from Tanagra, in Fig. 95, transports us to a barber’s shop; a worthy citizen, apparently covered by a long dressing-mantle, is seated on a low stool, while a short man standing behind him--perhaps a slave--is carefully cutting his hair with a pair of scissors. Barbers undertook the care of both hair and beard, and cut and cleaned the nails. These barbers’ shops were also meeting-places for the citizens--not only for idlers, but, generally speaking, for all who desired to hear the news. This custom still prevails in many parts of Italy, especially in the south, where the _Salone_ is a general meeting-place. Even in ancient times barbers had a reputation for being talkative. Every day many people entered their shops, and among them strangers who brought news and expected to receive some in exchange. It is well known that the news of the defeat of the Athenian expedition to Sicily was first made known in a barber’s shop in the Peiraeus by a stranger who had just landed. All this occupied about the first quarter of the day; the second part was devoted to visiting the market. The market-place served not only its original end as a place for selling, but was also the place where acquaintances met and business was transacted. Here stood the money-changers and the bankers, at their booths or shops; here were shady arcades, with comfortable seats, where the hot rays of the sun might be avoided in summer, while there was opportunity in the winter of profiting by the warmth of the workshops situated close by the market-place. It was a very general custom in cold weather to go to public baths or smiths’ workshops, where a warm stove could certainly be found, and poor people, who did not possess the means of warming themselves at home, often pressed so eagerly to the bath-stoves that they singed their clothes. In fact, it was a very general custom to enter any workshop or booth to have a chat with the owner or the visitors there, even without any intention of making purchases. We need not, therefore, be surprised when we hear of Socrates visiting a shoemaker or a sculptor or any other artisan and beginning a discussion with him; this custom was so general that meetings were arranged in the workshops--thus, for instance, the people of Decelea, when they came to Athens, always met at a particular barber’s shop.