imes portioned out into large panels of one uniform color, flush
with the surface, or recessed, not very unlike those at Pompeii; and
they were red, yellow, or stained to resemble stone or wood. It seems
to have been the introduction of this mode of ornament into Roman
houses that excited the indignation of Vitruvius; who says that in old
times they used red paint sparingly, like physic, though now whole
walls are covered over with it.

Figures were also introduced on the blank walls in the sitting-rooms,
or scenes from domestic life, surrounded by ornamental borders, and
surmounted by deep cornices of flowers and various devices richly
painted; and no people appear to have been more fond of using flowers
on every occasion. In their domestic architecture they formed the
chief ornament of the mouldings; and every visitor received a bouquet
of real flowers, as a token of welcome on entering a house. It was the
pipe and coffee of the modern Egyptians; and a guest at a party was
not only presented with a lotus, or some other flower, but had a
chaplet placed round his head, and another round his neck; which led
the Roman poet to remark the "many chaplets on the foreheads" of the
Egyptians at their banquets. Everywhere flowers abounded; they were
formed into wreaths and festoons, they decked the stands that
supported the vases in the convivial chamber, and crowned the
wine-bowl as well as the servants who bore the cup from it to the
assembled guests.

The villas of the Egyptians were of great extent, and contained
spacious gardens, watered by canals communicating with the Nile. They
had large tanks of water in different parts of the garden, which
served for ornament, as well as for irrigation, when the Nile was low;
and on these the master of the house occasionally amused himself and
his friends by an excursion in a pleasure-boat towed by his servants.
They also enjoyed the diversion of angling and spearing fish in the
ponds within their grounds, and on these occasions they were generally
accompanied by a friend, or one or more members of their family.
Particular care was always bestowed upon the garden, and their great
fondness for flowers is shown by the number they always cultivated, as
well as by the women of the family or the attendants presenting
bouquets to the master of the house and his friends when they walked
there.

The house itself was sometimes ornamented with propylae and obelisks,
like the temples themselv