Ladies usually went to the bath when they first arose, and from the bath to the toilet. This important business occupied many hours. The attendants were numerous, and each one had a separate department. One combed, curled, and braided the hair; a second arranged the jewels; a third poured the perfumes; and a fourth prepared the cosmetics. Each one had a name expressive of her employment; hence the words _ornatrices_, _cosmetæ_, &c. Some, who were called _parasitæ_, were merely required to look on, and give advice; those who were the best skilled in flattery were, of course, the greatest favorites. If a curl was misplaced, or a color unbecoming, the waiting maids were abused for the fault. Juvenal, speaking to one of these women, says, “Of what crime is that unhappy girl guilty, because your nose displeases you?” It was not surprising that such a state of things should exist among women, when the men wore golden soles to their shoes, plucked out the hairs of the beard one by one, and applied bread dipped in milk to the face, to freshen the complexion. Still, in all periods of Roman history, there were bright examples of female excellence. When Coriolanus, in revenge for ungrateful treatment, threatened to destroy Rome with an invading army, the remonstrances and proposals of the nobility and senate had no effect on his stubborn pride. The Roman matrons persuaded his mother Veturia, and his wife Vergilia, to go to his camp, and try their influence in appeasing his resentment. The meeting between Coriolanus and his family was extremely affecting. For a while he remained inflexible; but the entreaties of a mother and a wife finally prevailed over his stern and vindictive resolutions. The senate decreed that Veturia and Vergilia should receive any favor they thought proper to ask. They merely begged permission to build a temple to the Fortunes of Women, at their own expense. The senate immediately ordered that it should be erected on the very spot where Coriolanus had been persuaded to save Rome. They likewise decreed them public thanks; ordered the men to give place to them upon all occasions; and permitted the Roman ladies to add another ornament to their head-dress!! Veturia was made priestess of the new temple, into which no woman who had married a second husband was allowed to enter.