. The life of the Greeks and Romans. thick, was chosen in preference ;the Roman name of this tree was citrus, not to be mistaken for thecitron-tree. The value of large slabs of citrus-wood was to Pliny, Cicero (by no means a wealthy man accordingto Roman notions) spent 500,000 II S. (about £5,400), AsiniusPollio £10,800, King Juba £13,050, and the family of the Cethegi £15,150, for a single slab of thismaterial. The value of this woodconsisted chiefly in the beautifullines of the veins and fibres (ma-culre), shown to still greater advan-tage by the polish. The Romansclassifi
. The life of the Greeks and Romans. thick, was chosen in preference ;the Roman name of this tree was citrus, not to be mistaken for thecitron-tree. The value of large slabs of citrus-wood was to Pliny, Cicero (by no means a wealthy man accordingto Roman notions) spent 500,000 II S. (about £5,400), AsiniusPollio £10,800, King Juba £13,050, and the family of the Cethegi £15,150, for a single slab of thismaterial. The value of this woodconsisted chiefly in the beautifullines of the veins and fibres (ma-culre), shown to still greater advan-tage by the polish. The Romansclassified the slabs by their designsinto tiger, panther, wavy, and pea-cock feather, &c, patterns. Theenormous price of the massiveslabs naturally led to the custom of veneering other woodwith citrus. Valuable tables of this kind were taken out oftheir covers only on festive occasions. The plate and nicknacks,always found in elegant Roman houses, were displayed on smallone or three legged tables (trapezophoron), the slabs of which. Fisr. 44fi. TRIPODS. 447 {abacus, a word which, like trapezophoron, is sometimes used forthe whole table) had raised edges round them : several richlyornamented specimens of such tables have been found at 446 shows a small abacus resting on three marble legs, whichhas been found in the house of the Little Mosaic-Fountain atPompeii. Another table (Museo Borb., vol. xv., Tav. 6),with a slab of rosso antico resting on four graceful bronzelegs, deserves attention on account of an ingenious contrivancebetween the legs, by means of which it could be lowered orheightened at will: a similar contrivance occurs in severaltripods. A table of a different kind was the tripod {delphica sc. mensa),imitated from the Greek Tplirov^,and used chiefly at meals to putvessels and dishes on : severalelegant specimens of the tripodhave been discovered at Pompeii,The ends of the three legswere generally shaped like thepaws of animals; the legs, con-nected by means
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondonchapmanandha
