Under the Empire, when the light of the lamp had become general, the better ones were made of bronze, ornamented with heads, animals, and other decorations, attached to the handles, while as life in Rome partook more of luxury and extravagance, gold, silver, or Corinthian brass were the materials, the designs being more elaborate and complicated. Many and beautiful examples of these ancient lamps have been unearthed from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. When Were Street Lamps First Used? Dark must have been the lives of those people who, until comparatively recent times, lived, in the absence of sunlight, by the feeble, uncertain light of the primitive illuminants borne by these lamps. And as for street lighting--that was a luxury but seldom indulged in, and then, not for public benefit, but to enhance the glory of a potentate, or grace the obsequies of some great man. Even Rome, at the height of her luxury and beauty, rarely exhibited more than one or two lanterns in her streets. These were suspended over the baths and places of public resort. Occasionally, however, the streets were illuminated during festivals and other public occasions, while the Forum was sometimes lighted for a midnight exhibition. With these glittering exceptions, and that memorable one when, to satisfy the homicidal impulses of a bad emperor, the bodies of Christians were made living torches, Rome was a city of darkness. [Illustration: THE FIRST STREET LIGHT IN AMERICA The first street light in America. Early in 1795 several large cressets were placed on the corners of Boston’s most frequented street. Pine-knots were placed in these fire baskets by the night watchman.] When Were Candles Introduced? Historical records indicate the prevalent use of candles in the earliest days of Rome, but these candles were of the simplest sort--mere string or rope which had been smeared with pitch or wax. In the early Christian centuries it was the custom to dip rushes in pitch and coat them with wax, a method of candle-making that was long continued, for it was not until the fourteenth century that dipped tallow candles were introduced. In the Middle Ages wax candles provided the usual means of illumination, and these were made, not by common craftsmen, but by monks, or by the servants of the rich. Until the fifteenth century their use was confined to churches, monasteries and the houses of nobles, but the demand for them had become so great that the chandlers of London obtained an act of incorporation. As late as the eighteenth century the candles were made by dipping the wicks into melted wax or tallow, but about this time an ingenious Frenchman conceived the idea of casting them in metal moulds. [Illustration: A part of the “Amende Honorable” of Jacques Coeur before Charles VII of France.] [Illustration: A pagan votive lamp of bronze, now in the museum at Naples.]