friendship of the gods. The greatest extravagance was displayed on the funeral pile, which, as well as the body about to be consumed by the flames, was frequently covered with the most costly spices. Nero is reported to have burnt at the funeral of his wife Poppæa, a quantity of cinnamon and cassia greater than the countries from which it was imported were capable of producing in one year;[1] and two hundred and ten burdens of spices are said to have been strewed upon the pile which consumed to ashes the body of Sylla.
Among the precious jewels brought from the East, pearls were most in demand, and for the finest and rarest of these the most extraordinary prices were given. Julius Cæsar is said to have presented the mother of Brutus with one for which he had paid 48,457l.; and if we may credit the statement of Pliny, the famous pearl earrings of Cleopatra were valued at 161,458l. sterling.[2] That silk was an article greatly prized is not a matter for wonder, when we consider the variety of elegant fabrics into which it may be fashioned, and how much it must have added to the splendour of dress so eagerly sought after by the luxurious inhabitants of Rome. Its price was so exorbitant that women of eminent rank and opulence alone could afford to use it; but this did not render the demand for it less eager. Contrary to what usually happens in the ordinary operations of trade, an increased demand for it had not the effect of increasing the quantity imported to a sufficient extent to materially reduce the price, for in the reign of Aurelian, more than two hundred and fifty years
