“It may possibly be observed, that this was because marble was not then introduced. Such, however, is not the fact; for in the ædileship of M. Scaurus, three hundred and sixty columns were to be seen imported, for the decorations of a temporary theatre, too, one that was destined to be in use for barely a single month. And yet the laws were silent thereon, in a spirit of indulgence for the amusements of the public, no doubt. But then, why such indulgence? or how do vices more insidiously steal upon us than under the plea of serving the public? By what other way, in fact, did ivory, gold, and precious stones, first come into use with private individuals? “Can we say that there is now anything that we have reserved for the exclusive use of the gods? However, be it so, let us admit of this indulgence for the amusements of the public; but still, why did the laws maintain their silence when the largest of these columns, pillars of Lucullan marble, as much as eight-and-thirty feet in height, were erected in the atrium of Scaurus? a thing, too, that was not done privately, or in secret; for the contractor for the public sewers compelled him to give security for the possible damage that might be done in the carriage of them to the Palace.... Already had L. Crassus, the orator, he who was the first to possess pillars of foreign marble, and in this same Palatium too, received from M. Brutus, on the occasion of a dispute, the nickname of the ‘Palatine Venus,’ for his indulgence in this kind of luxury. The material, I should remark, was Hymetian marble, and the pillars were but six in number, and not exceeding some twelve feet in height.... These particulars, and others in the sequel, will shew that we are so far improved; for who is there at the present day that has, in his atrium, any such massive columns as these of Scaurus[241]?” ...