Whenever these persons of high distinction
condescend to visit the public baths, they assume, on their entrance, a
tone of loud and insolent command, and appropriate to their own use
the conveniences which were designed for the Roman people. If, in
these places of mixed and general resort, they meet any of the infamous
ministers of their pleasures, they express their affection by a
tender embrace; while they proudly decline the salutations of their
fellow-citizens, who are not permitted to aspire above the honor of
kissing their hands, or their knees. As soon as they have indulged
themselves in the refreshment of the bath, they resume their rings, and
the other ensigns of their dignity, select from their private wardrobe
of the finest linen, such as might suffice for a dozen persons, the
garments the most agreeable to their fancy, and maintain till their
departure the same haughty demeanor; which perhaps might have been
excused in the great Marcellus, after the conquest of Syracuse.
Sometimes, indeed, these heroes undertake more arduous achievements;
they visit their estates in Italy, and procure themselves, by the toil
of servile hands, the amusements of the chase. If at any time, but more
especially on a hot day, they have courage to sail, in their painted
galleys, from the Lucrine Lake to their elegant villas on the seacoast
of Puteoli and Cayeta, they compare their own expeditions to the marches
of Caesar and Alexander. Yet should a fly presume to settle on the silken
folds of their gilded umbrellas; should a sunbeam penetrate through
some unguarded and imperceptible chink, they deplore their intolerable
hardships, and lament, in affected language, that they were not born in
the land of the Cimmerians, the regions of eternal darkness. In these
journeys into the country, the whole body of the household marches with
their master. In the same manner as the cavalry and infantry, the
heavy and the light armed troops, the advanced guard and the rear,
are marshalled by the skill of their military leaders; so the domestic
officers, who bear a rod, as an ensign of authority, distribute and
arrange the numerous train of slaves and attendants. The baggage and
wardrobe move in the front; and are immediately followed by a multitude
of cooks, and inferior ministers, employed in the service of the
kitchens, and of the table. The main body is composed of a promiscuous
crowd of slaves, increased by the accidental concourse of idle or