Dionysius of Sinope, we are told, published a catalogue of cups, which, if we may judge from the space occupied by little more than the bare mention of some of them in Athenæus, must have been pretty compendious. But these drinking vessels had a significance beyond that which attached either to their size, material, or variety. Whilst some were works of art, testifying only the skill, the love of the beautiful, and the cultivated taste of their makers and owners, many, through the indecent scenes which were portrayed upon them, revealed an age of dissoluteness which had probably never been surpassed nor even equalled. To descend to an account of the debauchery practised in the ancient empires of Greece and Rome would be impossible in this or any other work of a popular character, but our duty would remain unfulfilled did we not attempt to convey some idea of the state of society in that day. There were then, as now, banquets, dinner-parties, and wine-parties (_symposia_), some of which were conducted with moderation, and were accompanied by rational entertainments, such as conversation amongst the guests, musical and dramatic performances, but at others drunkenness and every species of debauchery were openly practised, and those often terminated in confusion, riot, and bloodshed. It would be the easiest task possible to degrade two of the greatest nations that have ruled the earth in the reader’s eyes by laying bare the private character and doings of some of those whom we have been in the habit of regarding as the heroes of a bygone age, but that would be less fair, as it certainly would be less satisfactory, than to take even the most grossly exaggerated descriptions of society itself as they have been handed down to us by the satirists of the day. Many of our readers have doubtless laughed or sighed over the pages of Aristophanes, Petronius, and Athenæus, and to them the account of an ancient Roman or Greek feast and drinking bout will be no novelty; but there are others whose studies and researches have led them in a different direction, and for these a brief sketch of a Roman entertainment of the grosser, but by no means of the grossest kind, may prove of interest. Let it be added that, remembering the practical aim of this work, we have considerably softened down the farcical or exaggerated tone of the authors whose writings have served as our guide in the description.[170] The scene opens at the entrance gate of a Roman mansion, on which there are inscribed the following significant words: “Any slave who shall go out of doors without his master’s leave shall receive a hundred lashes.” Here the guests may be seen descending from their chariots in banqueting dress, and within, the _ostium_ or entrance is alive with visitors, playing various games, engaged in conversation, or already receiving draughts of wine from the hands of obedient slaves.