasions for private and family worship. No meal was eaten without offering a portion of food and drink to the gods, and statuettes and symbols of divinities were kept in various rooms of the house and near the house-door. The rude bust of Hermes on a pillar (Case 1, middle shelf) is of the same type as the much larger pillars which in Athens were placed near house-doors, in schools, and in the market-place ([fig. 6]). It was the mutilation of these images which caused such consternation immediately before the sailing of Nikias on the disastrous Sicilian expedition in 415 B.C.

FIG 9. LAR

An interesting terracotta relief in Case 4 represents two warriors clasping hands ([fig. 7]). Perhaps it may be regarded as a votive offering made to commemorate a treaty or an alliance, either of which with the Greeks and also the Romans was an agreement made in the sight of the gods and accompanied by sacrifices. Readers of the Anabasis will remember the treaty made by the Greeks and the Persians after Cyrus’s death (II, ii, 8, 9), when the sword-blades and spear-heads were dipped in the blood of the victims caught in a shield, and the leaders on both sides gave their right hands as a pledge of fidelity.

The superstitious and fearful aspect of ancient religion is represented by the grotesque faces called apotropaia, “turners away,” which were thought to avert misfortune. They were worn especially by children, and large ones of various materials were often fastened up in workshops and houses. A number of small examples in glass are in Case C in the Third Room ([fig. 8]).

Perhaps the first divinities we think of when we turn to the native Roman religion are the Lares, the guardians of house and field. The Lar was represented as a youth holding a horn of plenty and a patera, a shallow bowl used in sacrificing ([fig. 9]). Two of these figures stood side by side near the hearth in the principal room of the early Roman house, but at a later period they were placed in a little shrine usually adjoining the atrium. A statuette of rather careless workmanship stands on the middle shelf in Case 1 and a much better example in Case J in the Eighth Room. A fine statuette of the Imperial period represents a priest with his toga drawn up over his head in preparation for sacrificing, in accordance with the custom which Virgil mentions in the Aeneid: “Veil thine hair with a purple garment for covering, that no hostile face at thy divine worship may meet thee amid the holy fires and make void the omens” (III, vv. 405ff. Mackail) (Case J in the Eighth Room, [fig. 10]). A life-size statue of a camillus, a boy assistant at religious rites, is in this room ([fig. 11]). The office of camillus was an honorable one bestowed upon the young sons of distinguished families.

FIG. 10. ROMAN PRIEST

We have several interesting objects related to special cults. A goddess revered by both Greeks and Romans was Tyche or Fortuna. A small bronze statuette (Seventh Room, Case H 2) represents the Fortune of Antioch seated on a rock, crowned with turrets, and holding in her hand a sheaf of grain. Fortuna had many temples in Rome, where she was worshipped under different titles. The popular belief in her power is attested by Caesar, who tells of the confidence felt by his men in him and in his success because they believed him to be a favorite of Fortune. A rather rude statuette of this divinity stands on the second shelf of Case 1.

FIG. 11. CAMILLUS

The worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis gradually spread from Egypt into Asia Minor and thence into Greece and Rome. The bronze sistrum or rattle was used in her rites, and she is often represented holding it in her hand (Case 1, [fig. 14]).

An especially interesting memorial of an Eastern cult established in Rome is the statuette of Cybele, the Mother of the Gods, on her processional car drawn by lions (Case M in the Eighth Room, [fig. 12]). The worship of Cybele, a very ancient one, was introduced into Rome during the Second Punic War at a time of great danger and anxiety. Our statuette represents not the goddess herself but her cult statue, and probably commemorates one of the annual festivals at which the image on its car was taken to the river Almo to receive a ritual bath. The god-companion of Cybele, Attis, was not worshipped at Rome before the time of Claudius, though his cult was diffused over many parts of the East. A little terracotta from Cyprus shows him in Phrygian dress on a horse (Case 1).

FIG. 12. STATUE OF CYBELE ON ITS CAR

FIG. 13. SACRIFICIAL PROCESSION

A glass relief (on the tray above the middle shelf) gives a realistic picture of a Roman sacrifice ([fig. 13]); an ox is being led through the portico of a temple by four men carrying knives and an axe. A priestess walks before them with veiled head, holding a box containing incense, meal, or other articles used at sacrifices.

FIG. 14. SISTRUM

II
THE DRAMA
CASE 1

Dramatic performances in Greece were a part of the worship of the wine-god Dionysos, and in consequence attendance in the theatre at Athens was a religious duty as well as a pleasure. The audience was composed of the citizens, both men and women, and visitors from other states and cities. In early times the playwright acted in his own play, but later the profession of actor was distinct from that of poet. Women’s parts were taken by men.

Plays were performed by daylight in the open air, in theatres so constructed that most of the audience was at a considerable distance from the actors. These circumstances naturally had a great effect upon the conventions of the theatre and the manner of acting, as effects must be broad, characters must be typical rather than individual, and facial play was impossible ([fig. 17]). Early in the history of the Greek drama masks for the actors were introduced, and continued in use for both tragedy and comedy. They were usually made of linen stiffened with clay and painted, though cork and wood were also used. The pupils of the eyes were perforated so that the actor could see, and the mouth was always open. In Case 1 are two terracotta masks, possibly made for use, one of a satyr (see [tail-piece, p. 18]), the other of a young woman, and two little masks representing comic characters. In the same room above Case 4 is a large tragic mask of marble ([fig. 15]). This fine piece of decorative work is modeled after the masks worn by the heroes of the tragic stage. Above the tragic mask rose a projection called onkos which increased the apparent height of the wearer. For the same purpose a shoe with a very thick sole, the kothornos, was worn; the height of onkos and kothornos varying with the importance of the character. The dress of the tragic actor corresponded in a general way with that of every-day life, but the chiton was long, and the costumes were frequently bright in color and decorated elaborately with woven or embroidered bands.

FIG. 15. TRAGIC MASK

FIG. 16. SLAVE IN OLD COMEDY

FIG. 17. THEATRE AT EPIDAURUS

FIG. 18. ACTOR OF MIMES

A group of terracotta statuettes from Athens (Sixth Room, Case L) gives a vivid picture of the actors of the Old Comedy, that of Aristophanes and his contemporaries. By a convention of the stage, all comic actors, even those who played young women’s parts, were grotesquely padded, and over the padding male characters wore an elastic woolen covering much like the modern jersey, which is represented by dots in the statuettes. The man’s chiton was always ridiculously short. Women wore the long chiton and himation. On examining these figures we see that they include certain stock characters which were used over and over by playwrights. The figure on the left hand in the lowest row represents an old man, probably an irascible old father. His mask is made so as to present a kindly expression on one side and an angry one on the other. The actor turned to the audience the side which expressed his feelings at the moment. The statuette at the left of the top row seems to be of the same general type. The right-hand figure in the top row is Herakles ([fig. 20]); that on the right hand of the lowest row is probably Odysseus, both favorite comic characters. Another represents a slave who has stolen a purse and has taken refuge at an altar upon which he sits weighing his pelf in both hands ([fig. 16]). Besides these there are a young woman and a middle-aged matron, an old nurse with a baby, and a street vendor with a basket. The scheming slave, another stock character of ancient comedy, stands in a thoughtful attitude at the left hand of the second row from the top.

In the Seventh Room (Case H 2) is a bronze statuette of an actor in the New Comedy ([fig. 19]). The ridiculous dress of the earlier period has been discarded for a fringed himation, but the mask is still worn. This actor seems to be declaiming a passage “full of sound and fury” accompanied by sweeping gestures.

FIG. 19. ACTOR IN NEW COMEDY

In the same case is a statuette of an actor of mimes or pantomimes, in itself a masterpiece of the grotesque ([fig. 18]). These performances were generally satires upon contemporary life, and were immensely popular in Greece and Italy, being sometimes provided as entertainment for guests after dinner. The actors did not wear masks and probably relied much upon gestures and facial play for their effects.

FIG. 20. COMIC ACTOR AS HERAKLES

In Rome as well as in Athens the drama was connected with religious festivals and the funerals of the great, but it encountered much opposition from the more old-fashioned moralists and was never so popular as were grosser amusements. The actors were frequently slaves, though citizens engaged in this profession in increasing numbers under the late Republic and the Empire, but their occupation deprived them of certain civil rights and affected their social standing; while at Athens parts in both tragedies and comedies were taken by citizens, who lost nothing in public estimation by so doing. This in itself shows the marked difference in the Greek and Roman attitudes. Roman tragedy was closely modeled upon the Athenian, and the plays of Menander and his contemporaries, translated and adapted by Plautus and Terence, became Roman comedy, from which the classic comedy of modern Europe is derived. More popular, however, were the farces and pantomimes of various kinds, in which the native influence was strong, the dialogue and gestures being largely extemporaneous, thus affording an opportunity to a clever actor for displaying all his skill.

III
HOUSES AND FURNITURE
CASES 2 AND 5

Though the Greek and the Roman house differed considerably in detail, in a general way the two were similar. For Americans the simplest comparison to make would be with the Spanish type of dwelling in California and other parts of the Southwest, since all three have the common characteristic of looking in, rather than out. The exterior presented a blank wall, usually of brick, broken by a door and a few windows. An open courtyard formed the center of the Greek house, and this manner of building was borrowed by the Romans as their wealth increased and larger and pleasanter houses were desired. The Roman house, which grew by the addition of rooms to the original single-room hut, had a large opening in the roof of the principal room or atrium, to provide light and allow the smoke from the hearth to escape. Under the opening was a basin, called impluvium, into which fell the rain-water from the roof. These features were retained even after the atrium was used only as a reception room, the household work and cooking being done in a separate kitchen.

FIG. 21. ROMAN WALL-PAINTING

FIG. 22. CUBICULUM

Houses were usually built of sun-dried brick on a stone foundation. The roofs were often flat and were sometimes covered with hardened mud, but tile roofs were also common. Marble for columns and other decorative features was introduced into Rome in the later part of the Republican period and colored marbles were used freely by the rich Romans of the Empire. Walls were covered with stucco, which was frequently painted. There was no wall-paper, of course, and pictures were painted directly on the walls. Fashions in decoration changed as they do at present, though more slowly. The wall-paintings from a villa near Boscoreale, in the Eighth Room, illustrate several types in use in Italy in the first century A.D. The earliest style imitated columns, marble panels, or other ornamental features employed in buildings. Arabesques and fanciful combinations of foliage, birds, animals, and masks came into use later. Mythological and genre scenes, as the lady with the kithara ([fig. 21]) and the group of a man and a woman seated side by side, required a skilful painter and were naturally reserved for the principal rooms. In the cubiculum ([fig. 22]) another style has been employed, in which buildings, arches, porticoes, and gardens are combined in a way which, while of course somewhat fanciful, still probably represents the general appearance of the streets and houses of Pompeii and other cities of the time. Stucco reliefs, of which there are several graceful examples in the Museum, were used in Greek houses of the Hellenistic period as well as in Italy.

FIG. 23. MOSAIC PICTURE

Floors in early times were of hardened earth, paving stones, or plaster. In the fifth century pebbles set in cement came into use in Greece, and from this kind of floor mosaic, plain and patterned, was derived. Pictures or decorative designs made of fine glass mosaic were also used as wall decorations. Three examples are on the tops of Cases 1 and 2 ([fig. 23]).

