Cicero’s table was made of a wood called Thyine—­wood which was brought from Africa and held in the highest esteem.  It was valued not only on account of its beauty but also from superstitious or religious reasons.  The possession of thyine wood was supposed to bring good luck, and its sacredness arose from the fact that from it was produced the incense used by the priests.  Dr. Edward Clapton, of St. Thomas’ Hospital, who has made a collection of woods named in the Scriptures, has managed to secure a specimen of thyine, which a friend of his obtained on the Atlas Mountains.  It resembles the woods which we know as tuyere and amboyna.[2]

Roman, like Greek houses, were divided into two portions—­the front for reception of guests and the duties of society, with the back for household purposes, and the occupation of the wife and family; for although the position of the Roman wife was superior to that of her Greek contemporary, which was little better than that of a slave, still it was very different to its later development.

The illustration given here of a repast in the house of Sallust, represents the host and his eight male guests reclining on the seats of the period, each of which held three persons, and was called a triclinium, making up the favorite number of a Roman dinner party, and possibly giving us the proverbial saying—­“Not less than the Graces nor more than the Muses”—­which is still held to be a popular regulation for a dinner party.

[Illustration:  Roman Scamnum or Bench.]

[Illustration:  Roman Bisellium, or Seat for Two Persons.  But generally occupied by one, on occasions of festivals, etc.]

From discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii a great deal of information has been gained of the domestic life of the wealthier Roman citizens, and there is a useful illustration at the end of this chapter of the furniture of a library or study in which the designs are very similar to the Greek ones we have noticed; it is not improbable they were made and executed by Greek workmen.

It will be seen that the books such as were then used, instead of being placed on shelves or in a bookcase, were kept in round boxes called Scrinia, which were generally of beech wood, and could be locked or sealed when required.  The books in rolls or sewn together were thus easily carried about by the owner on his journeys.

Mr. Hungerford Pollen mentions that wearing apparel was kept in vestiaria, or wardrobe rooms, and he quotes Plutarch’s anecdote of the purple cloaks of Lucullus, which were so numerous that they must have been stored in capacious hanging closets rather than in chests.

In the atrium, or public reception room, was probably the best furniture in the house.  According to Moule’s “Essay on Roman Villas,” “it was here that numbers assembled daily to pay their respects to their patron, to consult the legislator, to attract the notice of the statesman, or to derive importance in the eyes of the public from an apparent intimacy with a man in power.”