"About the mysteries of the toilette of the Roman ladies, mercilessly laid bare by the authors of imperial times, we shall say little. Great care was particularly bestowed on the complexion, and on the artificial reproduction of other charms, lost too soon in the exciting atmosphere of imperial court-life. During the night a mask (_tectorium_) of dough and ass's milk was laid on the face, to preserve the complexion; this mask was an invention of Poppæa, the wife of Nero, hence its name _Poppæana_. Another mask, composed of rice and bean-flour, served to remove the wrinkles from the face. It was washed off in the morning with tepid ass's milk and the face afterwards bathed in fresh ass's milk several times in the course of the day. Poppæa was, for the purpose, always accompanied in her travels by herds of she-asses. The two chief paints used for the face were a white (_creta cerussa_) and a red substance (_fucus minium purpurissum_), moistened with spittle. Brows and eyelashes were dyed black, or painted over; even the veins on the temples were masked with lines of a tender blue color. Many different pastes and powders were used to preserve and clean the teeth. Artificial teeth made of ivory and fastened with gold thread were known to the Romans at the time when the laws of the twelve tablets were made, one of which laws prohibited the deposition of gold in the graves of the dead, excepting the material required for the fastening of false teeth."[191] As an aid in the preparation of the toilet and the like, the Romans had mirrors. These were not made of glass but of polished metal. They were square or round and of various sizes, some being equal in size to a grown-up person. Some of the mirrors had handles for holding with the hand, some were made so as to hang on the wall, and others could be placed upright. =Food.= The Romans of the early times had a simple fare, living chiefly on pottage, or bread and pot-herbs. They sat at their meals, using a long table. As the nation grew and wealth increased and they came in contact with older nations, they gave up this simple life and entered among the most luxurious nations in their manner of living. The Romans had three meals a day. The first meal was in the morning, the _ientaculum_, or breakfast, which was simple, consisting of bread flavored with salt or dipped in wine, olives, grapes, eggs, and cheese. The second meal was at midday, the _cena_, or dinner, which with the country people was the principal meal. In the city this midday meal was a lunch, the _prandium_, while the _cena_, dinner, was taken later in the day, toward evening, and often became quite an elaborate affair. There was sometimes a fourth meal, _comissatio_, served late at night, which really was but little more than a drinking-bout.