FIG. 24. OLD MAN SEATED ON A KLISMOS

The Greek and Roman furniture which has come down to us is necessarily small in amount and fragmentary because, like most modern furniture, it was made of wood and consequently has been destroyed by damp. There remain, however, some fairly complete pieces, and a considerable number of metal fittings and casings, as well as some models and many illustrations from vases. Among the objects from Cyprus in wall-cases in the corridor are two bronze tripods, and three ornaments consisting of goats’ feet and bulls’ heads from another. The bronze lions’ paws were feet for a large chair or chest. We have also a little terracotta chair with a diminutive figure in it and a three-legged table of the kind used to set beside a dining-couch, both from Cyprus, as well as a round table on three legs, of much later date (Case 2). Two lekythoi in Case K in the Fourth Room, decorated with interior scenes, show chairs of a very graceful and comfortable type, the Greek klismos, and the same kind of chair is seen on the grave-monument of a lady in the Sculpture Gallery (No. 4), and on a large amphora on a pedestal in the Fifth Room ([fig. 24]). The lady playing a kithara in the wall-painting in the Eighth Room is seated in a large armchair, the thronos. In Case 5 is a bronze casing of beautiful work for a piece of furniture, and in Case 2 a bronze chair-leg and an ornament terminating in the head of a young bullock. Two tripods and some bronze mountings from Cyprus will be found in wall-cases in the corridor. In the cubiculum from Boscoreale is a table of marble and bronze. The bronze rim which surrounds the marble top is inlaid with silver and niello in a beautiful pattern of palmettes and rosette ornaments. A couch, probably for dining (wrongly restored as a seat), and a footstool stand in the corridor between the Eighth and Ninth Rooms. Bedsteads, which were similar to this couch in shape, were merely frames on which thongs were stretched, like the old-fashioned corded beds, the interlaced leather bands acting as springs. The wooden frames were frequently decorated with bronze fittings, and in the Hellenistic and Roman periods inlay and mountings of silver, gold, ivory, and tortoise-shell were employed for the rich. Couches and beds were usually supplied with a raised head-rest, often finished with bronze animal-heads, such as the mule-heads in Case A in the Seventh Room and Case L in the Eighth Room.

FIG. 25. BRONZE CAULDRON

FIG. 26. GREEK TABLE-WARE OF PAINTED TERRACOTTA

Clothing was kept in chests, which were well adapted to the large pieces of cloth composing a costume. A good illustration of a chest may be seen in Case W in the Fourth Room, on an amphora decorated with a scene from the story of Danaë and Perseus, and in Case 2 there is a miniature chest of white stone from which the cover has been lost.

FIG. 27. BRONZE PATERA

Household utensils, since they were made of metal or pottery, exist in considerable numbers. Cooking was usually done over an open fire, though stoves of a simple type came into use in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The bronze cauldrons used for boiling (Case S in the Third Room and wall-cases in-the corridor) were valued highly, and were offered frequently as prizes in athletic contests ([fig. 25]). At the funeral games of Patroklos (Iliad XXIII, vv. 267-268) Achilles gives a ‘bronze cauldron untouched by fire’ as a prize for the chariot race, and records of later contests prove that the custom was a common one. An amphora in Case Y in the Fourth Room is decorated with the figure of a youth, evidently a victor in the games, carrying away upon his shoulders a cauldron which he has won. The metal hook in Case N in the Seventh Room was used for drawing pieces of meat from the cauldron. Pails, finely made and decorated, especially as to the handles and their attachments, probably served some purpose at table, as, for example, to hold cold water or snow in which a vessel of wine was placed to cool.

FIG. 28. BRONZE WINE-JUG

FIG. 29. BRONZE JUG

FIG. 30. BRONZE BEAKER

FIG. 31. BRONZE LADLE FOR WINE

FIG. 32. BRONZE WINE-STRAINER

The pottery in the various rooms of the collection shows the kinds of dishes in use in Greek and Italian houses. There are cups of different shapes, pitchers and jugs for water, wine, and other liquids, kraters (large bowls for mixing water and wine), plates for food, and lekythoi (oil-cruets) ([fig. 26]). The modern china, that is, high-fired pottery covered with a vitreous glaze, was not known, and glass did not become common until the Imperial period. In the Eighth Room and the corridor are many examples of the glass vessels of that time, some plain, others with ornaments in relief, and still others of colored glass in patterns of remarkable beauty (Cases N and O in the Eighth Room). Much of the plain glass has become iridescent owing to exposure to damp in graves. The pottery in museum collections is naturally the finer product of the workshop; receptacles for storing and for kitchen use were of undecorated clay and more carelessly made. In the Cesnola Collection on the tops of Cases 58-63 are some of the tall jars, called pithoi by the Greeks and dolia by the Romans, which were used for storing and exporting wine, grain, and many other articles, taking the place of the casks, barrels, and boxes, and the paper bags and cartons of modern times. The pointed ends were driven into earthen floors.

FIG. 33. ROMAN SILVER CUP

FIG. 34. ROMAN SILVER SPOONS

Another piece of table-ware which should be mentioned is a special plate for fish, made in Italy, which had a depression in the center for holding the sauce. These plates are decorated with interesting and surprisingly accurate drawings of fish (Case Q in the Sixth Room, tail-piece, p. 31).

In Case E in the Third Room is a bronze table service of Greek work from an Etruscan tomb, and in Case O in the same room are bronze jars and jugs of various fine shapes ([figs. 27-30]), and ladles for dipping wine ([fig. 31]). In Case A in the Fourth Room is a wine-strainer ([fig. 32]). The remarkably beautiful handles from vessels in these cases are a further proof of the taste and care expended upon household utensils. Silver table services were not common among the Greeks, but silver and even gold dishes were used by wealthy Romans. In Case C in the Eighth Room are four cups of Roman date ([fig. 33]) with a ladle and a little jug or cup with a spout.

Food was usually cut into convenient pieces in the kitchen and eaten with the fingers, but spoons were used to a considerable extent by the Romans. Several bronze spoons are exhibited in Case 5, and there are some silver spoons of various shapes in the case with the silver cups in the Eighth Room ([fig. 34]).

The habit of rising and going to bed early which prevailed in Greece and Italy is easily understood when we see the meagre arrangements for lighting which they possessed. In the street torches were carried, and they were also used in the house in early times. A bronze torch-holder of the late sixth century from Cyprus in the corridor and a terracotta example in Case 2 appear to have been made so that they could be set on a table. The Romans and Etruscans made candles of pitch and also wax ones very similar to our own, but the Greeks were not acquainted with them until they were introduced by the Romans. The iron candelabrum in Case S in the Third Room was designed to hold candles on the prickets around the top. Lamps were commonly of terracotta or bronze. Olive oil was burnt in them with a wick of flax, but at best the light must have been poor and flickering. Candelabra were commonly made of wood, but handsomer ones were of bronze. A fine Etruscan candelabrum stands in the Fifth Room. It was probably furnished with hooks or other attachments for hanging lamps, or with prickets for candles ([fig. 35]). A group of lamps of various shapes is shown in Case 2 ([fig. 36]).

