The cups of the Homeric times were all of equal capacity; one of them was offered to each guest, but several were offered to persons of high distinction.[XXVII-13] The Greeks thought much of their cups; for them they were sacred relics from father to son, and were only used on certain solemnities. Thus Œdipus delivers the most frightful imprecation against his son Polynices, who had presented, at a common repast, the cup of his ancestors.[XXVII-14] That of Nestor was so large that a young man could hardly carry it; as to him, he lifted it up without the slightest difficulty.[XXVII-15] The Athenians drank from cups in the shape of horns.[XXVII-16] Wax vases were sufficient for the Spaniards.[XXVII-17] The Gaul who had thrown down an Urus (wild ox) took its horns, decorated them with silver and gold rings, and made his guests drink out of them.[XXVII-18] Often the skull of an enemy, killed in single combat, was transformed into a cup of honour, and reminded a Gallic family of the memorable action of a valiant ancestor.[XXVII-19] The first cups of the Romans were made of horns, or of the earthenware of Samos.[XXVII-20] Those conquerors of the world had not yet enervated their manly courage with the luxurious spoils of conquered nations. Afterwards, some very simple ones were made of beech-wood[XXVII-21] or elder;[XXVII-22] these possessed a marvellous property which they ought to have always preserved--the wine only escaped from them, and they retained the water which had been mixed with it.[XXVII-23] But Rome, already tired of its austere simplicity, and its disdain for the Greek cups of glass and crystal, soon began to desire something finer. Those magnificent chalices, master-pieces of patience and skill, in which gold and silver were amalgamated with a more brittle material,[XXVII-24] were soon in much request, and appeared worthy of their renown. But it is to be observed, that the crystal of which the most precious cups were made, had not the slightest similarity to that which we make use of now, and which the least shock will break; it was flexible and malleable;[XXVII-25] it might be thrown on the pavement with impunity, and remained unhurt.[XXVII-26] Here is, on this subject, a curious anecdote, which has been left to us by Petronius:-- A certain skilful workman used to make crystal vases as strong as vases of gold and silver. He produced an incomparable masterpiece; it was a chalice of astonishing beauty, which he thought worthy of Cæsar only, and which he felt a pride in offering to him. Tiberius highly praised the skill and the rich present of the artist. This man, wishing to increase still more the admiration of the prince, and secure his favours to a greater degree, begged of him to give back the vase. He then threw it with all his might on the marble pavement of the DESCRIPTION OF PLATE No. XIX.