skin must always be sleek with it; but as a rule the anointing is a prelude to exercise, and is meant to make the joints supple and the body slippery enough to elude a wrestler’s grip.[414] A slave or an attendant stands by many of the men, holding one of those dainty oil-flasks which make so great a feature in modern Museums of Archæology. Through the next door we see the “dusting-room.” Various sorts of dust were used for rubbing the body. They served to clean it of sweat after exercise, to open the pores, to warm it when cold, and to soften the skin. A yellow dust was particularly popular; for it made the body glisten so as to be pleasant to look at, as a good body in good condition ought to be.[415] Next perhaps will be the bathing-room――a popular place in the evening, for it was usual to take a bath before dinner.[416] The bathers either splash themselves out of great bowls which stand upon pedestals, or receive a shower bath by getting a companion or an attendant to pour a pitcher of water over them. Tanks capable of receiving the whole body at once were not usual, though known to Homer.[417] Then we see the room of the _korukos_, or punch-ball, which will present a very curious appearance.[418] The _korukos_ is a large sack hanging from the ceiling by a rope. The lighter _korukoi_ are filled with fig seeds or meal, the heavier with sand. They hang at about the height of a man’s waist. You push one of them gently at first, and more and more violently as you gain experience; having pushed it, you plant yourself in the way of the rebound, and try to stop the sack with your hands or your chest or your back or your head. If you are not strong enough, you will be knocked over, and the room will laugh. This will practise you in standing steady, and make all parts of your body firm and muscular. The _korukos_ can also be used as a punch-ball, to strengthen the boxer’s arms and shoulders. This exercise is especially recommended for boxers and pankratiasts: the latter ought to use the heavier variety. Perhaps there will also be some lay-figures hanging up round the walls, for these also were used for practising. Here, too, some unlucky individuals who, from unpopularity or other causes, are unable to find an antagonist, will be exercising their fists on thin air. But both these expedients were regarded as ridiculous.[419]