FIG. 35. BRONZE CANDELABRUM

FIG. 36. BRONZE LAMP ON A STAND

IV
OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN
CASES 2, 3, AND 5

FIG. 37. WOMAN EMBROIDERING OR MAKING A NET

The home in ancient times, especially the country house, was a manufactory on a small scale, like many American homes of a century ago. Most of the clothing for the family was made there, and consequently the mistress of the house must understand wool-working in every stage and the making of linen cloth, and must also be able to teach and direct the slave women. Wool was often bought in the raw state or even in the fleece, which necessitated cleansing it, certainly a disagreeable task. The Syracusan lady in the Fifteenth Idyll of Theokritos scolds because her husband has bought five dirty fleeces of poor quality—“work upon work” for her. For making the roves a pottery shield, called epinetron or onos, was placed on the knee and the fibers rubbed over it. An interesting example, decorated with drawings of women at work (see [head-band, p. 32]), has the upper surface covered with a scale pattern which furnished the slightly roughened surface necessary for making the roves (Case 2, top shelf, [fig. 38]). The covering, however, was sometimes dispensed with; a finely decorated toilet-box in Case A in the Fourth Room has on one side a drawing of a woman carding over her bare knee ([fig. 39]). This box also shows the next stage in the making of cloth, the spinning, for which distaff and spindle were used (see [tail-piece, p. 39]). A small weight, the spindle-whorl, usually of terracotta, was attached to the thread below the spindle to increase the twisting motion. An example is in Case 5. This primitive method of spinning is still in use among the Greek country-folk, witness a photograph taken in 1922 ([fig. 41]).

FIG. 38. ONOS OR EPINETRON

FIG. 39. WOMAN CARDING WOOL

FIG. 40. EMBROIDERED CLOTHING

The loom used in Greece and Italy was upright, consisting of two posts with a cross-bar. The threads of the warp, alternately long and short, were held by terracotta weights tied to the lower ends. A loom-weight from Crete is marked with the owner’s name, Kaleneika, wife or daughter of Teriphos (Case 5).

FIG. 41. GREEK COUNTRY-WOMAN SPINNING

Cloth was woven in the size desired for a particular garment, so that no cutting was necessary and consequently there were no edges to hem. Sewing was therefore restricted to seams, of which few were required, but a great deal of time and skill could be devoted to embroidered ornament upon fine garments. The earlier fashion, seen on black-figured vases, was to cover the cloth with patterns, but later only borders were used, or bands of figures. On an oinochoë of the fifth century, in Case C in the Fifth Room, are two ladies perfuming clothes. The garments and head-dresses they are wearing and the clothes they are folding are worked with beautiful borders in the wave pattern and ornaments in the form of conventionalized flowers ([fig. 40]). Besides providing fine apparel for themselves and their families, women also expended their skill on garments which they offered to the goddesses: the treasuries of Athena and of Artemis at Athens contained chests full of many-colored robes offered by worshippers ([fig. 37]). Naturally in the course of time various industries sprang up which contributed manufactured products to the household, but spinning and weaving continued to be domestic occupations, at least to provide clothing for the slaves. Some conservative families in Rome prided themselves upon wearing garments made at home; the Emperor Augustus is said to have worn, except on special occasions, the handiwork of the ladies of his family as an example of simplicity in a period of general extravagance.

FIG. 42. BAKING BREAD IN A PRIMITIVE OVEN

FIG. 43. WOMEN WINNOWING AND GRINDING CORN

The preparation of food likewise required the housewife’s direction, though the master of the house, or in large establishments a trusted steward, attended to the marketing. Two small terracottas from Cyprus on the bottom of Case 3 illustrate the making of bread by very primitive methods. In the first ([fig. 43]), the woman at the left is winnowing grain with a sieve, which she holds, and a winnowing-fan shaped like a shovel, which lies by her side. The other woman (whose head is unfortunately missing) is grinding the corn on a saddle-quern; she draws the upper millstone back and forth over the lower, which is provided with side boards to prevent the meal from falling off—a hard day’s work, one would say. The other terracotta represents a primitive method of baking bread. A clay oven like a huge bowl was built up by hand in a convenient place. The usual fuel, dried grasses, was placed in and around it and after the oven became heated and the fire had died down, the housewife set the flat loaves around the inside to bake ([fig. 42]).

FIG. 44. WOMEN AT A WELL-HOUSE IN ATHENS

Another task often represented on vases is the drawing and carrying of water. In many places the public well-houses were the principal source of supply, as the piping of water into dwellings was unusual in Greece until Roman times. A hydria in Case 2 shows a group of women carrying away their jars on their heads from a public well-house ([fig. 44]).

FIG. 45. MARRIAGE-VASE

In Athens, and probably more or less throughout the Greek world, a woman’s life was rather monotonous. Ladies did not go out unattended, and indeed were not expected to go out at all without good reason. A wife did not receive her husband’s guests or take part in his social life; but women were included in family gatherings such as weddings and dinners after the birth of children, they made visits to women relatives and friends, and shared in the frequent religious festivals, which at Athens included the theatre. In the earlier vase paintings there are comparatively few figures of women, and such as appear are usually goddesses or accessory persons in mythical scenes; but with the gradual change to subjects taken from every-day life in the later sixth and the early fifth century, we begin to see women about their usual occupations, or in groups talking with each other or with men. Much of the later Athenian pottery is decorated with charming scenes from the life of women, showing them with their children, at their toilet, busy with embroidery, or playing with pets. The younger ones seem to have enjoyed some games which we have relegated to childhood, such as spinning tops (see [fig. 53]). On the marriage-vases we see the bride being dressed by her friends and servants, or receiving presents on the day after the wedding, the traditional occasion for the presentation of gifts. Two of these vases are in Case B in the Fifth Room ([fig. 45]), and a perfume vase in Case Q is decorated with a similar scene. The usual presents seem to have been bands and ribbons for the hair, perfumes, jewelry, and pets, especially birds.

