nd a lady of the court, each
accompanied by her female slave. The extreme ugliness of the Nubian Juba
acted as a foil for the striking beauty of Valeria.

First of all, the guests were crowned with wreaths of fair and fragrant
flowers. Then elegantly dressed slaves brought in, to the sound of
music, the different courses: first eggs dressed with vinegar, olives
and lettuce, like our salad; then roast pheasants, peacocks' tongues and
thrushes, and the livers of capons steeped in milk; next oysters brought
alive from the distant shores of Great Britain, and, reversing our
order, fish in great variety--one of the most beautiful of these was the
purple mullet--served with high-seasoned condiments and sauces. Of solid
meats the favourite dish was a roast sucking pig, elegantly garnished.
Of vegetables they had nothing corresponding to our potatoes, but,
instead, a profusion of mallows, lentils, truffles, and mushrooms. The
banquet wound up with figs, olives, almonds, grapes, tarts and
confections, and apples--hence the phrase _ab ovo ad mala_.

After the first course the emperor poured out a libation of Falernian
wine, with the Greek formula, "to the supreme God," watching eagerly if
his wife and daughter would do the same. Lacking the courage to make a
bold confession of Christianity, and thinking, with a casuistry that we
shall not attempt to defend, that the ambiguity of the expression
excused the act, they also, apparently to the great relief of the
emperor, poured out a libation and sipped a small quantity of the wine.
The emperor then drank to the health of his wife and daughter, wishing
the latter many returns of the auspicious day they had met to celebrate.
Each of the guests also made, according to his ability, a complimentary
speech, which the ladies acknowledged by a gracious salutation. After
the repast slaves brought perfumed water and embroidered napkins for the
guests to wash their fingers, which had been largely employed in the
process of dining.

The most of the guests were sycophants and satellites of the emperor,
and in the intervals between the courses employed their art in
flattering his vanity or fomenting his prejudices. One of them,
Semphronius by name, an old fellow with a very bald and shiny head and
a very vivacious manner, made great pretensions to the character of a
philosopher or professor of universal knowledge, and was ever ready,
with a great flow of often unmeaning words, to give a theory