The barber shops, however, have recently received a terrific blow; and loud is the lament of the entire profession shared in by all those private “house barbers” who care for the wealthy. Since not long after 300 B.C. Romans have been smooth shaven, beards ordinarily being counted the sign of rusticity or of poverty; although teachers of philosophy wore long whiskers as a kind of professional badge. The day when a youth shaved off his first beard was celebrated almost as elaborately as the day he assumed the pure white “manly” toga. But to general consternation the reigning Emperor Hadrian, in his passionate admiration for Periclean Athens, has astonished all Rome by appearing with a full beard. Of course, every courtier and government official has loyally imitated him. Of course, every senator and eques has with equal loyalty done likewise. Feminine protests have been utterly vain. Beards, sometimes closely trimmed, sometimes long and venerable, have blossomed on almost every manly chin across the entire Empire. Imperial Rome will henceforth continue bearded until the era of Constantine, nearly two hundred years, when the razor will suddenly resume its sway. Such is the power of Cæsarian example! [Illustration: ROMAN FEMALE HEADS: showing elaborate arrangement of the hair.] =75. FASHIONS IN WOMEN’S HAIRDRESSING. HAIR ORNAMENTS.=--If the barbers are unhappy, their gentler rivals, the _ornatrices_, who dress the hair of ladies, still reign in full glory. No Roman girl dreams of cutting off her hair, but the modes of arranging it are, as says Ovid, “More numerous than the leaves on the oak or the bees on Mount Hybla.” Fashions come and go with astonishing rapidity, and we have seen how Gratia’s statue was devised so that a new coiffure could be substituted for the old (see p. 53).