V
CHILDREN AND EDUCATION
CASES 2 AND 3

Little babies were tightly bound in swaddling clothes soon after birth, and the mother, in anxiety for her child’s safety, usually fastened an amulet or charm of some kind around its neck to keep away unfriendly spirits. The grotesque faces of colored glass previously mentioned (p. 8) may have served this purpose. Roman children wore the bulla, a case of leather or gold, according to the means of the parents, containing a charm. A large gold bulla of Etruscan workmanship is in a case at the left side of the Gold Room ([fig. 46]). The baby became the charge of an old and trusted slave-woman such as the kind old nurse represented in a terracotta statuette on the middle shelf of Case 3. Another of the same type is in Case K in the Sixth Room ([fig. 47]). The prettily decorated jug with a spout is a feeding-bottle ([fig. 48]).

FIG. 46. GOLD BULLA

FIG. 47. OLD NURSE HOLDING A BABY

FIG. 48. TERRACOTTA FEEDING-BOTTLE

Greek and Roman children played with toys much like those of the present day, but they were simple and inexpensive. Rattles for babies were made of terracotta with a few pebbles enclosed (Case 3, middle shelf). An interesting toy for a small child is the terracotta horse from Cyprus with large jars in its panniers such as those carried by real horses for taking provisions to and from market (Case 2, top shelf, [fig. 49]). Carts were favorite playthings; a small oinochoë in Case 3 shows a boy driving two goats harnessed to a chariot, and on a white lekythos painted for a child’s grave (Case F in the Fifth Room), a little boy is going to Charon’s boat for his journey over the Styx, drawing his toy cart ([fig. 50]). Of course, Greek and Roman children kept house with their dolls, and charming miniature vases were made for them, some for the doll’s table and others for her toilet and wedding. These vases, which are decorated with scenes of children at play, were given, it is thought, as presents on a festival day called Choes, “Jugs.” A number of different types are in Case G in the Fifth Room.

FIG. 49. TOY HORSE ON WHEELS

Dolls were made of wax and clay. The two seated terracotta dolls without joints in Case L in the Seventh Room were found in graves at Tarentum in Southern Italy. Another made of bone has jointed arms and could easily be dressed (Case 3, tail-piece, p. 46). These dolls were originally painted in bright colors, which have been destroyed by time.

FIG. 50. TOMB LEKYTHOS. CHILD DRAWING A CART

Rolling hoops, contrary to modern ideas, seems to have been a boys’ sport. A boy with a hoop may be seen on a vase in Case J in the Fifth Room ([fig. 52]). Mothers and nurses swung small children in swings, as in the scene on a vase from Southern Italy (Case P, Sixth Room), and older girls also enjoyed this pastime. As part of a game or perhaps as forfeit, girls sometimes carried one another on their backs. A terracotta statuette represents two girls playing ephedrismos, as this game was called (Case 3, [fig. 55]). Young women and girls, as well as boys, played with whipping-tops, as is shown on a lekythos on the same shelf ([fig. 53]), and on one side of a toilet-box two girls are playing a game of ball with a wicket ([fig. 51]). Children also played hide-and-seek, tug-of-war, and many games with beans, nuts, pebbles, small coins, and the astragals described in the section on Amusements (pp. 68-69).

FIG. 51. GIRLS PLAYING BALL

At about six years of age Greek boys were sent to school, while the girls remained at home to learn from their mothers how to spin and weave, and to read a little and keep accounts. Their education was of the simplest kind and ceased very early.

FIG. 52. BOY ROLLING A HOOP

FIG. 53. WOMEN WHIPPING TOPS

FIG. 54. STYLUS

The first school to which a boy went was that of the letter-teacher, who taught reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. A kylix in Case 3 (see [head-band, p. 40]) is decorated with figures of schoolboys, one of whom holds a roll of manuscript, and another a writing tablet. These tablets were thin pieces of wood covered with wax and fastened together with cords ([fig. 56]). A pointed stylus ([fig. 54]) was used for writing, the blunt end being turned around when it was necessary to erase by smoothing the wax[1]. After three or four years in the letter-school the boys went to the music teacher, who taught them to sing and to play the lyre, and in connection with the music they learned many selections from the great poets. Training in the palaistra or wrestling-school was begun very early, and was usually continued until the boy was old enough to be called into the military service of the state. These lessons will be described in the section on athletics, as the sports of the palaistra were in general the same as those of the men’s gymnasium. In addition to the subjects already mentioned, many boys, during the fifth century and later, studied geometry, rhetoric, and philosophy.

[1] Several very interesting objects illustrating Greek writing and writing-materials are exhibited in the case devoted to learning in the Seventh Egyptian Room. They include a wooden tablet covered with wax, several short letters on potsherds—a cheap and common writing-material—and fragments of the Iliad and the Odyssey on papyrus, the usual substance on which books were written, dating from the third century B.C. The reed pens in this case are of the kind employed for writing on papyrus.

FIG. 55. EPHEDRISMOS GAME

FIG. 56. BOY WITH A WRITING TABLET

FIG. 57. INK-POT

In Italy, Greek ideas of education were generally adopted; boys learned the Greek language and studied the Greek and Roman poets. A little geography and history were taught, and arithmetic occupied much time, for the Roman system of weights, measures, and coins was difficult and inconvenient. Besides the schools for elementary subjects there were special classes for the study of rhetoric and philosophy. The children of rich or noble families were often educated at home by Greek tutors, the girls and boys together, and among the humbler people they went to the same school for a time. In general the education of girls was similar to that of boys, so far as it went, and sometimes in wealthy families was continued after marriage. Many ladies knew the Greek poets well and wrote verses themselves. Music occupied much of their time and they learned to dance for recreation and as a means of giving pleasure to their families and friends.

VI
DRESS AND TOILET
CASES 2, 3, AND 5

FIG. 58. DIAGRAM OF DORIC CHITON

Greek dress, both for men and women, consisted of two portions, a garment for the house and a wrap to be worn over it. Men, from the time of the Homeric poems downwards, wore a “chiton,” rectangular in shape and somewhat wider than the body, closed on the sides and across the top except for openings left for the head and arms. A short woolen chiton was the usual dress for soldiers, workmen, and poor persons, while the nobles of the Homeric poems seem to have worn linen chitons reaching to the feet. Over this a wrap, either rectangular or curved on one side, was arranged in various ways. The earliest representations show men wearing a wrap with one curved edge, and apparently doubled like a shawl. This type of dress may be seen in vase paintings in the Third Room; for example, the figure of Dionysos on a stamnos (No. GR 564 in Case R), and the same god on a large amphora (No. 12.198.4) in that case.

FIG. 59. AMAZONS IN MEN’S IONIC CHITONS

The earliest garment for women which we know of was a chiton of wool without sewing. This was a large rectangular piece of cloth considerably wider and longer than the body. It was folded through the middle lengthwise, so that one side was closed and the other open. The top, again, was generally folded over, this hanging portion being called “apoptygma.” Long pins inserted with the points upwards, or fibulae (see [head-band, p. 47]), were used to fasten the double edge on the shoulders, and a girdle was usually worn to hold the edges of the open side in place ([fig. 58]). If the chiton were still too long, part of the cloth was drawn up through the girdle into a blouse called “kolpos.” The heavy woolen chiton may be seen in the drawing of three nymphs on an amphora (No. GR 549) in Case K in the Third Room. From these early representations in art, it seems that clothing for both men and women was at first rather narrow and was often covered with woven or embroidered patterns ([fig. 60]).

During the seventh and sixth centuries the rich and artistic Ionian cities had a great influence on the customs of Greece, and from them the ladies of Athens adopted the linen chiton, which was wider and was sewed on the sides. The additional width was sometimes used to form sleeves by catching the two pieces together at the top in three or four places, with sewing, buttons, or small pins. Long sleeves sewn in were occasionally worn, but were exceptional rather than customary, so that artists often represent barbarians with sleeves to distinguish them from Greeks. On a kotyle in Case C in the Fifth Room is a woman wearing a spotted chiton with long, close-fitting sleeves. At this period men as well as women at times wore the apoptygma and kolpos, but the man’s chiton was generally short ([fig. 59]). On two kylikes on the bottom of Case L in the Fourth Room (Nos. 12.231 and GR1120) women are represented in the linen chiton ([fig. 62]). After the Persian Wars, as the result of the strong reaction against Eastern fashions, men and women both adopted the woolen Doric chiton again, and for men it remained the universal dress, being now short and without apoptygma and kolpos. Still, the adoption of the Doric chiton did not imply a violent change, for working people had worn it continuously and it was the usual dress for young girls. Old men, priests, charioteers, and officials on public occasions continued to wear the long Ionic chiton, and both were in use by ladies at the same period. It should be added that at this time the two types were often worn together, the Ionic forming an undergarment with short sleeves, and the Doric, a sleeveless gown. This costume is frequently seen on grave-reliefs, but our only example is an engraving of a Maenad on a bronze mirror in Case C in the Sixth Room.

FIG. 60. EARLY CHITONS

FIG. 61. WOMAN’S DORIC CHITON OF THE V CENTURY

FIG. 62. WOMAN IN IONIC CHITON

The woman’s Doric chiton of this time may be seen in the statue of Eirene, No. 15 in the Sculpture Gallery ([fig. 61]), and it is worn without a girdle by the young girl on a gravestone (No. 21, [fig. 63]). Here the open side shows plainly. A drawing of Zeus on a krater on the bottom of Case O in the Fourth Room, and a young hunter on a krater on the left side of the first shelf show the man’s chiton ([fig. 67]). The Ionic chiton is illustrated by the statue of a goddess, No. 19 in the Sculpture Gallery. Metal buttons to represent the sleeve fastenings were inserted in the marble.

FIG. 63. DORIC CHITON WITHOUT GIRDLE

FIG. 64. LADY IN HIMATION AND HAT

FIG. 65. LADY IN HIMATION

FIG. 66. MAN IN RIDING-CLOAK AND HAT

The usual outer wrap, called himation, was a large oblong, rectangular piece of woolen cloth, and was practically the same for both sexes. In the seventh and sixth centuries there were various ways of arranging it; as a shawl, or as a scarf fastened on one shoulder. The archaic statue of a woman, No. 2 in the Sculpture Gallery, wears it doubled and fastened on one shoulder over an Ionic chiton of soft, crinkled linen ([fig. 68]). Gradually a simpler and more beautiful arrangement was adopted; the himation was laid across the back with one corner over the left shoulder, then folded around the front of the body, passing either over or under the right arm according to the wearer’s wish, and the end thrown over the left shoulder, from which it hung down the back, kept in place by a weight in the corner. On a krater (No. 16.72) on the bottom of Case J in the Fourth Room, the god Dionysos is wearing the himation arranged in this way (see [tail-piece, p. 67]), and the cast of the so-called Lateran Sophokles (No. 775 in the Gallery of Casts) shows the himation at its best. Ladies often drew it up over their heads like a veil. The terracotta statuettes in the Sixth Room illustrate the variety of ways in which the wrap could be draped (figs. 64, 65). Besides the himation there were cloaks of more convenient dimensions for riding, hunting, or traveling. These were variously named but were all unsewn pieces of cloth, rectangular or curved on one side, and were usually pinned on one shoulder. A terracotta (No. 06.1118) in Case G in the Sixth Room represents a traveler in chiton and riding-cloak ([fig. 66]), and the same cloak is worn by a warrior on the large amphora on a pedestal in the Fifth Room (see [fig. 103]).

FIG. 67. MAN’S CHITON

Head-coverings were worn only by travelers, riders, or working-men. A hat with a wide brim, called “petasos,” was the usual traveler’s head-gear. It was made in a variety of shapes, the brim being sometimes broader at back and front, sometimes at the sides. Another form had a circular brim which turned up. This may be seen on three terracotta statuettes (Case 2, and Case G in the Sixth Room). A cap, called “pilos,” was worn by smiths, sailors, and working-men in general. There is a man wearing a pilos on a cup on the top shelf of Case S in the Fourth Room, and a warrior with the same hat will be found on a small hydria on the first shelf of Case Q in the Fifth Room. Some head-coverings which may be either caps or small hats with rolled brims, are represented in several terracotta statuettes of boys in Case G in the Sixth Room. Women wore the petasos for traveling, and they also used a kind of sun-hat, called “tholia,” with a pointed crown and broad brim, made of straw and fastened by a ribbon. Several examples of this stiff and ungraceful hat may be seen on terracotta statuettes in Case 2, and in Case G in the Sixth Room (see [fig. 64]).

FIG. 68. AKROPOLIS MAIDEN IN IONIC CHITON AND HIMATION

Shoes were of two principal types: sandals with straps, and high shoes or boots for hunting and traveling. The Greeks valued finely made shoes, and dandies sometimes invented new fashions which were called by their names, as “Alkibiades shoes.” A terracotta foot from Cyprus wearing a sandal and another painted black are on the middle shelf of Case 2. On a krater in Case O in the Fourth Room Hermes wears high laced boots with a tongue rising above the laces, and a stamnos on the bottom of Case E shows the hunter Eos in boots. The bronze statuette of the philosopher Hermarchos in the Seventh Room wears sandals which are worked out in detail ([fig. 69]), and an idea of the thickness of the soles may be gained from those worn by the woman on a stele, No. 4 in the Sculpture Gallery. The number and arrangement of the straps which held the sandal in place were various and they were sometimes broad enough to form what was practically a shoe. Boots were at times made with the leg-covering composed of leather bands resembling modern puttees. Women wore sandals or low shoes. Black was the usual color for foot-coverings, but gay colors were worn by women and young men. The warm climate and custom permitted people often to dispense with shoes in the house, and working-men went barefoot.

FIG. 69. GREEK SANDAL

FIG. 70. GREEK JEWELRY

The hair was worn long by men until the fifth century, and the Spartans and Athenian gentlemen who admired Spartan ways continued the fashion. It was sometimes allowed to fall on the shoulders in curls or braids, but was more frequently braided in two plaits and wound around the head, or made into a sort of roll at the back and fastened by a gold pin. In the sixth century men wore pointed beards without moustaches, but later it became customary to shave the entire face, though short beards and moustaches were worn by older men. A warrior arming, on an amphora on the bottom of Case 4, has a pointed beard and long hair. His young squire, who stands behind him, is beardless but his hair is long and curling. The lyre-player on a large amphora on Pedestal R3 in the Third Room has long hair in a knot at the back, held in place by a band. A somewhat similar arrangement is seen in the bronze statuette of Apollo in Case C2 in the same room. The fashion of plaited hair wound around the head is illustrated by a terracotta relief of Phrixos on the ram’s back in Case E in the Fourth Room. In the fifth century short hair was usual for both young and old men; young men did not wear beards but older men frequently wore short beards with moustaches. A moustache without a beard was regarded as the mark of the barbarian. The marble heads of two young men, Nos. 12 and 14 in the Sculpture Gallery, and the athlete’s head on Pedestal H in the Sixth Room show the fashion for young men, and a comparison of the vases and small bronzes in the Third Room with those in the Fourth Room will make clear the gradual change of style from elaboration to simplicity.

FIG. 71. WOMEN’S COIFFURES

The styles of women’s hair-dressing can be best understood by looking at the statues, vases, and terracottas in the collection. A variety of ornamental kerchiefs was worn, especially a very pretty band called sphendone, “sling,” from its shape ([fig. 71]). On the bottom of Case J in the Fifth Room is a large stamnos decorated with groups of women dressed in the Ionic and Doric chitons and wearing various kinds of head-dresses. Many of the terracottas in the Sixth Room and the head of a young goddess, No. 7 in the Sculpture Gallery, illustrate the “melon” coiffure which became the mode in the fourth century.

Fashions in dress were the same in general throughout the Greek world, although of course there were local peculiarities. In Sparta boys and men often wore only a small wrap without a chiton, and young men commonly went barefoot. The women wore the Doric chiton.

FIG. 72. STRIGIL

The jewelry in use included necklaces and bracelets, rings for the ears and fingers, and pins for the hair and clothes. The Doric chiton originally required two very large pins, which were inserted with the points upwards, but they went out of use in the sixth century when the Ionic chiton came into fashion and were not worn with the later Doric chiton. The fibula or safety-pin was used throughout the Greek and Roman world. A group of these pins of various types is exhibited in Case D in the Second Room. The fibula illustrated in the head-band is in the Gold Room. Greek jewelry of the fifth and fourth centuries was frequently of great beauty. Precious stones were used but seldom until the Hellenistic period, but the excellence of Greek workmanship has rarely been equalled by other craftsmen. The Greek gentleman permitted himself only a handsome ring which was useful as a seal, and the artistic value of these engraved seal rings of gold or of gold set with a semi-precious stone has made them favorites with collectors for many centuries. The rings and gems in cases in the rooms of the Classical Wing, and the beautiful jewelry in the Gold Room are proofs of the skill of Greek workmen and the fine taste of their patrons ([fig. 70]).

FIG. 73. RAZOR

FIG. 74. ALABASTRON

Roman dress was similar to that of Greece in its principal characteristics. The clothing of women was the same as that of the Greek lady of the Hellenistic age represented in the terracotta statuettes. The Ionic chiton, made usually of wool instead of linen, and called stola, was worn in the house, but the married woman’s stola had a wide piece like a flounce sewn on at the bottom. For the street the himation, called by the Romans palla, was worn over it. The Roman citizen wore a white woolen tunic like the Greek chiton, but it was usually provided with short sleeves. Senators, knights, and free-born children had this tunic ornamented with purple stripes running from each shoulder to the bottom, both front and back. In the statue of a camillus in the Eighth Room the stripes were inlaid in silver, of which traces remain. Over this was worn the toga, corresponding to the Greek himation and arranged in the same general way. The toga, however, was usually larger than the himation and was semicircular on the lower edge. For senators, knights, and children it was ornamented with a broad purple stripe following the straight edge. Shoes and sandals of various kinds were in use; a special kind of high shoe called calceus was always worn with the toga, and the tunic, toga, and calceus formed the regulation dress for citizens in public. The toga, being a very heavy, cumbersome garment, was not worn for traveling or active work, and for these purposes there were many small wraps and longer cloaks of various shapes.

FIG. 75. ARYBALLOS

FIG. 76. GLASS BOTTLE

Short hair was universally worn by men in Rome. Under the Republic women’s hair was simply arranged, but throughout the Imperial period a variety of styles prevailed at different times, most of which were conspicuous for their bad taste and so elaborate that the desired effect was produced by wearing wigs and wire supports. Some of the better styles may be seen on the portraits in the Sculpture Gallery, and on the heads of a girl and a woman on pedestals in the Eighth Room. During most of their history the Romans did not wear beards or moustaches, but under the Empire fashion fluctuated, following the style favored by the reigning emperor. After the time of Trajan beards were usual.

FIG. 77. SILVER PYXIS

FIG. 78. TERRACOTTA PYXIS

Roman ladies were fond of ornaments and wore a great many of them. Large sums of money were expended on precious stones and on shoes and other garments embroidered with pearls. During the Republican period the Roman wore a gold ring as the badge of his citizenship, but in the Imperial period, with the increase of luxurious bad taste, dandies sometimes covered all the joints of their fingers with rings.

Requisites for the toilet do not differ greatly from one period to another, since the purposes for which they were intended remain practically the same; so we find much that seems familiar among those of the Greeks and Romans. Probably the oldest article in this group is a razor with a crescent-shaped blade, made in Italy in the early Iron Age. The shape seems to have been a common one ([fig. 73]). Tweezers, of which an example is shown in Case 5, were used for removing superfluous hair. An article of daily use in ancient times, though we have no modern utensil to correspond with it, is the strigil or flesh-scraper (Case 5, [fig. 72]). It was used especially by athletes after exercise, to remove the dust and sand of the wrestling-ground, so that the strigil, oil-flask, and sponge became in Greece a kind of symbol for the athlete’s life, which was, practically speaking, the life of all well-to-do young men. On a gravestone, No. 7 in the Sculpture Gallery, the dead youth is represented with a strigil in his hand, while his little slave holds his towel and oil-flask. Both men and women used strigils in the bath for scraping off the fuller’s earth or lye powder used as soap. A silver strigil was included in the tomb furniture of an Etruscan lady which is exhibited in Case F in the Sixth Room. There is an example in glass of Roman date in Case 5.

FIG. 79. SPATULA

FIG. 80. DIPPING-ROD

It was customary among the Greeks and Romans to rub the body with oil after the bath. The small jar called aryballos (Case G in the Fifth Room, [fig. 75]) and the taller alabastron (Case 2, and Case A in the Fourth Room, [fig. 74]) were used for holding oil and perfumes for toilet use. Some small glass toilet bottles in Case J in the Third Room are so charming in shape and coloring as to make a modern woman envious ([fig. 76]). In the Gold Room are two crystal scent bottles from Cyprus, one of which has a gold stopper. The toilet box or pyxis held ointment, rouge, face or tooth powders, or small toilet articles or ornaments. These charming boxes were made of metal, as the silver box in Case F in the Sixth Room ([fig. 77]), or of painted terracotta. The latter are often triumphs of the potter’s and vase painter’s art; for example, the white pyxis in Case V in the Fourth Room ([fig. 78]) and the red-figured pyxis in Case A in the same room, with its interesting drawings of women working wool (compare [fig. 39]). Others of a variety of shapes and decoration will be found in Cases C and G in the Fifth Room.

FIG. 81. GREEK MIRROR ON A STAND

FIG. 82. ETRUSCAN MIRROR

FIG. 83. GREEK MIRROR AND COVER

The bronze boxes known as cistae are Etruscan. Some of those which have been found in tombs are very large and are elegantly decorated with engraved scenes. They seem to have been a kind of dressing-case, for holding all of a lady’s toilet equipment. A small one was included in the tomb furniture of an Etruscan woman which is shown in Case F in the Sixth Room.

Bronze spatulae were useful in a variety of ways for mixing and applying the cosmetics which were employed so constantly by Greek and Roman ladies ([fig. 79]). An instrument corresponding to our medicine droppers are the dipping-rods of bronze or glass. They could be inserted into bottles or jars to take out a small quantity of liquid. A disk about half way up the rod kept it from slipping into the bottle ([fig. 80]). Examples of both utensils will be found in Case 5.

Ancient mirrors were as inferior to the modern in power to reflect as they are superior in beauty. Disks of highly polished metal, usually bronze, were employed for this purpose, for the process of making a mirror by backing a sheet of glass is not older than the fourteenth century. Sometimes the mirror consists of a simple disk, plain or ornamented on one side with an engraving or a design in relief, or again it is made in one piece with a long handle or with a short tang to be inserted into a bone or ivory handle, or it is provided with a ring. The disk is often protected with a cover which bears the principal decoration. Etruscan mirrors most frequently have handles but no covers, and are decorated with engraved scenes, usually taken from Greek mythology ([fig. 82]). Greek mirrors are of two types: either a simple disk without a handle, fitting into a cover, usually ornamented with a relief ([fig. 83]), or a disk supported on a stand, often in the form of a human figure ([fig. 81]). In Case A in the Fourth Room are two fine examples of the latter, two stands from which the mirrors have been lost, and a mirror with a cover decorated with a woman’s head in relief. Another charming stand of Etruscan workmanship is in Case H in the Third Room. In Case A in the Fifth Room are four very beautiful Greek mirrors of the fourth century, and in Case C in the Sixth Room are examples of both Greek and Etruscan types. A pretty terracotta statuette of a lady using a mirror is in Case G in the same room; she is arranging her hair while balancing her mirror on her knee.